Midlands Rich List 2025: The 50 richest people in the Midlands - including 11 billionaires and a new top ranking

It’s been a tough year for many with the cost of living crisis continuing - but the richest among us continue to make big bucks, although for some not quite as many as they did previously.

The latest listing of the top richest people in the Midlands from Insider Media shows there are some winners and losers - with a new multi billionaire at the top since last year and nine new entries that didn’t appear last year.

The combined wealth on this list comes in at £49.9bn - only 0.4% more than last year. That’s growth well below the annual inflation rate.

Midlands Business Insider research has found that Lord Bamford’s construction equipment giant JCB has been hit by weaker demand from the cooling Chinese economy. 

In addition, a stodgy property market has been bad news for housebuilders including John Bloor. Donald Trump’s tariffs have also disrupted Bloor’s Triumph motorbike brand. 

And that’s not all. The analysts have found that Gymshark, Ben Francis’s athleisure brand, has posted a third successive year of falling profits and has also flagged the damage being wrought by the US president’s trade policies. 

However there is still plenty of light amid the shade. New entries this year include Raj Mehta, a former apprentice butcher from the Black Country who has created two poultry businesses now turning over more than £200m a year. 

Bet365 founder Densie Coates has replaced Lord Bamford at the top of the list. A sale price of £9bn is now mooted for her online gambling giant, which Coates and her brother John set up with funds raised by mortgaging her family’s betting shops.

The Midlands Business Insider research also shows older businesses also have high growth potential. Several of this year’s new entries are individuals and families behind companies set up many years ago that are thriving now. 

Revenues at construction firm Dodd Group - founded in 1947 - are up nearly 50% over the past two years. The family behind the Telford-based operation make their rich list debut this year.

The Heygates have been farming since 1562. Bob and Paul Heygate, the current managing directors of their family’s milling and baking operation, have grown profits by almost 50% to £17.3m over the past year. 

A spokesperson for Midlands Insider Business said: “It takes guts and gumption to start your own business. But taking the reins of a centuries-old company and helping it thrive in changing times also deserves praise - and the financial rewards too.” 

1. Denise, John and Peter Coates, 26/09/67, 07/01/70 and 13/01/38    

2025: £10.245bn

2024: £7.451bn

Leisure: Online gambling

The queen of British gambling may be about to cash in her chips. Denise Coates is said to be considering a sale of Bet365 which values her online betting giant at as much as £9bn. She famously founded the business with her brother John from a prefabricated building pitched in a Stoke-on-Trent car park after becoming convinced the internet could transform the betting industry. Denise, a mother to five, paid herself a salary of £94.7m last year - 57% less than the year before. Members of the Coates family, including Denise’s father John, own 93.3% of Bet365 and received £102.6m of dividends from the business in the same year. The mooted sale price and a stack of payouts over the years now push her family’s fortune above £10 billion. The Coateses also own Stoke-on-Trent FC and consistently give more than £100m a year away to charity. 

2. Lord Bamford and family, 23/10/45

2025: £9.316bn

2024: £9.450bn

Industry: Construction equipment

JCB has found the past year hard going. Weaker demand from China, the US and Europe drove down the yellow-digger manufacturer’s profits by nearly 15%. Turnover fell from £6.5bn to £5.8bn, leading us to reduce our valuation of the business to £7bn. Bamford’s father founded the Uttoxeter-based construction equipment giant just after World War Two. The family have an array of other ventures, including the Daylesford Organic food brand and hydrogen-powered bus manufacturer Wrightbus. Dividends from JCB – including a jaw-dropping £866m payment last year – have helped the Bamfords build up an impressive property portfolio, including a chateau in Provence with its own vineyard. 

3. Mike Ashley, 09/12/64

2025: £3.794bn

2024: £3.828bn

Retail: Fashion and sports equipment

Four years on from selling Newcastle United, the king of the British high street is said to be looking at buying Sheffield Wednesday. A frenetic dealmaker, Ashley’s Frasers Group now encompasses Sports Direct, Evans Cycles, Jack Wills and brands including Slazenger and Lonsdale. There are big stakes in the online retailers Boohoo and Asos, too. There has been a first move into the leisure industry by snapping up a stake in We Do Play, an operator of trampoline parks and crazy golf centres. Sluggish consumer spending has hit Frasers’ profits and with it the Mansfield-based group’s share price. The former squash coach's stake is now worth £2.294bn – down £34.3m since last year.

