Familiar names on Rich List as housebuilder remains construction’s wealthiest man

The annual ranking of the UK’s wealthiest 350 people sees Bloor Homes founder John Bloor remain construction’s richest man with others joining him on the list including Wates chairman Tim Wates and Renaker Build founder Daren Whitaker.

A former plasterer, Bloor, who has owned Triumph motorcycles since 1983, has an estimated fortune of £3.396bn, keeping him at 54^th on the list – although his estimated wealth is down £92m on last year.

Bloor is some way behind Sir Anthony Bamford, who is in charge of the JCB construction equipment business, who has an estimated fortune of £7.65bn, up £1.75bn, which moves him up 13 places to number 19 on the list.

Others on this year’s Sunday Times Rich List are the Murphy family, which owns the north London-based civils and building business J Murphy founded by the late John Murphy in 1951, with an estimated fortune of £950m, up £19m on last time, while the Kirkland family behind Bowmer & Kirkland saw its estimated fortune tick up £10m to £821m.

Steve Morgan, the man who founded Redrow which is set to be bought by Barratt after shareholders at both firms voted to approve the deal this week, saw his fortune rise £130m to £915m.

Other housebuilders on the list include David Wilson, the man behind housebuilder Wilson Bowden, which was bought by Barratt in 2007, with a fortune of £638m, up £28m, while Shanly Homes founder Michael Shanly is worth £545m, a rise of £43m.

Also on the list is Charles Gallagher who owns a majority stake in private housebuilder Abbey whose fortune is put at £885m, up £109m. And John McCarthy, who helped co-found McCarthy & Stone before setting up Churchill Retirement Living, and sons Clinton and Spencer are estimated to be worth £687m, up £11m.

There is a re-entry for Andy Hill, the founder of South-east housebuilder Hill Group, with an estimated fortune of £520m while Daren Whitaker, the founder of Renaker, the developer and builder behind some of Manchester’s tallest towers, has an estimated fortune of £646m, a rise of £46m.

But another Manchester-based developer, Chris Oglesby and family, who own Bruntwood, saw their fortune drop £216m to £572m.

Other re-entries include Paul and Johnny Caddick, the father and son behind the West Yorkshire-based developer and builder Caddick Group, with a fortune of £530m and Eric Gadsden, who co-founded brickmaker Michelmersh, which yesterday said it expected to sell more bricks this year, is also a re-entry with a fortune of £375m.

Tim Wates, who took over from cousin James Wates as Wates chairman last spring, and family saw their wealth tick up £11m to £426m. And Deep Valecha and family, the prospective new owner of M&E contractor T Clarke, with the £90m deal expected to be rubber-stamped this summer, saw their fortune jump £80m to £444m.

One name missing from the list was Ray O’Rourke and family whose estimated fortune last year was put at £350m. But Laing O’Rourke, which is owned by O’Rourke and brother Des, racked up the biggest loss in its history with a £288m pre-tax loss for the year to March 2023.

The UK’s richest men are brothers Siri and Gopi Hinduja, who have made their £37.2bn fortune from industry and finance. The figure, up £2.2bn on last time, is the biggest in the Rich List’s 36 years of running.

The pair are behind the transformation of the Old War Office in Whitehall into a 120-bed Raffles hotel.