Top 17 richest Brits in drinks

Based on the recently published Sunday Times Rich List, profiling the wealthiest people based in the UK, we count down those that have made their fortune from the drinks industry.

17. Tony and Barbara Laithwaite

Position 2019: 726

Position 2018: 722

Worth: £163m

Rise/Fall: +£1m

Sources: Wine

Laithwaites Wine was founded in 1969, when Tony Laithwaite bought a Ford van and started bringing back wine from Bordeaux to sell in the UK. This turned into Bordeaux Direct, a company whose focus gradually expanded across France and later to Rioja, Bulgaria and Australia.

Nearly half a century on he remains owner of this business, now called Laithwaites Wine, which retains the original direct sourcing ethos from the early days. The company is now part of Direct Wines, a mail order group wholly owned by the Laithwaite family with franchise or distribution agreements in continental Europe, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India.

At last year’s Drinks Business Awards, Tony Laithwaite was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his half-century commitment to the wine industry.

Read the full profile here.

16. David McMullen and family

Position 2019: 694

Position 2018: 725

Worth: £173m

Rise/fall: +£12m

Sources: Brewing

The McMullen family is responsible for independent Hertfordshire Brewers McMullen, founded in 1827. The business is now run by the sixth generation, and makes a range of ales, including Hopping Mad and Stronghart, and operates more than 130 pubs across the home counties.

According to the Sunday Times, profits fell below £13m on £79.2m sales in 2016 but net assets grew by £8m to £139.3m, with other assets and dividends raising the family’s fortune to £161m.

Between 2017-2018, net assets rose by £6m to hit £161m, with the 2018-2019 period witnessing another rise.

15. Aaron and Tania Hillman and family

Position 2019: 682

Position 2018: 672

Worth: £177m

Rise/fall: No change

Sources: Spirits

The Hillmans, led by brother and sister Aaron, 52, and Tania, 54, are the family behind Scotch whisky company Angus Dundee – specialists in bulk whisky production and own-brand Scotches.

The London-based operation bought the mothballed Tomintoul distillery on Speyside in 2000 and then Glencadam malt distillery in Brechin, Angus three years later.

The firm, which also produces Chelsea Royal London Dry Gin, is a £170m (US$220m) operation and exports to 70 markets.

14. Tim Warrillow

Tim Warrillow (CEO of Fever-Tree) with women from the Ojwando Community wearing “malaria no more” t-shirts. Ojwando Community Unit, Siaya County, Kenya. 12th October 2016

Position 2019: 587

Position 2018: 706

Worth: £205m

Rise/Fall: +£38m

Sources: Drinks

Warrillow co-founded premium mixer brand Fever-Tree alongside Charles Rolls. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, reporting a 40% increase in revenue to reach £237.4 million, with profit after tax amounting to £61.8 million in the year ending 31 December 2018. Warrillow is now the CEO of the company.

13. Martin Dickie

Martin Dickie (left).

Position 2019: 529

Position 2018: 524

Worth: £228m

Rise/Fall: No change

Sources: Drinks

Martin Dickie co-founded Scotland’s BrewDog with school friend James Watt in 2007. The brewing giant has recently been valued at £1.7 billion after its fifth round of crowdfunding, with around 90,000 “equity punk” investors in the business.

Dickie has a £213m holding in the company. 

12. John Apthorp and family

John Apthorp

Position 2018: 504

Position 2017: 452

Worth: £268m

Rise/fall: +£25m

Sources: Wine, Food

Mr Apthorp, 82, was a founding member and managing director of the family business of frozen food stores Bejam, eventually selling the chain to Iceland in 1989 for £70m. He also co-founded Wizzard Wines (now Majestic Wine), which his family has a £32.5 million stake in. The company announced a profit warning in September 2016 which led to a 25% decline in value of its shares, following its purchase of Naked Wines.

In March this year, Majestic announced it will close stores and rebrand as Naked Wines as it concentrates on its online business, despite CEO Gormley insisting the recently transformed Majestic business had “the potential to be a long-term winner”.

