THE SUNDAY TIMES rich list is an annual benchmark of how the nation’s most wealthy have fared over the past 12 months, and it usually features a few prominent faces from the UK’s poultry sector.
This year was no different, with a surprising number of poultry farmers, and related business owners, who have amassed wealth that puts them in the UK’s top thousand.
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Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan
Ranked at 239 on the list, it’s little surprise that the owners of the UK’s largest poultry processor lead the list of poultry tycoons.
The ST puts their financial worth at £593m, down £47m on last year.
It points to the fact that 2 Sisters’ £150m business, employing 20,000 people, saw losses of £20m on £3.3bn sales in 2017-18, with liabilities up to £523.8m over the period.
The paper says that the couple have separate business interests to 2 Sisters, including the separate Amber Rei Holdings property operation.
Robin Faccenda and Family
The family behind Faccenda Foods – now a joint venture with Cargill and known as Avara Foods – supplies chicken, duck and turkey to supermarkets.
The poultry element of the family’s wealth was put at £142.4m, which sits alongside other interests that make their total worth £356m, up £6m on last year, ranking them at 368 overall.
William Lloyd and Family
Lloyd’s Animal Feeds, which sells feed and offers nutritional advice to most species of livestock, is particularly well-known in the poultry industry.
The family’s wealth was put up by £10m this year, to £213m, ranking at number 573 on the list.
James Hook and Family
PD Hook (Hatcheries) is a familiar name to anyone in the poultry sector, and the family is known for both its hatcheries business and joint venture with 2 Sisters.
Accounts show their poultry business contributed £12.4m in taxes in 2017-18 financial year. The firm reported a strong year overall – £20.1m profits on sales just shy of £181m. They ranked at number 667.
Michael Kent and Peter Dean (and Family)
The two men behind Noble Foods ranked equally in this year’s rich list, at 788.
Both had a reported worth of £155m, up £15m on the year before.
The listing for Peter Dean and family explains Noble Foods had a better year than previously, with profits up to £8.3m on sales of £344.1m.