4. John Bloor, 16/06/43

2025: £2.8bn

2024: £3.5bn

Construction: Housebuilding and motorcycles

Bloor’s Triumph Motorcycles has been hit by Donald Trump’s tariffs. The Derbyshire-based billionaire salvaged the iconic brand after making a first fortune from housebuilding. His holding company also wraps in Pickering, a plant-hire group. A stodgy UK property market and weaker demand from China for Triumph bikes has also pushed down profits at Bloor’s holding company by more than 40% to £234.4m. The Swadlincote-based group should be worth £2.75bn. Bloor, a coal miner’s son who left school at 15 and initially worked as a plasterer, has received £75m of dividends from his company over the past eight years. 

5. Sir Will Adderley and family, 04/03/72

2025: £2bn

2024: £1.765bn

Retail: Soft furnishings

Dunelm’s deputy chairman has made more money out of other stock-market companies over the past year than his family’s soft furnishing retailer. Adderley has quietly built up stakes in BT and Vodafone worth £200m and £150m. Both telecoms groups have made strong gains over the past year. Meanwhile, the share price of Dunelm, the soft-furnishing retailer founded by his father from a Leicester market stall, has fallen by 6%. The Adderleys’ 37.5% holding in Dunelm is now worth £840m and should have delivered £59.1m of dividends over the past year. Adderley’s real-estate company Marlborough owns property worth £223.5m. 

6. Tony Langley and family, 02/12/54

2025: £1.9bn

2024: £1.450m

Industry: Manufacturing equipment

The Retford-based industrialist has warned Rachel Reeves that her plans to ramp up taxes on shares in private companies threaten to kill “the goose that lays the golden eggs”. Langley believes changes to inheritance tax will lead to the sale or break-up of countless family-owned businesses. His diverse industrial group spans everything from lifting machinery and printing presses to welding equipment and cement products. He launched Langley Holdings from the ashes of his family’s collapsed coal mining equipment manufacturer in his early 20s. There were profits of £108m on revenues of more than £1bn during 2024. The passionate sailor also paid himself dividends of £52m. 

7. Sir Peter, James and Steve Rigby and family, 29/09/43, 06/04/71 and 06/12/72 

2025: £1.7bn

2024: £1.594bn

Business services: IT, aviation and hotels 

Sir Peter’s entrepreneurial journey began 50 years ago with rejection for a bank loan. Despite having saved up £2,000 he was turned down for the business loan he wanted to start an IT company, so he opted to set up a recruitment firm as the start-up costs were lower. Today his Stratford-upon-Avon-based conglomerate employs more than 8,000 people and has interests spanning IT, finance, hotels, aviation and property. He recently sold three of his UK airports for around £200 million. Profits across Rigby Group have climbed by more than a third to £67.8m on revenues of almost £3.8bn. Rigby remains chairman with his sons James and Steve serving as joint chief executives. 

8. Caspar and Sebastian MacDonald-Hall and family, 04/12/50 and 04/82

2025: £1.4bn

2024: £1.25bn

Property: Commercial real estate 

A father and son team, the Macdonald-Halls have built up a vast retail and industrial property empire. Their largest venture London & Cambridge Properties (LCP) owns property worth more than £2.5bn. Most of the property is located in the UK. Caspar chairs the business. His son Sebastian serves as chief executive. Over the past year the value of LCP’s portfolio has increased by £120m. The MacDonald-Halls have expanded heavily into Europe and there are stakes in five other separate companies worth £916m. Sebastian is also a nightclub DJ and once sold a £3m house in Belgravia to Sarah Ferguson, the Duke of York’s ex-wife. 

9. Sir Tony Gallagher, 12/11/51

2025: £1.32bn

2024: £1.295bn

Property: Planning consents and commercial property

The son of an Irish builder, Gallagher became a master at buying up land and securing planning permission before selling it on to housebuilders for a hefty premium. He sold his Gallagher Estates, which at the time owned sites for 42,500 homes, to a large housing association for £520m. Since then he has been doing well from building warehouses used for internet retail as well as private rental sector developments - projects built for pension funds and other long-term landlords to generate investment returns. Gallagher owns Sarsden Manor, a Cotswold mansion neighboring Jeremy Clarkson’s farm. A significant donor to the Conservative party, he hosted David Cameron’s 50th birthday party at his 17th century property. 