Apthorp previously sold £38m of shares in Majestic, which is now worth £197.3m, down nearly £133m in a year. His son Justin, 57, who sits on the board, sold a £2.5m holding last July.

Already an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Apthorp was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for charitable services.

11. James Watt

Watt (left).

Position 2019: 475

Position 2018: 461

Worth: £262m

Rise/Fall: No change

Sources: Drinks

James Watt co-founded craft beer giant BrewDog with school friend Martin Dickie, also featured in this list. The business received a cash injection after a fifth round of crowdfunding last year, amounting to £26.2m.

American private equity group TSG Consumer Partners took a £213m stake in BrewDog in 2017, valuing the business at £968m.

Watt has a 25% holding worth £242m plus “wealth elsewhere” according to The Sunday Times. 

10. Amal and George Clooney

Position 2019: 464

Position 2018: 463

Worth: £270m

Rise/Fall: +£10m

Sources: Drinks, Films and Law

Based in Berkshire, Amal and George Clooney are better known for their work in the fields of law and film respectively.

Last year, George was named the world’s highest-paid actor. He also received US$40m for his involvement with Nespresso and received £173 million in 2017 when Diageo acquired Casamigos, the Tequila brand he co-founded. Diageo paid $700 million up front for Casamigos and will pay a further potential $300 million based on its performance over the next decade.

Amal is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, specialising in international law and human rights. Her career adds £2m to the couple’s fortune.

9. Vivian Imerman

Position 2019: 339

Position 2018: 329

Worth: £390m

Rise/fall: No change

Sources: Food, Spirits

South Africa-born Imerman is the former owner of Whyte & Mackay, the Scottish spirits business famous for the Scotch brand of the same name.

Along with his former brother-in-law Robert Tchenguiz, he sold the business to Diageo subsidiary United Spirits in 2007 for £595 million, for which he received £396 million thanks to his 60% stake in the company.

He was also responsible for the turnaround of tinned fruit giant Del Monte, serving as chief executive from 1989 to 2001, and making £380m from his stake in the company.

Imerman runs London investment group Vasari, which has interests in Ethiopian brewer Dashen and South African wine and spirits producer KWV.

8. Charles Rolls

Charles Rolls (right).

Position 2019: 316

Position 2018: 372

Worth: £423m

Rise/fall: +£83m

Sources: Drinks

Former managing director of Plymouth Gin, Rolls is one of the co-founders of premium mixer brand Fever-Tree. Puzzled by the lack of quality mixers, Rolls launched the business in 2005 alongside Tim Warrilow (above left). Fever-Tree is now worth £3 billion.

Rolls sold £253.8m of shares since then and retains a 7% holding, valued at £212.1m.

7. Tim Martin

Position 2019: 310

Position 2018: 295

Worth: £437m

Rise/fall: -£11m

Sources: Hospitality (pubs)

Tim Martin is founder and chairman of pub chain Wetherspoon. Born in Norwich and raised in New Zealand, Martin bought his first pub in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1979. Wetherspoon now has around 900 pubs with sales up 5% to £1.69bn in 2017-18. Share value, however, has fallen, with Martin’s stake in the £1.28bn group has fallen by about £14m to £406m

The vocal pro-Brexit pub chief has promised to cut the price of beer in the event of a no-deal. In 2018 he began removing European beer and wine from the pub chain and has signed a contract with Surrey wine estate Denbies.

6. The Earl of Iveagh and the Guinness family

Lord Iveagh

Position 2019: 152

Position 2018: 152

Worth: £973m

Rise/fall: +£51m

Sources: Property, Brewing

Ned Guinness, the Earl of Ivegh, is a direct descendant of Arthur Guinness, the man who invented the world-famous black stout back in 1759. The Earl moved to Britain in 1991, inheriting his title and about £62m in Guinness shares a year later.

He also owns a 22,000 acre Elveden estate in Suffolk, where he is said to grow 10% of all the onions eaten in the UK.

