Former child refugee, now worth £240m, heads inaugural NW Beauty Rich List
Sanjay Vadera, founder of the Manchester-based Fragrance Shop, tops the regional list of a new national ranking revealing the UK’s top 30 richest hair, beauty and make-up entrepreneurs.
The Sunday Times has published the inaugural Beauty Rich List.
The entries have built their wealth from products and services ranging from skincare and hair salons to false eyelashes and tanning shops.
Sanjay Vadera tops the Beauty Rich list in the North West, while ranking third in the overall UK listing.
Vadera arrived in the UK at the age of five after his family was expelled from their Ugandan homeland by Idi Amin’s regime.
He is now estimated to be worth £240m earned from his 200 shops and stalls selling perfume, aftershave, skincare and cosmetics from Chanel, Clinique and an array of other top labels.
Second on the North West list is Paige Williams (national ranking, equal sixth). She is the sole owner of her own brand P. Louise, which sells an array of teen-friendly cosmetics and she also runs a make-up academy.
This entrepreneur grew-up on a Manchester council estate and left school without any qualifications. While working as an assistant at the Selfridges make-up counter she became determined to start her own business, persuading her grandmother to lend her £20,000 to do so. She is now estimated to be worth £100m.
Also on the list in the North West are young business women Jenna Meek, worth an estimated £52m, and Jess Hunt, estimated to be worth £46m (ranked 13th and 16th, respectively). Together they founded the fast-growing make-up brand, Refy, with its main headquarters in Manchester.
ESPA Spa bathroom
Susan Harmsworth (equal 14th), is most well known for the brand ESPA, which sells moisturisers, eye masks and other luxury treatments to hundreds of spas around the world. ESPA is based in Manchester. Harmsworth, who has stepped away from the day-to-day running of the business, is believed to be worth around £50m.
The two college friends, Elliot Barton and Charlotte Tiplady (both equal 19th), are two other entries on the list .
They teamed up to set up Merseyside-based Tatti Lashes.
Ariana Grande, Paris Hilton and Nicki Minaj are among the A-listers to have worn their false eyelashes. They are both estimated to be worth £32m each.
Topping the overall UK list is Queen of British cosmetics, Charlotte Tilbury, with an estimated fortune of £350m.
Other notable names include haircare magnate John Frieda, former Apprentice star, Susie Ma, brand powerhouse, Jo Malone and ex-BBC presenter, Trinny Woodall.
In total, the 30 entrepreneurs on the Beauty Rich List boast a combined estimated wealth of £2.174bn.
The list includes 19 women and 14 men, with ages spanning from 27-year-old Darcy Laceby, co-founder of Absolute Collagen, to 84-year-old Mike Harris of The Belgravia Clinic.
Joining Laceby in her twenties are Jess Hunt and Ama Amo-Agyei, further highlighting the industry’s ability to foster young talent.
Compiled by the same team behind The Sunday Times Rich List, Robert Watts, compiler of the list, said: “There are so many inspiring people with rags to riches stories here. Our Beauty List includes someone who came to the UK as a child refugee, another who was homeless and camping in woodland during his teens.
“There are others who left school with few or no qualifications to their name, one who was expelled. We have entries who suffered hair loss and very serious skin conditions that led them to create their own treatments which they later started to sell.”
He added: “All these people went on to build successful beauty brands making products people love, creating jobs, contributing decent sums to the public finances and of course making many of us look and feel a lot better along the way.”
Phoebe McDowell, beauty and interiors director of The Sunday Times, said: “Beauty is big business, and this inaugural list demonstrates the power of creativity and innovation in the sector.
“These entrepreneurs have not only built brands but changed the way we think about hair, make-up, and skincare.”
