West Midlands’ top 10 richest increase wealth by £2.5bn in a year
THE Coates family, which owns Bet365, has seen the largest increase in wealth in the region with a £1.42bn jump in the last year.
The Sunday Times Rich List has said Denise, John and Peter Coates are worth £3.765bn, moving them up one place to second in the West Midlands, and 24th nationally.
The richest couple in the UK, Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli, are also the wealthiest people in the West Midlands, worth £9.78bn, an increase of £330m on last year.
Mrs Bertarelli’s family, the Ropers, control Churchill China in Staffordshire. When she met Ernesto, the pharmaceuticals billionaire, the former Miss UK was inspired to compose Black Coffee about him, which was later a number one single for All Saints.
All five West Midlands billionaires – which also includes JCB founder Lord Bamford and family, Phones4U’s John Caudwell, and entrepreneur Tony Murray and family – have seen significant gains in their fortunes in the past year, adding £2.3bn to their combined wealth of £19.6bn.
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Outside of the billionaires, the biggest gains in the past year have been made by Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan, who have seen their fortune more than double. They own West Bromwich-based 2 Sisters, one of the UK’s largest food and drink producers. With gains of £270m in the past year and overall wealth now put at £430m, the couple rank 12th in the West Midlands.
A new entry to the Rich List and in 19th place in the West Midlands Rich List is Jeremy Peace, the chairman and majority owner of Premier League football club West Bromwich Albion. Its parent company made £14.6m profit on £86.7m sales in 2013-14, while other assets take Peace to £150m.
The region’s top 20 have a combined wealth of £25.275bn.
The 2016 Sunday Times Rich List – West Midlands
1 Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli, £9.78bn
2 Denise, John and Peter Coates, £3.765bn
3 Lord Bamford and family, £3.5bn
4 John Caudwell, £1.5bn
5 Tony Murray and family, £1.05bn
6 Steve Morgan, £880m
7 Tony Gallagher, £600m
8 Sir Peter Rigby, £550m
9 Lord Edmiston, £540m
10= Casper MacDonald-Hall, £480m
10= Roy Richardson and family, £480m
12 Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan, £430m
13 Thomas Mackie and family, £380m
14 Richard Harpin, £264m
15 Paul Newey, £238m
16 Andrew and Linda Leaver, £205m
17 Keith Bradshaw and family, £190m
18 Sir Euan Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe and family, £175m
19 Jeremy Peace, £150m
20 William Lloyd and family, £148m