The Guinness family also owns the Burhill Group which operates 22 golf course and an adventure golf chain Mr Mulligans.

The family’s unpublished stake in Guinness is thought to be worth around £310m.

5. Alki David and the Leventis family

Image: wiki

Positon 2019: 58

Position 2018: 62

Worth: £2.6bn

Rise/fall: +£400m

Sources: Drinks and Media

Living in London, Alki David is a member of the Isle of Man-based Leventis family which merged its Greek bottling business with soft drinks giant Coca-Cola to form Coca-Cola HBC. This is valued at £9.6bn, with the family holding a £2.241bn stake, up £330m in a year.

David himself also owns SwissX medicinal cannabis oil, which received celebrity endorsement from rapper Snoop Dogg and fashion designer Donatella Versace.

4. Alejandro Santo Domingo and Lady Charlotte Wellesley

Position 2019: 55

Position 2018: 40

Worth: £2.835 billion

Rise/fall: –£424m

Sources: Inheritance, brewing, investment

The Colombian-American billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo married British blue-blood Lady Charlotte Wellesley in May 2017.

Santo Domingo is the Harvard-educated scion of the Bavaria brewery in Colombia, sold by his father Julio Mario (who died in 2011) in 2005 for a 15% stake in SABMiller. The stake is the largest in a diverse portfolio of companies that make up the privately held Santo Domingo Group.

Alejandro helped broker SABMiller’s 2016 merger with AB InBev, a deal that left him with a 1.7% holding now worth £1.63bn in the new owner, which has seen its share price slide.

Last year he bought a 20% stake in celebrated Bordeaux winery Château Pétrus.

3. Glenn Gordon and family

Fifth-generation Kirsten Grant Meikle

Position 2019: 54

Position 2018: 55

Worth: £2.882 billon

Rise/fall: +£310m

Sources: Spirits

William Grant & Sons was founded by the Grant Gordon family in 1887 and has grown to become one of the leading players in the international spirits trade.

The business produces some of the world’s leading brands of Scotch whisky, including Glenfiddich, The Balvenie and Grant’s. In addition, it also produces Irish whiskey Tullamore D.E.W  and recently acquired the Drambuie liqueur brand.

The business is run by the fifth generation of the founder’s descendants, reporting a profits surge of 14.4% to nearly £304m in 2017-18.

This year’s result puts Glenn Gordon and family at the top of Scotland’s rich list.

2. Carrie and Francois Perrodo and family

Francois Perrodo

Position 2019: 29

Position 2018: 22

Worth: £4.567bn

Rise/fall: -£989m

Sources: Oil, Gas, Wine

The majority of London-based Perrodo families fortunes comes from their interests in the oil and gas industry, with operations in 13 countries producing 450,000 barrels of oil a day.

Since 2006, the family’s business has been managed by Carrie Perrodo, 65, and her eldest son François, 40, after her husband died in an alpine hiking accident.

In February this year it carried out a strategic review, with the mooted sale of many assets in the North Sea, where it provides 15% of the UK’s gas.

The family also has an interest in the wine business, with Perrodo’s daughter, Nathalie Perrodo-Samani, in charge of Château Labégorce in Margaux. Her brother Bertrand part-owns wine delivery service 31Dover.com.

1. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken and Michel de Carvalho

Position 2019: 7

Position 2018: 6

Worth: £12 billion

Rise/fall: +£900m

Sources: Inheritance, Brewing, Banking

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, 62, owns a controlling interest in the world’s second largest brewer, Heineken.

She inherited her 25% stake from her late father Freddy Heineken, grandson of the Dutch brewery’s founder, in 2002.

The de Carvalho family stake in Heineken is now valued at £12bn, having added £900m to their fortune in the past year alone.

2018’s sales figures for Heineken were the brewer’s best in a decade which it attributed to the rise of alcohol-free beers. Heineken owns brands including Lagunitas, Newcastle Brown Ale and Strongbow, and has a minority stake in London craft brewer Beavertown.