The Sunday Times Magazine – 7 May 2017

Rich List 2017 751-1,000

952= £ 112 m ■

PATRICK FLANNERY AND FAMILY

Plant hire New entry

CLARE LAGO AND SARAH PICKERING

Property

The late Cavan Pickering led the development of three of

Nottingham’s leading hotels: the Savoy, the Crowne Plaza and

the Welbeck. After his death in 2012 his daughters Lago, 53, and

Pickering, 50, now own Pickering Properties, which we value on

its £55.7m net assets. Last year it paid a dividend of £55.8m to

another company owned by the sisters. 2016: £106m, 931=

MICHAEL MacDONALD

Engineering

MacDonald Humfrey in Luton builds factory technology for

Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover and Rolls-Royce. MacDonald,

62, owns nearly 80% of the business, which also provides airport

baggage handling and security equipment, and showed £18.4m

profit on £67.5m sales in 2015. The company is worth £140m,

with MacDonald’s stake valued at £112m. 2016: £104m, 978=

ALEX SCOTT AND FAMILY

Finance 2016: £112m, 874=

TONY AND MAUREEN WHEELER

Publishing

Bournemouth-born Wheeler, 70, and his wife, Maureen, 67, from

Belfast, founded travel publisher Lonely Planet in 1972. The

couple arrived in Australia with 27 cents and a camera, and their

travel diaries built a global publishing phenomenon. Their tourist

guides attracted a strong following among backpackers , with

100m copies being sold by 2010. The BBC bought the business

for £131m and later sold it at an £80m loss. The Wheelers have

homes in Melbourne and Kensington. 2016: £112m, 874=

961 £ 111 m ■

HENRY LUMLEY AND FAMILY

Finance 2016: £111m, 883=

962= £ 110 m ■

ROGER BAINES AND FAMILY

Delivery services 2016: £110m, 885=

SACHA BARON COHEN AND ISLA FISHER

Films

London-born Baron Cohen, 45, shot to fame with his spoof

gangsta Ali G. Baron Cohen’s films have taken more than $3.7bn

at the box office; Borat and Brüno took nearly $400m between

them. Based in Hollywood, he is married to actress Fisher, 41,

whose movies include Wedding Crashers. 2016: £105m, 936=

ALAN AND RONNIE BARTLETT

Vegetables

Alan, 61, runs Alan Bartlett and Sons (Chatteris) and another

operation, producing carrots and parsnips in Cambridge, which

had combined net assets of £22.5m in 2014-15. His brother

Ronnie, 53, controls Airdrie-based potato grower Bartlett

International Holdings, which showed £54.7m net assets in

2015-16. We value the businesses at £100m. 2016: £110m, 885=

JEROME BOOTH

Finance 2016: £106m, 931=

DALLAS BURSTON

Pharmaceuticals 2016: £110m, 885=

PHIL COLLINS

Music

The former Genesis drummer begins a string of concerts in June.

Collins will sing but his health means 16-year-old son Nicholas will

play the drums, except for a solo on In the Air Tonight. Londoner

Collins, 66, has sold 250m records and since 1986 has earned at

least £194m from his Philip Collins company. 2016: £110m, 885=

CHARLES CORFIELD

Computers 2016: £108m, 928=

KEITH DAWE

Recruitment

Resource Solutions Group, Dawe’s Bristol-based recruitment

operation, made £12.5m profits on £267m sales in 2015-16,

valuing it at £105m. Dawe, 66, is chairman of Bristol City football

club, owned by Steve Lansdown (qv). 2016: £105m, 936=

JOHN DENHOLM AND FAMILY

Shipping New entry

ALAN AND WENDY ENGLISH

Conference centres

Birmingham’s Hotel La Tour was disciplined last year for an

advert featuring a woman’s bottom ; its cheeky billboards were to

promote the boutique venue’s “new rear”. It is owned by English,

74, and his wife, Wendy, 72, who sold Milton Keynes-based Hayley

Conference Centres for £358m, with the couple holding a 57%

stake. They plan to expand their hotel brand. 2016: £110m, 885=

WILLIAM AND THOMAS GATACRE

Retailing

As Gatacre brothers William, 60, and Thomas, 63, were thinking

up a name for their toy company in 1999, Thomas’s seven-year-

old son Jack chipped in with Jellycat, which stuck. Sales of fluffy

soft toys made by the London-based business grew to £36.4m in

2015, with profits hitting £10.1m and assets rising to £26.3m.

There are dividends and other interests. 2016: £103m, 985=

Occasionally a book becomes a publishing

phenomenon. In the case of EL James (aka

Erika Mitchell), it can also sell a barrel-load

of red paint and introduce a great many

women to the idea that sadomasochistic

sex with a billionaire tycoon is a good

thing. And if Christian Grey was not

available, then they would make do with

their husband, a blindfold and nipple

clamps bought from Amazon.

Fifty Shades of Grey was published in

2011 and was followed a year later by Fifty

Shades Darker and a year after that by

Fifty Shades Freed. Formerly a TV

executive, 54-year-old Mitchell fi rst

published her book as fan fi ction. Fifty

Shades of Grey remains the UK’s fastest-

selling paperback and combined sales for

all three novels stand at 70m, including

35m in America. In 2015 her company

Fifty Shades showed £25m profi t on

£29.8m sales, had assets of £52.6m and

paid a £4.8m dividend.

Based in west London, Mitchell recently

bought a £5.6m home in Los Angeles. The

Fifty Shades of Grey Offi cial Pleasure

Collection, approved by the writer,

includes “a sophisticated collection of

bondage, sex toys and accessories”. They

include £14.99 “You are mine” handcuff s.

962= £ 110 m New entry ★

EL JAMES

Novels

SACHA BARON COHEN

AND ISLA FISHER

Entry 962=, £110m

138 • thesundaytimes.co.uk/richlist