Christos Lazari
Founder

Christos Lazari arrived in Britain from Cyprus in the early 1960s aged 16, with just £20 to his name. Along with washing dishes and waiting on tables (at London’s prestigious White House restaurant), Christos enrolled in fashion college.

Upon graduation, he started a women’s fashion company, manufacturing garments in his own factory. Christos specialised in identifying lucrative international markets to expand into, establishing himself in the newly oil-rich Middle East, as well as in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

As his clothing business grew, he began to invest profits in property, establishing Lazari Investments in 1976 with his wife and co-director, Maritsa Lazari. Their first purchase was a retail parade in Camden High Street comprising small stores with flats above them.

By May 1984, Christos and Maritsa had bought their first central London property, the prominent art deco Shropshire House in Fitzrovia. Since then, Lazari Investments acquired many buildings, including 25 Berkeley Square, the Oxford Street Estate, Greater London House and the iconic Brunswick Shopping Centre.

For Christos, business was vocational; he considered every one of his staff to be family and was tireless in ensuring every tenant was happy. “I like to know everything that happens in my company however small or insignificant,” he said. “In the evening and on weekends I visit my properties to inspect their condition and, if I have the chance, to meet and talk with my tenants.”

His dedication to the real estate industry won Christos a coveted Props Lifetime Achievement Award, and Cypriot Businessman Abroad in Business Award, both in 2012. Christos Lazari passed away on 27th July 2015. He will always be greatly missed by family, friends, colleagues, and his industry, in this country and in Cyprus.