Page 16 - Yorkshire Rich List 2017

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Dean and Janet Hoyle £290m
2016
Position: 16 £290m
Huddersfield Town owner Dean Hoyle and his wife Janet got on their bikes earlier this year, cycling
to Wembley to raise funds for 200 local children
to a end the Championship play-off final at the national stadium.
The youngsters joined thousands of other Terriers supporters, cheering their team into the Premiership.
Mr Hoyle and his wife ne ed £250m when they sold the Card Factory, the greetings card business they built, in 2010.
Heckmondwike-born Mr Hoyle, 50, started in business selling greetings card from the back of a van with his wife in the early 1990s.
The former White Lee secondary school pupil founded the Card Factory with Janet, 49, in 1997 and built it into a major chain of greetings card and gi stores. While he concentrated on an expansion strategy, his wife headed the internal design and print functions. In 2008 the Card Factory bought 80 stores from failed competitor the Celebrations Group.
It became one of the UK’s fastest-growing
retailers. By the time it was sold to Venture Capitalist Charterhouse it had 500 shops, employed more than 5,000 people and was turning over £165m. The couple retained a stake in the business which floated in May 2014. It continues to be profitable, declaring pre-tax profits of £85.1m for the year to January 2017, on a turnover of £398m.
In 2014 Mr Hoyle, who lives in Mirfield, was appointed chairman of discount stationery and book retailer The Works, which trades from more than 350 stores across the country and has a substantial online presence. It is headquartered near Birmingham and he is a significant shareholder in the business.
Mr Hoyle is both owner and chairman of Premiership newcomers Huddersfield Town.
He joined the board of the Terriers, who he had supported all his life, in 2008 and took over as chairman and majority shareholder the following year.
Mr Hoyle is a former Ernst & Young Retail and Consumer Entrepreneur of the Year.
TERRIER IN BOX: Huddersfield Town chairman Dean Hoyle watching the Premier League newcomers.
2016
Position: 17 £280m
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Alan Lewis £290m
Alan Lewis, 79, has made his fortune from property and overcoats. He is chairman of the Leeds-based Hartley Investment Group, which owns everything from offices in Bradford to timber forests in Russia and the company that makes the Crombie overcoat.
The group can trace its roots back nearly 500 years, to small Yorkshire woollen mills in the 16th century. By the 20th century these mills and many more combined to form the Yorkshire textile giant Illingworth Morris. As well as Crombie it included knitwear maker Hawico and Huddersfield-based Worsteds.
With the collapse of the textile industry, Illingworth Morris got into financial difficulties. Mr Lewis took over as chairman in 1982, took the business private, and turned it round. It became so financially sound it started lending to the money markets and Hartley Investments was born. Many of the former textile mills were refurbished and rejuvenated as desirable commercial property.
The company now has a UK property portfolio worth more than £100m, mainly in Yorkshire, and has no borrowings. Major projects include a
joint venture with 3M, Huddersfield University and Kirklees Council, developing Globe Mills in Slaithwaite into an innovation centre.
Other projects include office space at Cumberland House in Leeds, the Kings Science Academy in Bradford and a logistics park at Whitehead Mills in Laisterdyke.
The group retains the Crombie overcoat business, as well as fashion brand Tommy Nu er. Through other group companies it is involved in timber and gas reserves and exploration.
Mr Lewis was born and brought up in Manchester and a ended the University of Manchester Institute for Science and Technology. His first job was as a printer in Lancashire before embarking on a series of business ventures.
He supports the University of Huddersfield and funds the Alan Lewis Scholarship for disadvantaged young people. He was appointed Conservative Party vice-chairman by David Cameron.
Mr Lewis is a commi ed Christian and a black belt in karate and was made a CBE in 1990 for services to industry.
HANDS ON: Hartley Investment Group chairman Alan Lewis is a black belt in karate and a commi ed Christian.
16 THE YORKSHIRE POST TUESDAY NOVEMBER 28 2017
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
JAMES HARDISTY TONY JOHNSON