Bill Adderley

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Sir Bill Adderley
Born
William Adderley

February 1948 (age 73–74)
Leeds, Yorkshire, England
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder of the Dunelm Group home furnishings retailer
Spouse(s)Jean Adderley
Children2

Sir William ("Bill") Adderley (born February 1948) is a British billionaire businessman, founder of the FTSE 250-listed Dunelm Group home furnishings retailer. Forbes estimated his net worth at at US$2.4 billion as of July 2021.[1]

Early life[]

Adderley was born on a council estate in February 1948[2] in Leeds, Yorkshire.[3] 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, Jean, sold curtains which had been rejected by Marks and Spencer from a stall on Leicester market. In 1984, they opened their first home furnishings store, calling it Dunelm Mill.[5][3] He retired from Dunelm at the age of 58 in 2006 and left the growth of the company in the hands of his son, Sir William (“Will”) Adderley, and it was at this time the company floated.

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.[6]

Adderley has sold most of his stake in Marks & Spencer and has bought a stake in Morrisons.[7][8]

Currently, Dunelm operates in 175 stores across the UK and runs an ecommerce business.[1] The Adderley family still owns approximately 43% of the shares.

Wealth[]

In 2020, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated his net worth at £1.47 billion in 2020. Forbes estimated it at US$2.4 billion as of July 2021.[1]

Personal life[]

He is married to Jean and has two children.[1] His son, Sir Will Adderley, continues to be a director of Dunelm Group plc, while his other son, Jonathan, is not actively involved in the business.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "Forbes profile: Bill and Jean Adderley & family". Forbes. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Dunelm Group plc". Companies House. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Griffin, I (12 May 2014). "Dunelm's founding family sees wealth soar by £100m". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  4. ^ Goodley, Simon (31 October 2013). "Bill Adderley unmasked as Marks & Spencer's biggest private shareholder". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Bill Adderley". Forbes. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Bill Adderley unmasked as Marks & Spencer's biggest private shareholder". The Guardian. 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  7. ^ Jefford, Kasmira (1 June 2015). "Dunelm founder sells majority of stake in M&S". cityam.com. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Homeware stores tycoon 'takes stake in Morrisons'". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
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