Albert Bensimon

Egyptian Australian businessman

Albert Bensimon (born 1948) is an Egyptian Australian businessman from Adelaide, South Australia. He is most well known as the owner of Shiels Jewellers. He frequently appeared in television advertisements and became famous for his catchphrase "No Hoo Haa". Bensimon was born in Cairo, Egypt. His secondary education took place at the Christian Brothers College in Rose Bay, New South Wales followed by a stint at the London School of Economics. Bensimon is of Jewish and French descent. In 1994, he helped to establish the Helpmann Academy, named in honour of famous South Australian Sir Robert Helpmann. The academy is designed to promote the arts in South Australia. He was the first chairman and is still a member of its board. At the 2002 South Australian state election, Bensimon ran as a "No Hoo Haa Party" candidate in the House of Assembly seat of Adelaide, receiving a primary vote of 2.4 percent (492 votes). His "how to vote" ticket indicated a first preference for the Liberal Party of Australia. Bensimon is also a donor to the Liberal Party. In 2006, Bensimon was rejected twice for membership of the gentlemen's club, The Adelaide Club, which he claimed was due to anti Semitism. This was denied by the Club president, who stated that it was "offensive" to suggest the club was racist and that it has "a diverse membership". In 2008, when another Egyptian born Jewish businessman was accepted for membership, Bensimon claimed some credit for the move, saying "I broke the back of a small but influential element within the Adelaide Club."

In 1969, Albert married and he and his wife Nyra took off on a working holiday to Europe. They travelled on a motorbike for a year and then they decided to come home via Canada. They intended to work for a month in Canada but ended up living there seven years. In 1977, after extensive work experience in marketing studies, the Bensimon's decided to return home to Australia. And after many years in marketing, Albert decided to turn his hobby for marketing jewellery into a career and decided to open up a jewellery store. Albert would then go on to purchase Shiels Jewellers, a local jewellery store in the city from the recently widowed wife of Jack Shiels. When Albert took over Shiels, the business had a turnover of around $100,000 per year. Using his knowledge of marketing and sales from his experience selling pharmaceuticals and computer software, Albert decided to expand Shiels' product range to include more precious jewellery such as gold, silver and diamonds. The gift lines were dropped with the aim to establish a reputation for quality, value and range in the jewellery sector; especially in diamonds.