West Midlands Rich List 2024: The 28 richest West Midlands billionaires and millionaires in Insider’s Midlands Rich List

This year’s crop of the most wealthy billionaires and millionaires have a combined wealth of over £50bn.

That’s an increase of £4.9bn on last year’s data - with Staffordshire JCB owner Lord Anthony Bamford topping the overall list with his personal wealth rising by a whopping 60 per cent to £9.45bn.

And Staffordshire is home to the Insider Rich List 2024 second most wealth too - that’s the Bet365 entrepreneurs Denise, John and Peter Coates from Stoke-on-Trent. However their wealth health has taken a bit of a dip compared to their entry in last year’s list - falling by £72m, despite rising turnover.

The listing includes Oswestry animal feed and poultry business owners William Lloyd and family and Shropshire-based car parts business owner David Beddow.

The Insider Rich List has been compiled by Robert Watts, who also puts together the Sunday Times Rich Lists.

He has compiled the listing by focussing on those who are working in a business they either started themselves or inherited. Also included are those still living in the area who have recently sold their main businesses but retain interests in other ventures.

Midlands Business Insider editor Kurt Jacobs further explained: “We valued stakes in quoted companies in October 2024 according to prices prevailing in the Financial Times. Private companies were valued according to the ratios in their sectors or more generally where a sector rating was not evident, at around ten times their latest profit figures, which in many cases is more conservative than the stock market ratings.

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

Here are the 28 richest billionaires and millionaires in the West Midlands, according to Inder’s Midlands Rich List:

1.Lord Bamford and family (aged 79) (Midlands ranking 1)

£9.450bn (2023: £5.9bn)

Construction equipment: JCB

The yellow digger tycoon just keeps on trucking, rising to the top of our Midlands Rich List this year. Profits jumped by 45 per cent to £805.8m at JCB in 2023. The Bamfords own all of the Uttoxeter-based £8bn construction equipment giant and the have a coterie of other businesses, including  Lady Carole’s Daylesford Organic food brand and hydrogen-powered bus manufacturer Wrightbus. Vast dividends from JCB – including £550m over the past two years – have helped the Bamfords amass a stunning property portfolio and other glittering assets, including the 206-foot super yacht Virginian. Bamford this year retired as a member of the House of Lords, but chugs on at the wheel of JCB.

2. Denise, John, and Peter Coates (ages 57, 54, 86) (Midlands ranking 2)

£7.451bn (2023: £8.319bn)

Gambling

The queen of British gambling paid herself a £220.7m salary last year. Coates and her family also scooped £93.3m of dividends from Bet365. But although annual turnover has climbed to £3.4bn the Stoke-on-Trent online betting giant chalked up a £72.6m loss  in 2022-23, cutting its value to £6bn. The family typically takes dividends of around £100m a year, and Denise Coates’ salary last year exceeded £220m.

3. Jean Jacques Murray and family (age 58) (Midlands ranking 5)

£2.8bn (2023: £2.732bn)

Fire protection, air treatment hire, property, and hotels

Murray is the son and heir of the late war hero and entrepreneur Tony Murray, who built up a 90 per cent stake in the Wolverhampton-based manufacturer Andrew Sykes Group as well as a portfolio of hotels and the fire equipment maker London Security.

4. Sir Peter, James, and Steve Rigby and family (ages 81, 53, 52) (Midlands ranking 7)

£1.594bn (2023: £867m)

IT, Aviation, and Hotels

Profits at Rigbys’ Stratford-upon-Avon-based conglomerate have almost doubled to £156m over the past year. Their interests span IT, finance, hotels, and property. Coventry’s airport is one of five in his collection. Rigby’s sons James and Steve work with him. Rigby’s Stratford-upon-Avon-based collection of businesses began with SCC and technology remains at the heart of his conglomerate to this day. SCC provides cloud services, cyber security, software, and a range of other IT services to banks, universities, and government departments. Rigby last year opened the Rigby Academy to help young people develop their IT skills. Profits at the wider Rigby Group have almost doubled to £156m over the past year, and the operation should easily be worth £1.5bn.

5. Caspar MacDonald-Hall and family (age 73) (Midlands ranking 9)

£1.32bn (2023: £1.170bn)

Property

MacDonald-Hall’s largest property company LCP paid out a £25m dividend last year. The Kingswinford-based group owns industrial and commercial property across the UK, France, Poland, and Romania.

