Couple swap green hills for island heat

Jun 9 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

A COUPLE have swapped the rolling hills of Northumberland for the beaches of the Bahamas – after seeing an advert in The Journal.

Tony and Jo Hope, both 54, were the owners of established jewellery business Leif Design on High Street, Rothbury, at the turn of the millennium.

They then lived in Grand Cayman in the Caribbean for a year and with a sense of growing frustration at the state of the British economy, the pair set their hearts on making a fresh start abroad.

Jo said: “We saw an advert in The Journal property pages, for cheap land in the Bahamas.”

That 2002 advert got the ball rolling and the couple spent the next nine months researching the island of Great Exuma, a former British colony which remains part of the Commonwealth and where the natives speak English.

The Hopes visited the island five years ago and discovered all it had to offer. They soon realised that they could successfully move into property development.

They put in an offer on two acres of virgin jungle bush land beside the sea and just before they were due to return to England, they were told their offer had been accepted.

For the next few years, they continued to live in England and run the jewellery business but made return visits to Exuma, readying the site.

And last December, the Hopes sold their business and their house at Clennell, near Alwinton, and moved to their new Bahamian home.

They now live in a bungalow which forms part of a duplex owned by their business Sunset Bluff, in which they have invested around £1m. They own six other plots which they are to sell with planning permission and building specifications.

The Hopes had to contend with a two-year slog to get the necessary permissions for their project from the Bahamian government.

They have also experienced flash floods and have had dealings with a native who was helped by an ex-mafia hitman.

The woman wanted to sell a piece of land next to theirs.

However she did not have the right documents and someone else claimed to own the site.

The matter ended up in court and the woman offered the Hopes some land in return for their help. Her associate’s links were however a cause for concern.

Jo said: “His connections are less than wonderful. He has a bit of a shady past.”

As she sat yesterday in the 85° 9am heat, which promised only to get hotter, Jo said it was her friends and customers that she missed about home.

She said: “We knew an awful lot of absolutely great people, but we are very happy with the decision we have made.”

The Hopes, who lived on Rothbury’s Cragside Estate before moving to Clennell, plan to set up another jewellery business on Exuma.

They hope to be joined in the Bahamas one day by son Jamie, 22, a marine engineer, who is still in England but hopes to relocate.