Entrepreneur soaring up the region's rich list

Apr 28 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

GENEROUS businessman and television star Duncan Bannatyne is the region’s biggest climber in the latest rich list, which was released yesterday.

The Dragon’s Den entrepreneur has increased his fortune by a massive £110m in the past 12 months according to the Sunday Times Rich List, taking his estimated worth to £310m.

That extra fortune has shot him up to second among the North East’s richest, from fourth last year, putting him above the Duke of Northumberland and Duncan Davidson, head of Persimmon Homes.

The 59-year-old, who runs a chain of fitness clubs, hotels and spas, has moved up nearly 100 places to 267 on the overall list, from 351 last year. That puts him only three places and £10m behind the Queen.

In 1997, he sold his chain of nursing homes for £26m.

The fortunes of tough-talking Dragons’ Den judge Mr Bannatyne have increased despite him giving much of his wealth to charity. He has been involved in raising money for food aid for children in Malawi for many years.

Mr Bannatyne also made it into the Independent on Sunday’s “happy 100 list” as someone who makes Britain a happier and nicer place to live. He has said the rich don’t do enough for good causes and vowed he will continue to give a percentage of his wealth away.

The only man now above Mr Bannatyne in the North East’s rich list is Mark Fenwick, although even their combined wealth would be dwarfed by that of Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley. Mr Ashley, who does not live in the region and so is not included in the regional table, is at number 54 nationally.

The sportswear retailer has dropped from 25th the previous year, his fortune now standing at £1,398m.

Mr Fenwick is estimated to have increased his fortune by £32m last year thanks to increased profits from his department stores. The 59-year-old chairs the Fenwick business and is thought to be worth £386m.

But even that fortune saw him slide down the overall list from 213 to 232.

The Duke of Northumberland, 51, is now the region’s third richest despite not increasing his wealth from last year. The landowner is trying to build homes near to Alnwick, Northumberland to boost his fortune. He also owns an art collection estimated to be worth £150m.

Alastair and Michael Powell who run Teeside-based Cleveland Cable and Cable Properties and Investments are big winners from last year. They have increased their fortune by £115m to move to 312th on the list nationally and fourth in the North East. Duncan Davidson, founder of Persimmon Homes is the biggest loser from the region on this year’s list. He has dropped from third to eighth in the region and fallen 277 places on the overall list to 578th after his fortune fell by almost half to £137m in just 12 months.

Sales at Persimmon fell by 4% last year due to the credit crunch and things look unlikely to improve in the next year.

Just last week Persimmon announced sales had fallen by 24% at the beginning of this year and it was stopping work on any new sites until the market improved.

A spokesman for the company said: “The market is not really there, because of issues on the mortgage side, so we took a view on halting expansion. Anyone looking at this market should not be surprised that we are looking at being judicious in where we are putting our capital.” The company’s share price has fallen over 7% since the announcement.

The rest of the regional top 10 includes pop star Sting, Sage Accountancy co-founder Graham Wylie, former car magnate Sir Peter Vardy, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson and William Rankin, chair of the Newcastle- based developer Hanro.