The business leaders behind a kitchen retailer, a forged products specialist and a sustainable packaging company are among those to feature in the latest Yorkshire Rich List.
The full list has been compiled by Robert Watts, known for the Sunday Times Rich List, and has been revealed in the latest edition of Yorkshire Business Insider. It is sponsored by Berry’s Jewellers.
The list is once again topped by kitchen tycoon Malcolm Healey, owner of Wren Kitchens. The East Yorkshire-based company trades from more than 100 showrooms across the UK, as well as sites in the US. It recently reported turnover of £1.07bn for the year ending 31 December 2022.
Healey’s West Retail Group also previously owned online retailer eBuyer prior to its sale earlier this year.
Among the new entrants on the 2023 list is Jackie Neal, managing director of Abbey Forged Products, a manufacturer of rings and other metal components for the energy, aerospace and defence industries.
Pre-tax profits at Abbey – named after the Sheffield street where Neal and her husband, Roger, lived when they launched their business – soared by 75 per cent to £7.9m last year.
Neal is among a host of manufacturers to feature, with this year’s list demonstrating a resurgence for the sector.
Also new to the list for 2023 are John Whittaker and his family, who are behind environmentally sustainable cardboard box business Sheard Packaging.
Whittaker joined the family business nearly 60 years ago and it now produces around a million boxes a day. Profits hit £12.7m in 2021-22. John’s son Roger is now managing director of Sheard.
The 2023 Yorkshire Rich List can be found in the November edition of Yorkshire Business Insider, available now. A story about new entrants to the list will be made available to Insider members online later this week.
The rules of engagement
The rich, for our purposes, include those who are working in a business they either started themselves or inherited. We also include those still living in the area who have recently sold their main businesses but retain interests in other ventures.
We valued stakes in quoted companies in September 2023 according to prices prevailing in the Financial Times. Private companies were valued according to the ratios in their sectors or more generally where a sector rating was not evident, at around ten times their latest profit figures, which in many cases is more conservative than the stock market ratings.
We deduct appropriate sums from dividends and company sales to reflect tax unless we are aware someone is not domiciled in the UK for tax.