10. Ranjit Boparan and family, 24/08/66 

2025: £1.050bn

2024: £686m

Food and drink: Poultry and restaurants

Bilston-born Boparan started his career in a butcher’s shop. His poultry supplier 2 Sisters Food Group now has contracts with supermarkets, restaurants and fast-food businesses, providing employment for around 10,000 people. The “chicken king” also owns the Carluccio’s, Giraffe and Gourmet Burger Kitchen restaurant chains. His latest success has been Slim Chickens, one the UK’s fastest growing convenience food brands. There were profits of £113m on revenues of almost £1.8bn over the past year. The annual rental income of his property portfolio exceeds £50m. Boparan’s main family business should now be worth £1bn with dividends and two further companies adding another £50m. 

11. Lord Edmiston, 06/10/46

2025: £1bn

2024: £857m

Consumer goods: Car sales and property

Edmiston founded his car dealership importing Japanese vehicles with a £6,000 redundancy cheque. His Solihull-based IM Group sells Hyundai, Daihatsu, Subaru, Isuzu and Mitsubishi cars. Profits nearly doubled to £56m over the past year and we now value this side of the evangelical Christian’s empire at £400m. His real estate group IM Properties shows wealth of £516.2m. There have been heavy dividends over the years, much of which have been channelled towards his charity Christian Vision. But the strong year for his car-dealing group still pushes Portugal-based Edmiston back into the billionaire club. 

12. The Richardson family

2025: £985m

2024: £980m

Property: Commercial real estate 

Roy and Don Richardson left school at 14 and went to work for their father, selling commercial vehicles. The brothers went into business together after completing their national service. One of their first major developments was turning a derelict steelworks near Dudley into the Merry Hill shopping centre. A succession of big retail and leisure projects in Birmingham soon followed. Roy’s sons, Martyn, Lee and Carl, now run the Richardsons’ Oldbury-based property empire. They recently acquired a 11.5 acre site in Northampton to create an industrial and logistics park. These days the family operates in 20 countries, with 40% of the assets now in the USA, Canada and Australia. 

13. The Kirkland family 

2025: £729m

2024: £683m

Construction: Housebuilding and real estate development

Jack Kirkland is growing his family’s housebuilder, snapping up an airconditioning manufacturing business based in Cambridge and the London fit-out contractor Denton over the past year. Bowmer & Kirkland has also opened new offices in Bristol, Cambridge and Glasgow. The Belper-based construction group is easily worth its £632.7m net assets – up £40.9m. A run of dividends have been paid out over the years, including £8.3m in 2023-24. Oxford-educated Kirkland chairs the business and has recently been made a trustee of the Tate Gallery. 

14. Richard Harpin and family, 10/09/64

2025: £700m

2024: £670m

Business services: Technology

Harpin's entrepreneurial journey began at school, selling conkers and breeding rabbits. He wrnt on to make his fortune from Homeserve, an outfit helping homeowners track down reputable plumbers, electricians and other tradesmen. A battle to find someone to fix a boiler in a Newcastle property he was letting out gave him the idea for the business. Starting out with £10,000 of savings Harpin eventually sold Homeserve for £4.2bn - scooping £500m from the deal. His investment operation Growth Partner is on a mission to help companies turning over £3m a year evolve into big businesses. 

15. David Wilson and family, 05/12/41

2025: £682m

2024: £656m

Construction: Housebuilding 

Profits at Wilson’s housebuilder have jumped by 50% over the past year. His Davidsons Homes concentrates on sites across the east and south Midlands. The Ashby-De-La-Zouch operation should easily be worth the £233.1m on its balance sheet - up £13.5m over the past year. This is Wilson’s second successful building firm. He led the first, Wilson Bowden, onto the stock market before leading the sale to rival Barratts. The deal netted Wilson and his family £304m in cash and £400m in Barratt shares. Wilson’s stable of separate Leicestershire companies have grown their wealth by nearly £13m over the past year. 

16. William Lloyd and family, 06/08/55

2025: £621m

2024: £570m

Food and drink: Animal feed

Revenues at the Lloyds’ animal feeds supplier has topped £700m for the first time WHEN?. The Oswestry-based group supplies food for cattle, sheep and poultry. Profits jumped by 28% to £71.3m in 2024, suggesting the business should easily be worth £600m now. A run of dividends adds another £21m. 

17. Timothy Goodwin and family, 02/04/90

2025: £616m

2024: £301m

Industry: Engineering

Goodwin PLC has been one of the stockmarket’s darlings over the past year. The shares have almost doubled in value and the Stoke-on-Trent engineering firm is now worth more than £1 billion. A deal to supply components for US submarines boosted the stock, and higher UK defence spending in the years ahead is likely to elevate the company’s revenues. Chairman Timothy Goodwin and his family own more than half of the firm’s shares - a holding now worth £583m. The Goodwins should also have received around £5.5m of dividends over the past year. 

