Midlands figures prominent in Sunday Times Rich List
MIDLANDS business figures featured heavily in the latest annual Sunday Times Rich List, published yesterday.
JCB chairman Sir Anthony Bamford is at number 21 in the list with an estimated fortune of £3.15bn, the same figure as 2012, while mobile phones entrepreneur John Caudwell is at number 48= with a personal fortune of £1.5bn, also the same as last year.
Meanwhile, the Potteries-based Coates family, who own the online gaming group Bet365, are set to become Britain’s first betting billionaires. Father, daughter and son, Peter, Denise and John Coates have seen their combined fortune rise by £125m in the last year to £950m.
They appear at 93= in the list.
Ian Coxon, editor of The Sunday Times Rich List, said: “In 2010 the Coates fortune stood at £500m. It reached £750m a year later and now the family is worth £925m. On this performance, within a couple of years, it is likely that Peter, Denise and John Coates will become Britain’s first betting billionaires.”
Bet365 made a profit of £110m on £722m sales in 2011-12.
Other Midlands business people to feature in the list include Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan, who run the 2 Sisters food group, with and estimated fortune of £700m. They are at number 126=.
Sir Peter Rigby, who owns Coventry Airport and Birmingham IT group SCH, has an estimated personal fortune of £550m (£2012: £480m) and appears at 158= on the list. Rigby is also chairman of the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
And Wolves owner Steve Morgan appears at 171 on the list with a personal fortune of £510m, a £100m increase on last year’s figures.
