Page 28 - Yorkshire Rich List 2017

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John Co on MBE and family £165m
2016
Position: 49 £115m
A spectacular rise in profits and a solid balance sheet have combined to propel bedding magnate John Co on up the Yorkshire Post Rich List.
The Mirfield-based John Co on Group specialises in manufacturing pillows, duvets and ma ress protectors. Almost half the duvets and pillows bought in the UK are produced by the group.
The business reported increased profits of £14.9m in 2016, up from £12.7m the previous
year. Turnover rocketed from £160m to £172m. Strong sales growth in Poland along with competitive products in the UK boosted the group’s performance. It reported net assets of £56.6m.
The company, established in 1916, employs more than 1,100 people producing 20 million pillows and 10 million duvets every year. Its brands include Slumberdown and Snuggledown products. It is owned by Mr Co on, 77, and his family. His son Mark is group managing director.
Charterhouse-educated Mr Co on took control of the group from his father, also called John, in 1965. He has overseen a major expansion of the business, resulting in it becoming a market leader
in UK home textiles with Dunelm, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer among its blue chip customers. The business has grown through the acquisition of companies in the UK and Europe and has partnership agreements with businesses in China. The business has manufacturing facilities in Wigan and in Wroclaw, Poland, and recently acquired the Tontine duvet business in Australia.
The company was National Bed Federation
Bed Component Supplier of the Year for 2017. John Co on employees are active fundraisers, competing in charity cycle rides and the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge. They have raised money for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Kirkwood Hospice and the Yorkshire Cancer Centre among others.
Mr Co on received an MBE for services to business in West Yorkshire in 2014.
He is a horse racing enthusiast, with a string of horses stabled in Malton and France, and supports Leeds United.
Mr Co on is married to Barbara and they have two sons and a daughter. He has an apartment in Cannes and drives a Rolls-Royce.
IN DREAMLAND: John Co on, chairman of Mirfield- based bedding specialist the John Co on Group.
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Nicholas Oughtred and family £165m
2016
Position: 33 £165m
Some 20 million of the famous Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshire puddings leave the factory in Hull every week. The food brand has become one of the fastest growing in the UK, and that is good news for owner Nicholas Oughtred, chairman of the William Jackson Food Group. While Aunt Bessie’s is probably their most famous brand, there are five other businesses in the group which turns over £300m a year and has £125m in net assets.
Nicholas Oughtred, 57, chairs the sixth- generation family-owned firm and also manages the group’s property portfolio. He is the great great grandson of the business’s founder William Jackson. He graduated in business studies with economics from Stirling University before joining the firm in 1993. He was made a director in 2006 and became chairman the following year when his elder brother, Christopher Oughtred, retired.
The business’s founder, farmer’s son William Jackson, opened his first shop in Hull in 1851 as a grocer and tea dealer. The Hessle-based company is now made up of six businesses. It is 88 per cent owned by the family with the rest of the shares
in the hands of former employees. Other brands include Jacksons bakery, and My Fresh vegetables. My Fresh’s Wigan-based salad processing business was sold to Flore e brand owners Agrial in August.
The group also includes Abel & Cole, acquired in 2012, supplying fresh vegetable boxes for delivery, and The Food Doctor, a London-based business producing a range of healthy snacks. Aunt Bessie’s range includes roast potatoes, puddings, stuffings, and cakes. Its origins go back to 1974 when Butlin’s asked the company to create a Yorkshire pudding for its holiday camp restaurants.
The family firm, which employs more than 2,000 people, reported a sales turnover of £315m in 2016, with pre-tax profits of £14m . In 2004 the company sold 114 stores to J Sainsbury for £78m.
Last year the company began its five-year Malawi Farm project which aims to provide a village in Malawi with food security and self-sufficiency.
The company also supports Opera North singing school, National Tree Week, Mires Beck nursery and the Aunt Bessie’s Helping Hand project to help the homeless.
FAMED BRAND: Nick Oughtred of William Jackson Food Group, which produces Aunt Bessie’s Yorkshire Puddings.
28 the magazine TUESDAY NOVEMBER 28 2017
www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
JEROME ELLERBY BRUCE ROLLINSON