Rich List 2017 251-500
453= £ 250 m £ 10 m ▲
ROGER BROMLEY AND FAMILY
FootwearRussell & Bromley has been a favourite of Theresa May for
decades. In her speech at last year’s Tory conference she wore a
pair of £215 black suede slippers from the Kent-based retailer,
where profits slipped slightly to £20.8m on sales of £114.7m in
2015. Bromley, 73, chairs the company. 2016: £240m, 437=453= £ 250 m No change ■
PAUL AND JOHNNY CADDICK AND FAMILY
Construction and rugbyYorkshire-based Caddick Group is behind projects including
London’s Vauxhall Sky Gardens and Quarry Hill in Leeds. The
business is run by father-and-son Paul, 66, and Johnny, 35. Paul
owns rugby league club Leeds Rhinos. 2016: £250m, 418=453= £ 250 m £ 34 m ▲
JEREMY COLLER
FinanceHunting out cheap companies was the raison d’être behind
Coller, 59 next Wednesday, setting up London private equity firm
Coller Capital in 1990. It made £2.9m profit on £64m sales in
2015-16 and there were £4m of dividends. We raise Coller, who
wrote a book entitled The Lives, Loves and Deaths of Splendidly
Unreasonable Inventors, to £250m. 2016: £216m, 476=453= £ 250 m No change ■
STEVEN FERGUSON
Oil and gas servicesFerguson, 57, established his own company aged 16 supplying
containers for North Sea businesses. He eventually turned it into
Aberdeenshire’s oil and gas services operation Ferguson Group,
which he sold for £320m three years ago. 2016: £250m, 418=453= £ 250 m No change ■
SALLY FISZMAN
Diamonds and footballSwitzerland-based diamond dealer Danny Fiszman sold his 16%
stake in Arsenal football club for nearly £117m in 2011 and then
died three days later , leaving his £250m fortune to his widow,
Sally. Lady Tina Green, wife of Sir Philip Green (qv), once
poached Fiszman’s chef in Monaco. 2016: £250m, 418=453= £ 250 m No change ■
MICHAEL GOOCH AND FAMILY
FinanceEssex-born Gooch, 58, trained as an accountant, moved to New
York and started Wall Street brokerage GFI in 1987 , specialising in
government bond options. It floated in 2005 and when it was
taken over in 2015 netted his family £185m. 2016: £250m, 418=453= £ 250 m £ 75 m ▲
DOUG GREGORY
FurnitureSymphony produces fitted kitchen, bedroom and bathroom
furniture for Laura Ashley and other clients. Gregory, 77, set up
the business in 1971 and the Barnsley-based company made a
£14.5m profit in 2015. He has other assets. 2016: £175m, 598=453= £ 250 m No change ■
MICHAEL GREGORY
Engineering servicesGregory, 72, opened his first hardware store in Leicester in 1970
and went on to found Cromwell Group, the largest British-owned
industrial distributor in the world. He sold the operation to New
York-listed Grainger for £310m in 2015. 2016: £250m, 418=BEST FOOT FORWARD:
ROGER BROMLEY
AND FAMILY
Entry 453=, £250m452 £ 252 m £ 96 m ▲
IAN MacKECHNIE AND FAMILY
Financial servicesGlasgow-born MacKechnie, 73, built up a wholesale bakery
business and sold it in 1975. He followed that with a cafe chain,
bought by the Ladbroke Group 10 years later. After moving to
America, MacKechnie founded Amscot, a Florida financial
services operation worth £212m. MacKechnie has donated more
than $430,000 to charity in the past year. 2016: £156m, 666=453= £ 250 m £ 10 m ▲
ASSEM ALLAM AND FAMILY
GeneratorsAllam, 77, left his native Egypt in 1968 during President Gamal
Abdel Nasser’s rule and studied economics at Hull University,
later becoming an accountant. He made his fortune from the
generator manufacturer Allam Marine but is perhaps best known
in the north of England as the owner of Hull City football club,
which is now for sale. The team’s price tag has risen from £80m
to £120m but it faces a battle to retain its place in the Premier
League. Allam’s various interests are held in Allamhouse, which
saw its profits halve to £9.4m in 2015. 2016: £240m, 437=453= £ 250 m New entry ★
ARRON BANKS
Insurance and diamonds See panel, page 95Sported by celebrities Malia Obama,
Keira Knightley and David Beckham (qv),
Dr Martens — DMs — are a British design
classic alongside the Tube map and the
Mini. Which is ironic, since they were
created by 25-year-old doctor Klaus
Märtens after he injured his ankle skiing
on leave from the German army in 1945.
Northamptonshire shoe manufacturer
R Griggs Group bought up the exclusive
licensing rights and in 1960 the eight-
eyelet oxblood leather style known as
1460 came out “ with bouncing soles”.
Originally a work boot for postmen and
factory workers, DMs were taken up by
skinheads, Pete Townshend of the Whoand adopted by the country’s youth as
the ultimate symbol of self-expression.
Although the company’s fortunes
dipped a decade ago, there is now healthy
overseas demand for the boots. In 2013
private equity group Permira spent
£300m taking control of the business.
The Griggs family, led by father-and-son
Max, 78, and Stephen, 55, retained 20% of
the firm and picked up £213m from the
sale — which allowed Stephen to spend
$17.3m on a four-bedroom New York
apartment. Profits slipped from £34.7m
in 2014-15 to £24.7m a year later, but
rising net assets mean the bootmaker is
still worth £250m. 2016: £250m, 418=453= £ 250 m No change ■
MAX AND STEPHEN GRIGGS
FootwearGETTY; ALAMY; ALPHA PRESS
The Sunday Times Magazine • 105