18. Ben Francis and family, 04/06/92

2025: £485m

2024: £725m

Fashion: Gymwear

An inspirational figure to thousands of young entrepreneurs, Gymshark’s co-founder has had a mixed year. Annual sales at the ath-leisure brand have topped £600m for the first time, but profits have fallen for a third successive year, dipping to £11.9m. A private-equity deal five years ago valued the Solihull-based retailer at more than £1bn. A £600m price tag seems fairer now - suggesting the 77.3% stake in Gymshark owned by Francis and his family is now worth £463.8m. Francis has a farm in the Cotswolds and has become friends with Kaleb Cooper, one of stars of the TV series Clarkson’s Farm. Cooper paid a boisterous visit to Gymshark’s headquarters in June, delivering a birthday cake to the entrepreneur and offering a free cider to all Francis’s staff.  

19. Mark Samworth and family, 03/10/70 

2025: £400m

2024: £350m

Food and drink: Convenience food

Pasty-to-pork-pie group Samworths served up nearly £20m of dividends last year. The Leicester-based group owns well-known food brands including Ginsters, Higgidy and the West Cornwall Pasty Company. The latest acquisition is fast-food outfit Real Wrap. Samworths dates back to 1896, and has become one of the region’s largest employers, growing its workforce to more than 11,300. Profits jumped from £5.7m to £23.7m during 2024. Mark Samworth chairs his family’s £350m business. Wealth outside Samworths easily adds another £50m. 

20. Keith and Maria Bastian, 06/03/65 and 02/65

2025: £355m

2024: £503m

Consumer goods: Supplying boilers and radiators

Keith Bastian insists homeowners can save themselves as much as £200 a year by closing their curtains, turning down their heating and taking a few other savvy steps before heading off on holiday. Bastian and his wife Maria certainly don’t need to count the pennies. Their Leicester-based firm Fischer supplies homes and businesses with German-made boilers, radiators and air-source heat pumps. Profits have fallen to £44m on sales of £218.5m over the past year due to tougher trading conditions. But Fischer should easily still be worth £350m and three further companies add another £5m.

21= Stephen Griggs and family, 27/06/61

2025: £350m

2024: £325m

Fashion: Footwear

Griggs and his family made around £330m when Dr Martens floated on the stockmarket four years ago. He had previously served as executive chairman of the Northampton-based bootmaker and the Griggses also did well from an earlier deal with private equity. Dr Martens’ share price has had a decent run over the past year, rising by 60% after a new chief executive announced a plan to slash costs and increase the shoes’ comfort. Five separate Griggs companies have together made gains of £13.6m over the past year, and the Dr Martens shares they retain will have also done well.   

21= John Kelly and family, 22/12/68

2025: £350m

2024: £378m

Construction: Civil engineering

MV Kelly is celebrating 30 years in business. John Kelly founded the Solihull groundworks outfit in 1995 with his father Vince. Revenues and profits have fallen over the past year, leading us to trim the value of the business to £300m. Dividends of nearly £55m have been paid over the past four years.  

23. Harold Martin and family, 18/03/35

2025: £348m

2024: £291m

Construction: Fencing and waste management

Martin recently paid himself a dividend of £12m from his landscaping contractor. He began HW Martin as a fencing business, later moving into recycling and waste management. The Alfreton-based group now employs 1,500 staff and provides services for Network Rail, the Ministry of Defence, local authorities and the nuclear industry. Profits have jumped from £8.2m to £32.5m over the past year, suggesting the outfit should easily be worth £300m. Dividends, a “significant bonus” of £22.8m in 2023 and a £41m farming business adds to Martin’s wealth.

24. Chris Woolridge and family, 11/03/80

2025: £344m

2024: £308m

Industry: Galvanizing 

Pub landlord John Wedge began galvanizing metal in between pulling pints back in the 1860s. What began as a side hustle at the back of Willenhall’s Albion public house is now the UK’s largest hot-tip galvanizing outfit, with large operations in the US and Europe. Woolridge, descended from the founder, runs BE Wedge now. Sterling’s revival against the dollar has depressed sales in America but the business should still be worth the £334.5m sitting on its balance sheet. 

