Page 23 - Yorkshire Rich List 2017

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The Shepherd family £230m
2016
Position: 21 £255m
The York-based family-owned Shepherd Group disposed of its construction arms in 2015 to concentrate on the most profitable lower-risk parts of its business.
The business now concentrates on the Portakabin modular building business. The Portasilo operation, supplying bulk storage and handling equipment is also being wound down.
In 2015 the Shepherd Group, owned by the same family for more than 125 years, sold off Shepherd Engineering Services, Shepherd Facilities Management and a range of building contracts and framework agreements to the Surrey-based Wates Group in a £9.8m deal.
Earlier in 2015 Shepherd Homes was sold to Galliford Try’s house-building Linden Homes subsidiary.
This major restructuring allows Shepherd to concentrate on a smaller number of construction and maintenance projects, and to focus on its Portakabin modular building business. The discontinued operations have had an effect on the bo om line to the tune of £9m. However, the
group, on a reduced turnover of £307m, posted pre- tax profits of more than £30m in 2016.
Portakabin is an international business offering modular buildings for sale or hire across the
UK, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The business is based in Huntington.
The Shepherd Group traces its roots back
to 1890 when Frederick Shepherd, a joiner,
set up a successful house building business in York. It has grown through several generations
of the Shepherd family through geographical expansion, innovation on off-site construction, and acquisition. In the 1930s it was one of the biggest construction companies in the north of England, employing around 700 people.
The Shepherd Building Group was formed in 1962, and by the 1970s had become one of the largest wholly family-owned businesses in the UK. Major Shepherd projects included Li lewoods call centre in Liverpool, the City Point and Sky Plaza developments in Leeds, Morrisons supermarket headquarters in Bradford and Trinity Walk in Wakefield.
FAMILY BUSINESS: The firm now concentrates on the Portakabin modular building business.
2016
Position: 28 £200m
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Danny Sawrij £210m
Danny Sawrij owns and runs Halifax-based waste recycling operation the Leo Group, which was founded in the 1970s.
The 48-year-old is managing director of the company, which also handles animal by-products. He took over the business from his mother and Ukrainian father, Margaret and Leo, in 1988 when he was just 19. In 2016 the Leo Group turned over £71.2m with a pre-tax profit of £12.5m.
He is the youngest of six children, and went to Halifax Catholic High School. He le at 14 to work on his father’s farm which bought and sold ca le. A er taking over, he moved into the pet food business, and also breeding maggots for fishing tackle shops. He continued to expand the business and entered the renewable energy sector, turning food and animal waste into biomass fuel.
Most of the company’s fuel is used in power stations and cement works as an alternative to coal. It also supplies oil for bio-diesel. The business operates from several sites in England and Scotland including a rendering plant in Bradford and a fallen stock collection plant servicing farms
across the north of England and Scotland. In 2000 the group launched Envirowaste Services Ltd with a state-of-the-art recycling centre handling a wide range of recycling streams.
The company has invested almost £5m in its Halifax headquarters, storage and an upgrade of the pet food plant. It has also expanded operations overseas with facilities in Belgium and Ireland.
In 2015 the group acquired a majority share in BioPower, a renewable energy company in Belgium.
Mr Sawrij renamed the company Leo Sawrij Ltd in 1993 in memory of his father who died that year.
As well as the various waste, recycling and energy businesses he has property interests.
The Leo Group sponsors Queensbury Celtic junior football club and supports various charities and causes including Ravenscliffe High School in Calderdale and Macmillan.
The Leo Group Community Fund helps a variety of local charities and good causes.
Mr Sawrij married his wife Joanne at the age of 17. They have three children.
IN AT DEEP END: Danny Sawrij, managing director of the Leo Group, took over the company when he was just 19.
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TUESDAY NOVEMBER 28 2017 THE YORKSHIRE POST 23
VICTOR DE JESUS GRAHAM SCHOFIELD