Rich List 2017 501-750
663= £ 170 m ■
SIR ROD STEWART
MusicLast year Stewart, 72, played more than 65 shows to 500,000-
plus fans, raking in $56m at the box office. Born in London to a
Scottish father, Celtic fan Stewart was knighted in the Queen’s
birthday honours in 2016. The singer and his third wife, Penny
Lancaster, enjoy gardening, and he once revealed that when
suffering from throat cancer he had considered quitting his music
career and starting a horticulture business. His home is a grade II
listed house near Harlow in Essex, set in 46 acres of pasture and
woodland. He bought the £4.65m, 10-bedroom mansion in 2013
and spent three years renovating it. 2016: £160m, 640=670 £ 169 m ■
ROD AND SHEILA FLAVELL
Business services 2016: £110m, 885=671 £ 168 m ■
SERGE CRASNIANSKI
Photo boothsA French nuclear physicist with more than 100 patents to his
name, Crasnianski, 74, runs Surrey-based photo booth operator
Photo-Me International, which is valued at £579m. Crasnianski,
who divides his time between London, France and Switzerland,
has a 22.48% stake in the firm worth £130m. 2016: £165m, 626=672= £ 167 m ■
JOHN COTTON AND FAMILY
BeddingT he John Cotton Group produces 40% of the duvets and pillows
used in the UK, with the West Yorkshire business making 20m
pillows and 10m duvets each year. Under Cotton, 76, it has grown,
acquiring companies in Britain and Europe and securing a series
of partnerships in China. Profits rose by 50% to £14.9m on
£171.9m sales in 2015-16 and with £56.6m net assets plus a strong
balance sheet, the operation is worth £150m. 2016: £115m, 862=JONATHAN GREEN
Hedge fundFormer Goldman Sachs trader Green, 57, co-founded the GLG
hedge fund group in London with Pierre Lagrange (qv). After
leaving the business in 2003 he later sold £30m worth of shares
but retained an £18m stake. With Michael Sherwood (qv), Green
also helped finance the Harefield Academy in Uxbridge, west
London, which is involved with Watford football club’s youth
system. He is a generous charity donor. 2016: £197m, 546=674= £ 166 m ■
PHILIP AND DONNA BERBER
Day trading 2016: £166m, 624=ROBERT CARTER AND FAMILY
ConstructionCarter, 63, became the joint managing director of his family’s
Norwich-based building firm after the death of his father in 1974.
RG Carter made £7.4m profit on £267.6m sales in 2015. It is worth
its £117m net assets and we add £49m for those in the separate
Bullen Investments property business. 2016: £150m, 685=HARRY DOBSON
Mining and football 2016: £166m, 624=PADDY MCKILLEN
Property 2016: £156m, 666=678= £ 165 m ■
WILLIAM ALEXANDER AND FAMILY
Chemicals 2016: £125m, 799=ANDY BELL
Finance 2016: £165m, 626=SIR JOHN MACTAGGART AND FAMILY
Property 2016: £175m, 598=JOHN TIMPSON AND FAMILY
Shoe repairs and key-cuttingTimpson has added mobile phone and iPad repairs to its staple
shoe repair, locksmith and dry-cleaning services. The £160m
Manchester-based business is chaired by Timpson, 74, whose
son James is the company’s chief executive. 2016: £130m, 766=LORD VERJEE
Finance and retailingVerjee, 59, has joined Sir Richard Branson’s (qv) daughter Holly to
invest in mOm, developing a baby incubator. He set up Domino’s
Pizza in the UK and owned Watford FC with Sir Elton John (qv). In
2016 he gave £32.4m to his Rumi Foundation. 2016: £165m, 626=ROGER WATERS
MusicIn October, Waters, 73, played California’s Desert Trip festival,
where the top acts pocketed about $10m (£8m). The former Pink
Floyd member, managed by Mark Fenwick (qv), starts a 54-show
US tour this month. Surrey-born Waters left the band in the
mid-1980s but commands huge royalties. 2016: £160m, 640=684= £ 164 m ■
WILLIAM ASPREY AND FAMILY
Guns and jewelleryLuxury jeweller and gunsmith William & Son, owned by Asprey, 51,
shot to profits of £31.4m in 2015-16 after being hit by a £65,000
loss the year before. New premises in Mayfair have led to a rise in
footfall and sales. The original New Bond Street jeweller was sold
in 1995, with the family collecting £100m. 2016: £140m, 734=GORDON AND ALAN TURNER
Industry 2016: £160m, 640=686= £ 163 m ■
MATTHEW FREUD
MediaThe latest clients of London-based PR king Freud, 53, include
Amazon’s TV show The Grand Tour, hosted by former Top Gear
presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James
May. Freud’s firm had £73m assets in 2015. 2016: £155m, 670=KEVIN AND MICHAEL LAGAN
ConstructionBrothers, Kevin, 67, and Michael, 61, took over their father’s
Belfast-based construction operation, splitting it into two groups.
Kevin chairs Lagan Group Holdings, while Michael’s Lagan
Construction Group increased its profits by £4.4m on £212.6m
turnover in 2015 when assets fell to £34m. 2016: £160m, 640=THE OUGHTRED FAMILY
FoodHull-based William Jackson Food Group’s businesses include the
Aunt Bessie Yorkshire pudding maker and the Abel & Cole
organic vegetable delivery service. The founder’s great-great-
grandson Nicholas Oughtred, 56, is chairman of the £150m outfit,
which made £14.2m profit in 2015-16. 2016: £160m, 640=689= £ 162 m ■
ROBERT JELLEY AND FAMILY
Construction 2016: £145m, 721=GUY JOHNSON
Mobile phones 2016: £160m, 640=SIR MARTIN LAING AND FAMILY
Property and constructionThe John Laing construction business, which was taken over in
2006 for £1bn, had its last family chairman in Laing, 75. FamilyMARTIN GEORGE
AND FAMILY
Entry 692=, £161mLOYALTY BONUS:
SIR KEITH MILLS
Entry 694=, £160m“You can
never sit
back and
think your
job is done.
I visit about
800 shops
a year,
because
the only
way to run a
business is
to meet the
business”
JOHN TIMPSON120 • thesundaytimes.co.uk/richlist