A BUSINESSMAN who quit the UK to live abroad during Covid now runs a £46 million penthouse paradise on an island dubbed the "new Maldives". Richard Ashby, 43, was earning £200,000 a year selling penthouse apartments in Westminster and Mayfair to rich investors. His world crashed with the start of the pandemic when all his lucrative deals stalled and his mental health suffered living on his own under lockdown in his riverside flat in Chelsea.

Richard searched the globe for an escape where he could build up a new business and live free from Covid rules he refused to abide by - and discovered Zanzibar. The Zanzibar archipelago is a jewel in the Indian Ocean, just 60 miles off Africa's east coast and part of Tanzania. It has long been popular with safari-loving Brits who stop off for a week in the sun after enjoying the wildlife in the Serengeti or relax after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak. It is also a haven for kite surfers.

With a warm climate and average daytime temperatures of 28-degrees, Zanzibar largely avoided the lockdowns and mask wearing which Ashby was determined to avoid. It was one of the first places in the world to open its borders to tourists in June 2020. Ashby said: “I could not live under lockdown for even a week and knew I had to get out of London where the property market completely died for six months while everyone adjusted to Covid.

“I first went to the South of France and then when the restrictions there became unbearable I discovered Zanzibar. “Zanzibar offered almost complete freedom - no one was wearing masks and we all carried on dancing the night away in bars and nightclubs. “With the climate so mild and a sparse population, Covid was never really an issue and I could live the life of total freedom that I had always craved.

“I knew with the gorgeous turquoise waters, virtually no crime and a Government determined to help developers create new luxury holiday homes that I found my little slice of paradise and I started a property company so I would never have to go back to London.”. Ashby is now a leading developer of luxury holiday apartments and he has just launched his new project Shivo Towers - bringing Manhattan-style luxury to East Africa.

Shivo Towers are Zanzibar’s first portered luxury apartments with room service from a high-end restaurant, huge communal pool, spa, gym, co-working space and vast manicured tropical gardens overlooking the ocean in Paje. Ashby says infrastructure improvements have transformed Zanzibar from a back-packers’ haven into a new luxury destination. Better roads and services have created an ‘easy paradise’ similar to high-end Caribbean destinations and that is attracting wealthier property investors.

Ashby, founder and CEO of Shivo Tanzania, said: “Shivo Towers is a new landmark for the whole of Zanzibar - world class penthouse living coming to the island for the first time. This is Manhattan-style luxury in East Africa. “It has been made possible by the huge structural improvements which have happened on the island in the last five years. “Everywhere you look it is better - beautiful new tarmacked roads in place of the old potholes and huge investment in basic infrastructure.

“Older people looking for the ‘easy paradise’ they can find in winter sun destinations such as Maldives and the more exclusive parts of the Caribbean can now get the same luxury comfort in Zanzibar. “If your image of Zanzibar is of a ‘rough-and-ready’ haven for kite surfers and backpackers, think again. “They are still here enjoying the gorgeous white sands and the tropical paradise but there is a whole new class of traveller who is coming to the island expecting the very best luxury accommodation and Shivo Towers has been built for them.”.

Shivo Towers has been designed by the renowned Italian architectural firm Much More, based in Dubai, London and Milan and led by director Christian Bonu. Ashby, who lives on the island, said: “The development embodies Italian contemporary design while taking inspiration from the natural world and the surrounding landscape of Zanzibar.”. The two towers will have four penthouses, each with an asking price of £1 million, but there will also be more affordable entry-level studio suites starting at £100,000.

In total there are 162 units in the development and 30 have already sold. Work started in December and it is expected to take two and a half years, with the first units occupied in the second half of 2027. No expense has been spared in ensuring that the build is sustainable and uses the world’s top branded materials. The entire facade is made out of a German glass and high tech composite materials such as Krion for the balcony’s leading edges  - to prepare the building for the island’s sun, sand, salt and rain adventures which can take such a toll on poorly prepared buildings.