6. Sir Tony Gallagher (72) (Midlands ranking 10)

£1.295bn (2023: £1.275bn)

Property

A master at enhancing land values by securing planning permission, Gallagher sold one of his businesses for £520m and continues to build warehouses, flats, and other developments. For years a Tory donor, he hosted David Cameron’s 50th birthday at his Cotswold mansion.

7. The Richardson family (Midlands ranking 11)

£980m (2023: £965m)

Property

Brothers Martyn, Lee, and Carl now run the Richardson family’s Oldbury-based property empire, launched by their father Roy and his brother Don soon after World War Two.

8. Lord Edmiston (age 78) (Midlands ranking 12)

£857m (£871m)

Car sales and property

The evangelical Christian’s car dealing business is ticking along well. His Solihull-based property empire chalked up a £37.6m loss last year.

9. Ben Francis and family (age 32) (MIdlands ranking 14)

£725m (2023: £925m)

Fashion

Francis set up the ath-leisure brand Gymshark after dropping out of university and working as a Pizza Hut delivery boy. Fond of pumping iron himself, he started out selling health supplements with his school friend Lewis Morgan. The pair changed tack after clocking that margins on clothing were higher. Francis’s mum taught him how to sew, and he began making muscle vests and hoodies in his family’s garage. An investment round in 2020 valued Gymshark at more than £1bn. Francis and family still own 72 per cent.

10. Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan (ages 58, 56) (Midlands ranking 15)

£686m (2023: £702m)

Food

The Boparans founded 2 Sisters Food in 1993. Their Birmingham-based business supplies poultry to Asda, Sainsbury's, KFC, and other clients on £3b plus turnover. The couple also own a portfolio of restaurant chains, including Carluccio’s, Ed’s Easy Diner, Fishworks, and Giraffe. Their private office shows £518m on its balance sheet and the separate chicken producer adds another £168m.

11. Richard Harpin and family (age 60) (MIdlands ranking 17)

£670m (2023: £635m)

Insurance and repair services

Harpin made nearly £500m from the sale of Homeserve two years ago. The Walsall-based tech firm hooks up homeowners with plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople. He had the idea after struggling to find a plumber to fix a boiler in Newcastle at short notice. Harpin is now investing more than £100m in fast-growing, medium-sized firms.

12. William Lloyd and family (age 69) (Midlands ranking 19)

£570m (2023: £470m)

Animal feed and poultry

Lloyd’s animal feeds supplier continues to grow, increasing turnover by 28 per cent last year. The Oswestry-based firm should be worth £550m and wealth outside the business adds £20m.

13. John Kelly and family (age 55) (Midland ranking 21)

£378m (2023: £325m)

Construction

Kelly set up the civil engineering outfit MV Kelly with his father in the mid-1990s. The Solihull-based firm is now worth around £350m, and there have been £45m of dividends over the past three years.

14. Garry Newman (age 42) Midland ranking (23=)

£325m (2023: £297m)

Video games

Newman’s Facepunch Studios is behind hit games including Rust and Garry’s Mod, which have sold 39 million copies over the past 20 years He still owns at least half the £500m Walsall-based developer. After profits of £34.2m in 2023, Facepunch should easily be worth £500m

15. Chris Woolridge and family (age 44) (Midlands ranking 29)

£308m (£257m)

Industry

Woolridge runs Willenhall-based Wedge Group, the UK’s largest hot-dip galvanising firm. Profits at the £300m business climbed by 25 per cent in 2022-23.

16. Timothy Goodwin and family (age 34) (MIdlands ranking 30)

£301m (2023: £229m)

Industry

Goodwin became chairman of the valve maker and precision engineering firm Goodwin before his 30th birthday. He and his family own more than 50 per cent of the Stoke-based firm – a stake worth £271.6m after an impressive run for the stock-market-listed shares.

17. Keith Bradshaw and family (age 81)

£265m (£261m)

Car sales

After making money from selling care home business Takare, Bradshaw set up car dealer Listers. He still owns half the shares in the Stratford-upon-Avon-based, £300m operation.

