Yahoo News Devon businessman explains skyrocketing wealth
Plymouth retail magnate Chris Dawson has revealed how his wealth grew by £475m in just a year. The boss of The Range shopping empire saw his net worth soar to £2.5bn landing him and wife Sarah at number 70 in the Sunday Times Rich List.
Mr Dawson - who says he works "nine days a week, 25 hours a day" - explained to PlymouthLive how smart investments and the skyrocketing value of his retail empire contributed to his overall wealth jumping by £475m. It included the Wilko budget chain's value leaping to £100,000,000 - after he paid just £7m for its brand and intellectual property and reopened about 50 stores at the end of last year.
Mr Dawson stressed the rise in value was very much due to the team he works with at Plymouth-headquartered The Range and said how lucky he felt to work with such people. He said the increase in value was down to three main factors: investment, the value of distribution centres, and the value of The Range and Wilko chains.
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He said an investment had matured after seven years, and added: "We have done extremely well in international investments. I'm a big investor in hedge funds, this year they have matured. A tremendous result."
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Last year Mr Dawson opened a £200m distribution centre at Stowmarket, in Suffolk, six years after opening a £100m "mega shed" distribution centre at Avonmouth, near Bristol. The tycoon said both of these automated centres had risen in value due to internet shopping.
"The distribution depot in Stowmarket is 14 times the size of Wembley (stadium) and it's nearly doubled in value from when we broke ground," he said. "And the same for the one in Bristol."
Mr Dawson said the value of discount retail chains "worldwide" had also rocketed. That applies to both The Range and Wilko, where there is now dropshipping and internet trading alongside physical stores. Mr Dawson said: "I have made it (Wilko) work better and Wilko now has a big value."
Mr and Mrs Dawson leapt 15 places up the list, published in the Sunday Times on May 19, to become the 70th richest people in the UK and the second wealthiest in the South West, behind technology magnate Sir James Dyson and his family. Mr Dawson, who started as a market trader in his native Plymouth, said that even at the age of 72 he has no plans to retire.
He said: "I'm at it nine days a week, 25 hours a day. I'm a very lucky person, I love what I'm doing. What more do you want? I'm not out to retire."
"And I have a great team around me. The achievements were not done by me alone. I have a great team and we do our best."
