Northern Ireland’s wealthiest person keeps her place with a fortune of £1.25bn

Widow of Norbrook tycoon at 144 on Sunday Times UK Rich List

Stephen Fitzpagrick. Credit: Dan Kitwood

Kevin Kingston. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

Lady Ballyedmond. Credit: Rob Howarth

Martin Naughton

Stephen Fitzpagrick. Credit: Dan Kitwood

Kevin Kingston. Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

Lady Ballyedmond. Credit: Rob Howarth

Margaret Canning Twitter Email

May 20 2022 09:00 PM

Lady Ballyedmond has retained her place as Northern Ireland’s wealthiest person with a fortune of £1.247bn, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.

A solicitor by profession, the widow of veterinary pharmaceuticals tycoon Lord Ballyedmond remains the only billionaire here.

The list ranks the wealth of the 250 richest people in the UK.

The Hinduja family are in top spot with a fortune of £28.472bn, while Jet2 boss Philip Meeson is last on the table with £650m.

Eddie Haughey, the late husband of Lady Ballyedmond (74), built Norbrook in Newry into a major business with a turnover of nearly £200m.

He died in a helicopter crash in 2014.

His widow and the couple’s children Edward, James and Caroline are directors of the business, though it is led by chief executive Liam Nagle.

Former Danske Bank boss Kevin Kingston and ex-Invest NI CEO Kevin Holland have joined the firm as directors in the last year.

Lady Ballyedmond and her family are at number 144 in the Sunday Times list — a fall of five places.

Belfast man Stephen Fitzpatrick, who owns Ovo Energy, has zoomed 101 places up the list to 132.

His current fortune is put at £1.34bn, a rise of £665m since 2021.

The company faced customer anger earlier this year when it suggested star jumps and cuddling a pet for ways to keep warm as the cost of energy bills soar.

As well as his gas and electricity business, Mr Fitzpatrick, who lives in England, has a fascination with transport.

He has invested in Vertical Aerospace, a flying taxi venture that floated on the New York stock exchange in December.

Electrical heater tycoon Martin Naughton and family, who own Glen Dimplex in Newry, are at 208 on the list with £800m, down £58m.

Mr Naughton had formerly enjoyed billionaire status until losses at subsidiary Glen Electric meant £300m was lobbed off the Sunday Times’ assessment of his wealth on last year’s list.

The family of another businessman with a strong Northern Ireland connection is even higher in the list.

With a net worth of £4.32bn — down £275m on 2021 — the family of JCB owner Lord Bamford is ranked at 42.

His eldest son Jo (44) is the owner of Ballymena bus builder Wrightbus, which has been generating a healthy order book for its hydrogen and battery-fuelled buses.

He rescued the business shortly after it went into administration in 2019.

Bamford Bus Company reported pre-tax profits of around £0.9m and sales of £71.8m in its first full company accounts last year, with the Sunday Times giving it a valuation of £20m.

Sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley, whose company Frasers recently snapped up Boucher Retail Park in Belfast, is at 59 with a fortune of £2.995bn.

The 2022 Sunday Times Rich List is regarded by many as the definitive guide to wealth in the UK.

It is derived from identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies.

The Sunday Times Rich List is available online at https://www.thetimes.co.uk/sunday-times-rich-list and is published with the newspaper on Sunday

Northern Ireland’s wealthiest person keeps her place with a fortune of £1.25bn

Weekly Business Digest

Read More

Most Read

Latest Northern Ireland