18. Christopher Miller and family (ages 70 and 73) (Midlands ranking 35)

£250m (2023: £212m)

Property and industry

Chris Miller recently picked up an exit bonus of around £53m from Melrose, the £5.7bn industrial group he set up more than 20 years ago. He retains a stake worth around £10m, and his family also have the Harris & Sheldon investment and property group. Assets here have grown to £122.4m – up £12.6m in a year.

19. David Beddow (age 76) (Midlands ranking 36)

£240m (2023: £185m)

Car Parts

Profits at Britpart almost doubled to £27.7m in 2023-24. Founded by Beddow more than 40 years ago, the Shropshire-based firm supplies parts for Land Rovers to more than 1,000 clients around the world and should easily be worth £240m.

20. Dan and Melanie Marsden (ages 33 and 32) (Midlands ranking 38)

£230m (£200m)

Lingerie

The husband and wife team who set up Lounge Underwear paid themselves a £10.7m dividend last year. Their lingerie retailer, built on Instagram marketing and mail order. is expanding overseas, and the Marsdens have an investment company, Blackbird,  that last year made gains of £10.2m. The Solihull-based brand is now opening brick-and-mortar stores and expanding into Europe.

21= Andrew Thorpe and family (age 75) (Midlands ranking 40=)

£228m (2023: £277m)

Lighting

The grandson of FW Thorpe’s founder, Andrew Thorpe and his family have stakes worth £203m in the Redditch-based lighting manufacturer, down £51m.

21= Peter Horton and family (age 55) (Midlands ranking 40=)

£228m (£233m)

Property

Horton juggles his day job at Close Brothers Asset Management in Cheltenham with chairing his family’s commercial property empire. Hortons’ Estate has buildings in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and elsewhere in the Midlands and the North. There are assets worth £183.3m on its balance sheet, down £8.7m since last year.

22. Simon Clarke and the Leavesley family (age 59) (Midlands ranking 43)

£218m (2023: £225m)

Property

Clarke’s agricultural machinery supplier Rea Valley Tractors made a £6.7m loss last year. For many years, he served on the board of St Modwen, the Birmingham-based construction company founded by his late father, Sir Stanley Clarke.

23. Paul Lukic and family (age 71) (Midlands ranking 44)

£215m (2023: £172m)

Recruitment

Lukic runs LA International, providing IT contractors and other security-cleared staff for the Ministry of Defence, HMRC, and other clients in more than 90 countries. He and his family own 92.4 per cent of the £200m, Stoke-based business. Dividends add another £15m.

24. Michael Wright and family (age 68) (Midlands ranking 45)

£213m (£200m)

Leisure

Wright quit the bank clerk job he hated to set up Burton-on-Trent cruise specialist Riviera Tours and earned well from two separate private equity deals. He worked on a campsite in France,selling melons to beachgoers for a 600 per cent mark-up, then using the profits to buy 120 caravans for rent. Soon, he was offering coach tours to older tourists. Buster Jimmy, his main holding company, has made gains of £13m over the past year. Wright earned well from two separate private equity deals, one valuing Riviera at around £250m.

25. Andrew Leaver and family (age 61) (Midlands ranking 46)

£211m (£207m)

Pharmaceuticals

Leaver, who made a fortune from setting up Staffordshire-based pharmaceutical company Clinigen, has an investment company with assets of £55.8m – up £4.4m in a year.

26. Nitin Sodha and family (age 68) (Midlands ranking 47)

£210m (£200m)

Pharmaceuticals

Sodha started his Knights Pharmacy chain from a Portakabin 40 years ago. Turnover has grown by almost 40 per cent to nearly £59m. Although he sold his medicine wholesaling business, he retains a property company.

27. Anthony and Graham Coombs and family (age 72) (MIdlands ranking 48)

£202m (£222m)

Finance

Former Tory MP Anthony Coombs, his brother Graham, and fellow family members own stakes in Stratford-upon-Avon lender S&U worth £110m.

28. Mike Walker and family (age 81) (Midlands ranking 50)

£200m (£220m)

Flooring

Guernsey-based Walker took an £11.3m dividend from Karndean last year. But the Evesham flooring company is worth less after lower turnover and a £13.1m loss.

For the full listing please see the Midlands Insider Business Magazine