25. David Clowes and family, 09/04/69 

2025: £342m

2024: £325m

Property: Commercial real estate 

Clowes is on a mission to take Derby County into the Premier League, and certainly splashed the cash ahead of the current season. The Rams spent around £13m on new players - the most shelled out on transfers since Clowes bought the club in 2022. A lifelong Derby County fan, the Midlands property man owes his fortune to the real estate group founded by his father, Charles. Clowes Developments has a portfolio of mostly commercial property. It also develops and promotes sites for sale. The main Clowes company now shows assets of £313.9m - up £17.4m in a year. Clowes chairs the business, having previously worked as a pilot for British Midland. 

26. Martin George and family, 01/11/42

2025: £320m

2024: £320m

Food and drink: Four milling

Milling giant Whitworth Bros has served up £25m of dividends for the George family over the past year. Martin George’s grandfather bought the business from the founders more than a century ago, and he has built the Wellingborough-based company’s turnover up to more than £640m. The Georges also made a fortune from the breakfast cereals Alpen and Ready Brek, selling two operations for £218m. 

27. Nik and Monisha Kotecha, 28/07/66 and 04/01/69

2025: £313m

2024: £300m

Healthcare: Pharmaceuticals

A husband and wife team, Nik and Monisha Kotecha founded Morningside Pharmaceuticals in the early 1990s. They grew the Loughborough-based medicine manufacturer’s annual profits to in excess of £17m. The Kotechas have now sold Morningside to the Hampshire-based group Aspire. Although the value of the deal was not public, their business should have fetched around £200m. Their separate investment company Randalson Capital now shows £132m of net assets - up £12.5m in a year. The Kotechas’ charitable foundation recently announced a £500,000 package to support critical healthcare in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

28. Mel Morris, 16/02/56

2025: £312m

2024: £312m

Leisure: Video games

Morris has bounced back from a difficult time running Derby County to launch an artificial intelligence start-up. Corpora.AI can apparently process two million documents a second and produce reliable, detailed reports for business clients. Morris left school at 16 and once worked as a flooring salesman before starting an early dating website. He went on to sell uDate for £91m, but his biggest winnings came from Candy Crush. Morris reaped £450m from the sale of the video game’s developer. Sinking tens of millions of pounds of this windfall into Derby County couldn't stop The Rams plunging into administration in 2021.

29. Tom Coates and family, 15/10/70

2025: £304m

2024: £280m

Transport: Logistics

The Coates family’s chemical storage and distribution business has defied a “negative” economic environment to grow profits by 17% over the past year. HW Coates also serves clients in the food and pharmaceutical industries, operating sites across the UK from Edinburgh to Portsmouth and Cardiff to Felixstowe. Oxford-educated Tom Coates chairs the Lutterworth-based logistics business. The £280m outfit is entirely owned by his family’s trusts. There were dividends of nearly £6m over the past year.  

30. Keith Bradshaw and family, 28/08/43

2025: £301m

2024: £265m

Consumer goods: Car sales 

Listers has recently started selling the Chinese brands Omoda and Jaecoo. Bradshaw chairs and, with his family, owns half the shares in the car chain. Revenues have ticked up to £1.3bn and there have been bumper dividends of £36m over the past year. The Stratford-upon-Avon-based chain should now be worth at least £350m. After leaving school at 15, Aston-born Bradshaw spent time in West Africa. He returned to set up Takare, later making £21m from selling this care-home business to Bupa. The Bradshaws also own half of Halesowen-based musical equipment distribution outfit Headstock, and a large property portfolio. 

31. Christopher Miller and family, 19/12/53 

2025: £300m

2024: £250m

Industry: Aeronautical parts

Miller’s new private-equity outfit Rosebank Industries has landed its first deal, buying a US electronics manufacturer in September for £1.5bn. He is best known for his tenure as executive chairman at the Birmingham-based industrial group Melrose. His stake in the FTSE 100 business is now worth £47m after a strong year for the shares. A bonus of more than £50m in his final year sparked some criticism but the group consistently outperformed its stockmarket peers. Miller’s family also own Harris & Sheldon, a Redditch-based group with fishing lettings, real estate and other investments. There is wealth here of £127.1m - up £5.1m since last year. 

32. Robin Faccenda and family, 21/06/37

2025: £299m

2024: £325m

Food and drink: Poultry farming

Nearly 4,000 people have joined a High Court action against Avara Foods, alleging the poultry supplier has caused serious damage to Welsh rivers. Avara produces four million chickens a week and is half owned by the Faccendas. The business chalked up a £55.7m loss last year and the family’s stakes here are now worth £118.5m. Faccenda Investments, a separate company wrapping in farming and duck producing businesses, now shows wealth of just under £180m. If Avara loses the impending legal action the impact on the Faccenda’s finances could be sizable. There have been suggestions that the company could face a compensation bill running into the hundreds of millions of pounds. 

