Bill Adderley

Bill Adderley
Born William Adderley
February 1948 (age 70)
Leeds, Yorkshire, England
Residence near Uppingham, Rutland
Nationality British
Net worth $1.7 billion (December 2014)[1]
Spouse(s) Jean Adderley

William Adderley (born February 1948) is a British billionaire businessman, founder of the FTSE 250-listed Dunelm Group home furnishings retailer.

Early life

William Adderley (known as Bill) was born on a Council Estate in February 1948[2] in Leeds, Yorkshire.[3]He is a devout Roman Catholic. Adderley left school at 16, with a basic education level. He was a boyhood fan of Leeds United

Career

Adderley was a manager at a Woolworths store[4] in Coalville, but left in 1979 after the company wanted him to relocate to its Skegness store.[3]

In 1979, while looking for a new job, Adderley and his wife Jeany sold curtains which had been rejected by Marks and Spencer from a stall in Leicester market. In 1984, they opened their first home furnishings store, calling it Dunelm.[3][1] He retired from Dunelm at the age of 50 and left the growth of the company in the capable hands of his Son William and at this time the company floated in 2006.

In October 2013, The Guardian commented that Adderley had become the largest private shareholder in Marks & Spencer, having built a stake valued at £250 million.[4]

According to Forbes, as of December 2014, Adderley and family own 53% of the shares in Dunelm, giving a net worth of $1.7 billion.[1]

Adderley has sold most of his stake in Marks & Spencer, and has bought a stake in Morrisons.[5][6]

Personal life

He is married to Jeany.[1] and has two sons (a daughter died in infancy) and four grandchildren. As well as playing Golf in South Africa, Ireland and Spain, he is a member of Luffenham Heath Golf Club and swears by the golf club brand Turin.[3] Apart from Golf he has a penchant for luxury; Bentley Continental Cars, high end properties, mid to late 20th century art, victorian antiques and Murano Glass, which he gifts. His son William Lester Adderley was a director of Dunelm Group and has recently become involved within a Financial Investment Company.[2]His other son Jonathan, was not involved in Dunelm, due to only one sibling being able to lead the company.

Dunelm  operates in 140 stores across the UK.[7]They live near Wittering  Lincolnshire at Thornhaugh and have homes in Ireland, Spain and Central London.

He and his family are involved in numerous charities.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Bill Adderley". Forbes. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Dunelm Group plc". Companies House. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Griffin, I (12 May 2014). "Dunelm's founding family sees wealth soar by £100m". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  4. 1 2 Goodley, Simon (31 October 2013). "Bill Adderley unmasked as Marks & Spencer's biggest private shareholder". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  5. ↑ Jefford, Kasmira (1 June 2015). "Dunelm founder sells majority of stake in M&S". cityam.com. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "Homeware stores tycoon 'takes stake in Morrisons'". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "Bill Adderley & family". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
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