Road transport business owners and investors make up the majority of the richest people in the industry – with those involved in the direct day-to-day running of operators a shrinking minority of Britain’s super rich – according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2015, published yesterday.
Yodel owners the Barclay brothers remain the richest people directly deriving at least a proportion of their wealth from interests in road transport, despite the delivery operator failing to post a profit in five years. Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay are worth £6.5bn, up £500m compared to last year.
Alastair Salvesen and family are worth £1bn. Salveson made £60m from the sale of Christian Salvesen to Norbert Dentressangle in 2007, but also owns a 20% stake in Glasgow plant-hire group Aggreko.
Sir Michael Bibby, head of Bibby Line Group, which includes Bibby Distribution is worth £400m.
Turners (Soham) MD Paul Day, and his family are estimated to be worth £255m, up £30m year-on-year, while Peter Dawson and his family, of rental and leasing firm Dawsongroup, are worth £234m (up £18m).
Brothers Peter and Michael Kane are worth £160m, down from £199m last year. The Kane family have a £146m stake in UK Mail. Steve Parkin, founder of Clipper, is worth £150m, up from £120m. He has a 62% stake in the Leeds-based operator.
Steve Gibson, founder of north-east dry and liquid bulk specialist haulier and freight forwarder Bulkhaul is worth £130m, down from £205m last year.
Harold Montgomery, one of the major shareholders in Ballyvesey Holdings – which incorporates trailer manufacturer Montracon alongside hauliers Montgomery Transport and Birds Groupage Services – is worth £113m, up from £107m.
Of those who made their fortune running commercial vehicle enterprises Roger Baines, who founded Amtrak Express Parcels in 1987 before selling it to investment group 3i in the 1990′s for £70m (it went into administration in 2008), is worth £110m. While Richard Biffa, former owner of the eponymous waste company which MT.co.uk estimates to be the fourth-largest own-account operator in the UK by fleet size with 1,793 vehicles, is worth £115m.
Jon Moulton, of investment firm Better Capital, which used to own City Link until it ceased trading at Christmas, is worth £220m, down £5m year-on-year.
Giving the Rich List an international flavour, Nancy Shevell, wife of Sir Paul McCartney is worth £150m of the couple’s £730m fortune. She sits on the board as vice-president of Elizabeth, New Jersey-based haulage firm New England Motor Freight which her father Myron ‘Mike’ Shevell founded in 1977. It is part of the Shevell Group of Companies which incorporates seven different haulage firms running more than 6,000 trucks. Shevell is vice-president of administration at the Group.