33. Garry Newman, 20/05/82 

2025: £262m

2024: £325m

Leisure: Video games

Newman founded Facepunch Studios, the developer of hit video games such as Rust and Garry’s Mod, more than 20 years ago. Over the years the Birmingham-based studio has sold 47.5m games as well as more than 60 million “skins” and other in-game products. Revenues climbed to £77.2m in 2024 and Rust continues to be a big seller. However, lower profits lead us to clip the value of Facepunch to £400m. Newman sold 37% of the business to the Chinese technology group Tencent but still owns the rest of Facepunch. He will have received the lion’s share of more than £70m of dividends paid out by the studio over the past decade. 

34. Dan and Melanie Marsden, 01/09/91 and 01/08/92

2025: £241m

2024: £230m

Fashion: Lingerie 

The Marsdens launched Lounge Underwear with just £1,000 of savings from Melanie’s parents’ spare room. The husband-and-wife team first met at primary school and began their “body positive” brand as an online-only retailer, but now have bricks and mortar stores in Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, London and Manchester. Revenues climbed by 12.4% to £76.3m in 2024 and the Solihull-based operation should still be worth £150m. The Marsdens have paid themselves £17.7m of dividends from Lounge over the past two years. Their separate investment operation, Blackbird Capital, shows wealth of £79.2m - up £6.6m on a year ago. 

35. Peter Horton and family, 20/09/69

2025: £240m

2024: £228m

Property: Commercial real estate 

Horton juggles chairing his family’s property empire with a job at a Cheltenham-based fund manager. Birmingham-based Horton Estates traces its roots back to the 19th century when butcher Issac Horton started using the profits from his food businesses to buy up real estate, cannily snapping up land around recently-built railway stations. He was responsible for constructing the Midland and Grand hotels – two of the city’s most important Victorian buildings. The Hortons’ 5.5 million square foot estate now has 450 tenants across the Midlands. The net assets on the balance sheet of the main company have climbed to £191.8m - up £8.4m. Horton and his family received dividends of £5.3m last year. 

36. Robert Jelley and family, 09/11/55

2025: £237m

2024: £239m

Construction: Housebuilding 

The Jelley family’s building group chalked up a £1.3m loss over the past year, citing an “extremely challenging” housing market due to high interest rates, economic uncertainty and inflationary pressures. Robert Jelley is the fifth generation to run Leicester-based Jelson Homes. The group also wraps in plumbing, machinery hire and rental business. Valued on a net asset basis Jelson should now be worth £214.4m. Three more companies owned by the Jelley family add another £22.6m. 

37. Jamie Lewis, 21/11/71 

2025: £235m

2024: £229m

Property: Student accommodation

Lewis’s plans to build a 27-storey tower block in Nottingham were blocked earlier this year. If approved, the building would have been the city’s tallest structure. Nottingham City Council also vetoed a second, 19-floor tower Lewis had hoped to construct. Together the two properties would have delivered 1,252 apartments for students and young professionals. Lewis indicated he would appeal both decisions. Under his Code brand, the developer has quietly amassed a large portfolio of nearly 2,500 student rooms across Coventry, Leicester and Warwick. A development is also underway in Sheffield. Lewis’s three Leicester-based businesses now show net assets of £235m.  

38. Andrew Thorpe and family, 14/07/49

2025: £226m

2024: £228m

Industry: Lighting

Thorpe began as an apprentice at his family’s lighting business about 60 years ago and is still serving as a director. He and his brother Ian both serve on the board and are grandsons of the founder, Frederick William Thorpe. Redditch-based FW Thorpe hasn’t had the brightest of years and the stockmarket-listed shares have lost some of their value. The Thorpes own more than half of the business, holdings together worth close to £200m. The family has done well from dividends paid out over the years, including more than £4m in 2024. 

39. Jessica Mills and family, 04/82

2025: £221m

New entry

Business services: Software development

MHR specialises in providing payroll and other human resources software for thousands of businesses, universities and colleges. Nearly 1,500 clients from a wide range of sectors are signed up to its long-term contracts. Founder’s daughter Jessica Mills chairs the Oakham-based firm, overseeing a near doubling of profits from £12m to £22m over the past year. She is the largest shareholder in the £200m family-owned operation. Dividends of more than £18m have been paid out over the past three years. A separate farming company and payouts in earlier years add another £10m. Before starting at MHR in 2015 Mills taught at the cooking school run by the famous chef, Michel Roux Junior.

