Bernard Matthews plummets in Sunday Times Rich List

Bernard Matthews has paid a hefty price for the outbreak of HN51 avian flu on one of his turkey units, according to the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List. 


 


The list puts the cost of the bird flu outbreak at ÂŁ70m which takes the value of the Bernard Matthews business down from ÂŁ220m to ÂŁ148m and forces him from 191 in the rankings to 414=.


 


But with £25m of other assets, including property, the turkey mogul’s fortune is still estimated at £173m (compared to £302m in 2006.).


 


The list also features some of Britain’s largest landowners and a number of people who have made their money in industry but have now moved into farming.


 


There are also a number of farmer’s sons and daughters who have made a big enough fortune – at least ÂŁ70m – to feature on the 2007 list.


 


Here is a selection:


 


Duke of Westminster (bulk of fortune in London property but has land in Lancs, Cheshire, Scotland and Canada)  


Ranking: 3        Fortune: ÂŁ7000m


Sir Anthony Bamford and family (owner of Staffs-based company JCB) 


Ranking: 46=   Fortune: ÂŁ1300m


Tim Landon (made his money in oil but now owns the Hampshire farming business Faccombe Esates) 


Ranking: 151=   Fortune: ÂŁ500m


Duke of Devonshire (lives at Chatsworth house, Derbyshire and owns 75,000 acres, but bulk of fortune in art) 


Ranking: 151=    Fortune: ÂŁ500m


Charlotte Townshend (inherited 15,000 acres in Dorset and 3000 in Notts which have been sold for a reputed ÂŁ9m) 


Ranking: 195=    Fortune: ÂŁ400m


Duke of Northumberland (bulk of fortune in art collection but owns 120,000 acres in Alwnick and Scottish estate) 


Ranking: 238=    Fortune: ÂŁ300m


Harry Dobson (farmer’s son who made his money in mining and sold his Manchester United shares for ÂŁ31m.) 


Ranking: 288=   Fortune ÂŁ250m


Duke of Sutherland (most of fortune tied up in art, but owns 12,000 acres in Scottish borders and East Anglia) 


Ranking: 313=   Fortune: ÂŁ230m


Barry Haigh (sold a pharmaceutical consultancy in 1996 and is now a dairy farmer at Red Kite Farms, Oxon)


Ranking: 394     Fortune: ÂŁ183m


Alan Wiseman and family (the family behind Robert Wiseman Dairies) 


Ranking: 397=   Fortune: ÂŁ180m


Bernard Matthews (founder of Norfolk-based poultry company)


Ranking: 414=   Fortune:  ÂŁ173m


Kevin Linfoot (made his money in property, but was raised on a pig farm just outside York.) 


Ranking: 490=   Fortune: ÂŁ145m


Sir Richard Sutton and family (owns the Settled Estates farming-to-property company.) 


Ranking: 569=   Fortune: ÂŁ122m


Robin Clark and family (part of the Taylor Clark group which is a property, farming, hotel and investment group.) 


Ranking: 625=   Fortune: ÂŁ111m


Terry Adams (made his money in mining, but now farming in Devon) 


Ranking: 896=   Fortune: ÂŁ75m


Peter Kindersley (former publisher who runs a 2250 acre organic farm in Berkshire)


Ranking: 834=   Fortune: ÂŁ80m


Jody Scheckter (former Formula One driver who now runs a organic farm in Hampshire) 


Ranking: 834=   Fortune: ÂŁ80m


 


Are you surprised by some of the names (and numbers!) on the list. Do you farm near any of them? Share your thought on our forums.