Richest people in Dorset and New Forest on Sunday Times list

James Benamor, the founder of Bournemouth-based Amigo Loans, is no longer the county’s wealthiest person after the list’s authors estimated £501million had been wiped from his fortune.

Mr Benamor, 43, dropped from number 174 to 447 on the list. The paper estimated that his stake in Amigo Loans was worth five per cent of its 2018 value after profits fell amid a crackdown by regulators.

It said the value of the stake owned by his investment vehicle the Richmond Group had fallen from £473.1m to £41.4m in a year.

That makes Dorset’s richest person Charlotte Townshend, 65, who owns Abbotsbury Swannery along with the rest of the Ilchester estate. She is at number 294, up from 296, with a fortune estimated to have dropped £2m to £454m.

Her portfolio includes at least 20 acres in London’s Holland Park and she has assets in 10 companies.

The list’s top name from the New Forest remains Sir Jim Ratcliffe, boss of the chemicals company Ineos, who slid from number three on the national list to number five. The authors estimated his wealth had dropped by £6billion to £12.15bn because of the coronavirus crisis.

He has become increasingly involved in sport and signed a five-year sponsorship deal with the AMG Petronas Formula One team, fronted by Lewis Hamilton. He also has the former Team Sky cycling squad, rebranded Team Ineos.

He is seeking to deliver a million bottles of hand sanitiser a month to UK hospitals and took just 10 days to build a factory producing sanitiser in County Durham.

Ineos, whose registered office is in Lyndhurst, has around 22,000 people at 183 plants in 26 countries, but the Rich List expects it to have badly hit by Covid-19 slump.

Sir Jim, 67, is reported to have moved to Monaco but retained a home at Beaulieu.

Andy Currie, another director of Ineos, and John Reece, its finance director, are at joint number 30 on the list. The list estimates each man’s wealth at £4.1bn, down £2bn.

Ian and Richard Livingstone, whose company London and Regional Properties owns the five-star Chewton Glen Hotel at New Milton, are at number 36 on the list – up from 37, although their fortune is thought to have dropped £100m to £3.9bn.

Brothers Ian, 58, and Richard, 55, own a global property empire.

Sir Peter Rigby, whose Midlands-based company Rigby Group owns Bournemouth Airport, is number 183, up from 210, with a fortune up £110m to £770m.

Clinton and Spencer McCarthy – founders of Ringwood-based Churchill Retirement Living – are at number 209, up from 213, along with their father John.

John was the co-founder of retirement housing giant McCarthy & Stone and his sons Clinton, 55, and Spencer, 54, set up their own retirement developer.

The family’s wealth is said to have risen £31m to £681m. The family gave £200,000 to the Conservatives ahead of last December’s general election.

The Marquess of Salisbury, who owns Cranborne Manor, is at number 378, down from 383, with a fortune estimated to have gone up by £2m to £345m. The 73-year-old marquess, who also owns Hatfield House in Salisbury, also owns other residential properties in Hertfordshire, London and Dorset. He gave £174,000 to the Tories ahead of last December’s election.

Mark and Mo Constantine, among the co-founders of the Poole-based cosmetics brand Lush, are at number 393, down from 308, with a wealth said to have fallen £106m to £334m.

Mr Constantine, 67, failed his O-levels at Weymouth Grammar School and was a trainee hairdresser in the town before going on to set up cosmetics businesses with his wife, 66. The business has 900 shops in around 50 countries.

The Poole couple’s stake in the business was reckoned to be worth £281m before the lockdown.

Tom Singh, founder of the Weymouth-based fashion chain New Look, and his family, are at number 418 on the list, down from 385, with their fortune down £30m to £310m.

Mr Singh, 70, announced his retirement as chairman from the business this year.

His family have made around £275m from the business but it made £537.5m in losses in 2018-19 and the Rich List considers his 10 per cent holding to be “worthless”.

Sir Richard Sutton and his family are at number 435, up from 554, with their fortune up £83m to £301m. The 83-year-old Gillingham resident owns hotels in London and elsewhere.

Dorset-born entrepreneur Jonathan Reeves, 60, is at number 610 on the list, down from 606, with a fortune unchanged at £200m. He is involved with augmented reality and mixed reality technology via his business Arvizio.

Michael Sherwood, 54, of Christchurch, is at number 640, down from 629, with a fortune unchanged at £195m. He has a Christchurch-based property company, Cowgrove, is on the board of financial tech start-up Revolut, and was previously European co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs.

Rupert Martin, retired racing car driver and chairman of Gillingham lighting company Dextra Group,is at number 858, down from 828, with a fortune down £7m to £140m.

The Woodhouse family, behind Dorset’s Hall & Woodhouse brewery, is at number 886 on the list, down from 884, with a fortune up £3m to £137m.

Anthony Woodhouse, 54, took over as company chairman last year from cousin Mark, 64.

The company has more than 200 pubs as well as its bottled beer range, produced in Blandford.

Wilf Corrigan, 82, made his fortune in Silicon Valley and is resident in California. However, his family owns half of Cynergy3, based on Ferndown Industrial Estate. He is at number 886 on the list, down from 877, with a fortune up £1m to £136m.

Bournemouth property owner George Meyrick, 50, is at number 911 on the list, up from 914 last year, with wealth up £3m to £132m. He heads the family’s business interests after the death of his father Sir George last year. He is a leading climate change lawyer and the Meyrick family have extensive property and commercial interests in Dorset, Hampshire and Wales.

Warren Haskins, chairman of the Haskins Garden Centres chain, is at number 949 on the list, down from 897, with his wealth up £5m to £126m.

The Ferndown-based garden centre business took a hit from the coronavirus lockdown, causing the Rich List authors to write down the value of his interests until the situation is clearer.

David and Betty Carr, founders o the Helston Garages Group, are at number 982 on the list, down from 959, with their wealth down £4m to £120m. The Cornwall-based company has 37 franchises across Dorset and the west country.