40. Michael Wright and family, 28/05/56

2025: £217m

2024: £213m

Travel: Holidaymaker

Raised by a single mum keen for him to pursue a stable career, Wright started his working life  as a NatWest bank clerk. He hated it, quitting for a job on a campsite in France where he cultivated a series of side hustles. These included selling sliced melon, letting out caravans and organising coach tours. The latter would evolve into Riviera Tours. Last year the Burton-on-Trent cruise specialist celebrated its 40th birthday. Wright has earned well from two separate private-equity deals over the years. Buster Jimmy, his main holding company, has made recent gains of £4m.

41. Bob and Paul Heygate and family, 14/01/45 and 10/04/43

2025: £213m

New entry

Food and drink: Milling and baking

The Heygate family have been farming since 1562 and today run one of Britain’s biggest independent flour millers. From their Northamptonshire base, they own ten mills across four sites, two bakeries and around 7,500 acres of arable land. Bob and Paul Heygate serve as joint managing directors of the group, serving up profits of £17.3m in 2024 - annual growth of almost 50%. With revenues of £429.3m, the Heygates’ main company should easily be worth £200m. Stakes in separate companies add at least another £13m. 

42. Roger Weatherby and family, 06/08/62

2025: £210m

New entry

Financial services: Banking and horseracing 

Earlier this year Weatherby oversaw the sale of Weatherby Hamilton, an insurance broker specialising in racehorses and country estates. His family’s wider Weatherbys Group has been immersed in the horseracing world for more than 250 years, providing services ranging from banking and breeding to scientific research and the printing of racecards. Weatherbys Bank alone generated profits of £24m over the past year - and a £5m dividend for the family. Roger Weatherby served as chief executive of the £200m group for more than 20 years, and last year returned as chairman after a brief spell away from the Wellingborough-based business. 

43. Derek Passant, 02/01/60 

2025: £208m

New entry 

Consumer goods: Car sales

Passant’s cars dealership group has shined while others have struggled. His Shropshire-based Greenhouse Group shifted 74,000 vehicles in 2024 - up from 50,000 the year before. The strong year was attributed to offering clients a wider selection of car brands and plugging into the electric-vehicle market. Founded as a bicycle repair shop in 1912 by Victor Greenhous, Passant joined the business on the youth training scheme after leaving school. He led a management buyout in his mid 40s. Profits of £26m suggest the group is easily worth £200m now. Passant, a keen racehorse owner, took a £7m dividend last year.

44. David Beddow, 12/10/48

2025: £205m

2024: £240m

Consumer goods: Car parts

An avid explorer and Land Rover enthusiast, Beddow was driving around Africa in his early 30s when locals asked if he would sell them some of the spare car parts he was carrying with him on his travels - often offering vastly inflated prices because quality parts were so hard to find. The experience gave him the idea for Britpart, a supplier of everything from Land Rover wheels and seat covers to stereos and satnav systems. His Shropshire-based firm now supplies to more than 1,000 stockists around the world. With £201.4m sitting on its balance sheet Britpart should have been able to weather disruption from this year’s shutdown at Jaguar Land Rover. We assume Beddow received the £3.3m handed last year to the highest paid director.

45. Giles and Oliver Lawton and family, 29/12/69 and 13/01/70

2025: £203m

New entry

Industry: Manufacturing tubes

Lawton Tubes has plans to build a new office and warehouse in Coventry next year at a cost of around £20 million. Cousins Giles and Oliver Lawton run their family’s fourth-generation business, supplying pipes and tubes used in plumbing and air-conditioning as well as medical and industrial clients. The copper piping it makes for domestic use is now manufactured using 100% recycled copper. Profits have climbed to £20.3m on revenues of £241.6m. Lawton Tubes, which last year paid out a £1m dividend, should easily be worth £200m.

46. Thomas Dodd and family, 08/69

2025: £202m

New entry

Construction: Electrical services

Dodd Group has become a specialist at decarbonising homes and large buildings. The mechanical and electrical services contractor is growing quickly, increasing revenues by more than 20% to £249.4m in 2023-24. Founded by Harold Dodd in 1947, the Telford-based group remains owned by his family to this day. Thomas Dodd runs the business and has helped grow a property-maintenance business, securing contracts with the Ministry of Defence, schools and other large public sector organisations.There are now more than 1,100 people on the payroll and the operation should be worth £200m.

