In Memory of John Fentener van Vlissingen

04.03.1939 – 11.12.2025

Founder, Mentor and Believer

There are moments in life when you meet someone who quietly but profoundly changes your path.

John Fentener van Vlissingen, affectionately known to many of us as JVV, was one of those people for me.

I first met John around fifteen years ago when I was working as a negotiator at Douglas & Gordon. Almost immediately he asked about my surname – Pejacsevich – curious about its origins. What followed surprised me deeply. John knew my great-uncle, Mark Pejacsevich, and had even met my grandfather years earlier in Venezuela. From the very beginning our connection felt larger than business; it felt human, rooted in shared history and mutual respect.

Over the years, I had the privilege of helping John build a London property portfolio. Then, just before Christmas twelve years ago I went to see him at his London residence to ask for guidance. At the time my colleague Patrick Alvarado and I were considering starting our own estate agency and I wanted John’s perspective.

Instead of advice he offered something far greater.

To my complete surprise, he said:

“Why don’t we start a company together?”

As I was leaving he added with a smile “This is hopefully a nice Christmas present.”

It was an act of belief that would shape everything that followed.

In September 2014, we founded Nicolas Van Patrick – Nicolas for me, Van as a nod to John van Vlissingen and Patrick for Patrick Alvarado. John’s strength was not control, but trust. He believed deeply in people and gave them what he called “freedom within the realm of responsibility.” He allowed us to build, grow and learn, while always being there with wisdom and perspective.

John was known to say that “in business, there’s no finish line.”
Now that he is gone, those words carry an even deeper meaning – a reminder to keep moving forward, adapting and building with humility, discipline and purpose.

He was enthusiastic and supportive when we approached him with the idea of growing Nicolas Van Patrick through acquisitions – strengthening our rental portfolio to build resilient cash flow in an increasingly volatile prime central London sales market. With his belief behind us, we acquired three companies and grew from a team of three to sixteen people.

Following John’s passing we are deeply grateful for the continued support of Boron, his family office. Their guidance, trust and encouragement have helped us continue building Nicolas Van Patrick in the spirit John believed in.

In life, if you are fortunate, you meet people who genuinely change your life. John was that person for me.

He was a mentor, a wise businessman and a remarkable entrepreneur. More than anything he inspired belief – in people, in long-term thinking and in doing things properly. It was also clear to those of us who worked closely with him that his wife, Marine, was pivotal to everything he did and we felt honoured to have met her.

Thank you, John.

We will keep moving forward – because there is no finish line.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Marine and the family.