Property holds the balance of wealth

Jan 16 2008 Birmingham Post Rich List 2008. Words by Ian Strachan

It was Napoleon who said that we Brits were a nation of shopkeepers, but by the evidence of the 2008 Birmingham Post Rich List he might have been more accurate if he’d described us as a nation of property developers.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Macromedia's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

Once again it’s property developers and in particular those involved in commercial property, either for development or as an investment, who dominate our list. But that said, there may have been a grain of truth in Napoleon’s most famous piece of xenophobia. There is certainly a fair sprinkling of shopkeepers in our list.

Download an XL spreadsheet
of the Rich List here >

Will Adderley and his parents are well placed at number 15 following their successful flotation of soft furnishings retailer Dunelm Mill. Hardware king Tony Wilkinson isn’t far behind with his price-cutting Wilkinson stores.

Fashion designer and retailer Sir Paul Smith comes in at 22, while pharmacist Christopher Taylor and the inimitable Chinese supermarket emperor Woon Wing Yip also wave the flag for the shopkeeper.

And on the subject of the Chinese, it’s the monumental explosion of the Chinese economy, along with those of India and Russia, which have fuelled the most significant development in this year’s Rich List - the doubling of the number of billionaires in the region.

In 2007 we had just two billionaires - mobile phone entrepreneur John Caudwell and property king Viscount Portman. In 2008 they have been joined by visionary JCB boss Sir Anthony Bamford, and the head of Wolverhampton-based Caparo, Lord Paul who moves into second place. The success of their companies in the fast growing tiger economies has boosted their fortunes past the magic billion mark.

As far as the rest of the list goes, with only a few exceptions the rich continue to get richer.

The collapse of the sub-prime lending market in the US and its fallout across the world’s banks, the Northern Rock disaster, the assault on the private equity sector, the swingeing changes to capital gains tax, high material and fuel costs, the sharp reversal of the housing market and the fact that the buy-to-let gravy train has finally hit the buffers might, you could reasonably expect, affect the fortunes of our super rich.

Not a bit of it. The personal fortunes of the wealthy continue to grow, and the £50 million you needed to scrape into the bottom end of last year’s Rich List simply isn’t enough this time around. The price of entry into the 2008 Rich List has grown to £60 million.

Property continues to be king, with ten of our top 20 making their money in that sector. While residential property is going through an unaccustomed tough time, industrial, commercial and retail property is performing well, with land banks continuing to grow in value.

The entertainment sector once again makes a significant contribution to the list, with Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant, Robbie Williams and Jasper Carrott all retaining a place. Sporting interests represented include horse racing and football club ownership, with Randy Lerner and Sir Jack Hayward coming into the list for the first time. But no football players are here. Even the biggest earning footballers struggle to challenge the super-wealthy.

In the past we’ve bemoaned the fact that women are under-represented in the Rich List and again this year there is just one woman in the list - building heiress Freddie Linnett with a fortune of £450 million. But closer examination shows that behind some of our successful men there are women who are not just surprised. They have made a very significant contribution to their family’s wealth.

The Osbournes are an obvious example. Sharon Osbourne’s earning capabilities equal, if not overtake, those of her rocker husband Ozzy. But there are others.

Will Adderley’s mother Jean founded Dunelm Mill with her husband Bill. Both started as market traders. Gambling millionaire Peter Coates’ Bet365 online betting business was based on an idea from his daughter Denise. Baljinder Boparan plays an equal role in the chicken processing business run with her husband Ranjit. And Richard Smith’s IT consultancy PCMS was set up with his wife Brenda. So there is definitely girl power at work in our wealth league table.

In assessing who goes into the list and who stays out there is inevitably some subjectivity involved, and we can only work from publicly available information. We looked at the personal wealth, property interests, shareholdings, company valuations, liabilities, and other known wealth of people who either live and/or work in the Midlands, or who have major business interests in the region or have spent most of their lives here. We took longevity and commitment to the Midlands into account.

One final sobering thought. You would need to have at least £90 million in the bank today to enjoy the lifestyle of a person with £1 million in 1907, which probably explains why today’s super rich don’t employ quite so many servants.

Rich List 2008

1. (1) John Caudwell £1.65 bn (£1.65 bn)

2. (16) Lord Paul of Marylebone & family £1.5bn (£350m)

3. (2) Viscount Portman and family £1.45bn (£1.45bn)

4. (3) Sir Anthony Bamford and family £1.2bn (£950m)

5. (-) Randy Lerner £800m ( - )

6. (4) Felix Dennis £750m (£710m)

7. (9) David Wilson and family £725m (£520m)

8. (8) John Bloor £650m (£530m)

9. (6) Jacques Gaston Murray £640m (£600m)

10. (9) Robert Edmiston £630m (£520m)

11. (6=) Jorgen Philip-Sorensen £600m (£600m)