47= Tom Kirby and family, 06/11/50

2025: £200m

New entry

Retail: Action figures

For many years this former tax inspector ran Games Workshop, the high-street chain selling figures for Warhammer, the Lord of the Rings and other fantasy scenarios. Kirby retired eight years ago, but clung onto a stake in the Nottingham-based retailer worth around £80m. The stockmarket-listed company pays decent dividends and the shares have had a strong run over the past year, now valuing the business at £4.8bn. Kirby’s cut of those payouts and a run of share sales over the years should take him £200m. 

47= Raj Mehta and family, 03/64

2025: £200m

New entry 

Food and drink: Poultry farming

Mehta started his working life as an apprentice butcher in Bilston, starting his chicken-processing firm Salisbury Poultry in his mid-20s. Based between Wolverhampton and Walsall, the group supplies Red Tractor approved pieces of  poultry to fast food manufacturers, retailers and caterers. Revenues climbed by more than 10% to £218.3m in 2024. Mehta has also grown a sister company, Maelor Foods. This outfit is based in north Wales and provides poultry-slaughtering services. Turnover here has grown here to £255.2m. With underlying profits of more than £47m the two companies should easily be worth £200m. 

47= Anthony and Steve Smith and family, 05/60 and 03/04/69

2025: £200m

New entry 

Industry: Plumbing supplies 

Smith Brothers Leicester has come a long way since one Walter Smith set up a modest engineering business in the city back in 1897 at the age of just 23. The business has been manufacturing in the same building on the corner of Aylestone Road and Batten Street ever since. Best-known for its chain of around 100 SBS stores selling heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system components, the group also includes industrial dust extraction manufacturer Airplants and an outfit making biomass boilers. Now a sixth-generation family business, Anthony and Steve Smith currently serve as directors. Profits have climbed to £19.9m on record sales of £213.6m, suggesting the group is easily worth £200m. 

47= Sir Paul and Lady Smith, 05/07/46

2025: £200m

2024: £220m

Fashion: Clothes retail 

He may turn 80 next summer but the iconic designer is still breaking new ground, recently holding his first fashion show in Milan and launching a collaboration with the waxed-jacket maker Barbour. A talented cyclist in his teens, Smith’s dreams of turning professional were scuppered by a serious crash. Friends visiting him during his six-month convalescence would introduce him to the worlds of art and fashion. He was still in his mid 20s when he launched his brand from a Nottingham shop measuring just three metres square, selling clothes made by established companies alongside his own designs. Smith’s £200m brand – 40% owned by a Japanese investor – racked up a £5.3m loss on lower revenues over the past year, blaming weaker consumer confidence. A property company adds £61.3m.  

The Rules of Engagement

This list features entrepreneurs or business leaders who are either working in a company they started themselves or inherited. We also include those still living in the area who have recently sold their main businesses but retain interests in other ventures.  We valued stakes in quoted companies in September 2025. Private companies are usually valued according to profits ratios in their sectors or more generally where a sector rating is not evident, at around ten times their latest profit figures, which in many cases is more conservative than stock-market ratings.

We deduct appropriate sums for dividends and company sales to reflect tax unless we are certain someone is not domiciled in the UK.

Reserves

Simon Clarke and the Leavesley family, 08/07/65

2025: £200m

2024: £218m

Property: Housebuilding 

Clarke’s Rea Valley Tractors went into administration in September. The agricultural machinery supplier had chalked up annual losses of nearly £7m and the collapse is expected to lead to the loss of 150 jobs. Rea Valley was only ever a small part of Clarke and his family’s wealth. The Clarke and connected Leavesley dynasties owe their fortune to St Modwen. Simon Clarke served on the board of the Birmingham-based construction firm for many years. His father, Sir Stanley Clarke, founded the business. St Modwen was sold to US private-equity group Blackstone in 2021 for £1.3bn. The Clarkes and Leavesleys owned around 10% of the shares at the time. 

Paul Lukic and family, 04/05/53

2025: £200m

2024: £215m

Business services: Specialist recruitment

LA International is the largest supplier of security-cleared digital and technology staff to the British government. The Ministry of Defence and HM Revenue & Customs are both among its roster of clients. The Stoke-on-Trent recruitment firm now operates in more than 90 countries across five continents. Lukic set up and still chairs the business. He and his family own 92.4% of the shares. There were profits of £22.5m on revenues of £307.1m in 2023-24, suggesting the firm is now worth at least £200m.  

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