More than £17bn held by Channel Islands’ richest

Tuesday 25 May 2021

The seven richest Channel Island residents hold more than £17bn between them, despite the net worth of some of Guernsey's wealthiest people falling by hundreds of millions of pounds in the last year.

The statistics came in the annual Sunday Times Rich List, which revealed the top 250 richest people in Britain in 2021.

Holding the title for the richest in the Channel Islands is the Brecqhou-based Barclay family, whose wealth fell £1bn over the year, now standing at £6bn. This was despite the recent passing of Sir David Barclay, and his twin brother, Frederick’s, £100m divorce from Lady Hiroko.

Their property and media empire includes The Telegraph and previously included London’s Ritz hotel.

Pictured: The Barclay brothers, and their previous island home, Brecqhou.

Jersey-based Glenn Gordon and his family is worth £3.595bn, according to this year’s Rich List. The paper estimates that the owners of leading Scottish distiller William Grant and Sons have seen their fortune rise by £409m over the past 12 months, taking them up two places to 47th on the list. 

Jersey husband and wife Chris and Sarah Dawson are equal 79th on the list with an estimated fortune of £2.05bn, which has not changed since last year.

They tie with Guernsey’s Douw Steyn and family, whose wealth rose by £1.1bn during the year. Their wealth comes from insurance company Compare The Market.

At 91 on the list, St. Brelade resident Simon Nixon has seen his wealth rise by £450m to £1.8bn. The co-founder of Money Supermarket moved to Jersey in 2013.

138th on the list is Doug and Dame Mary Perkins, the founders of Specsavers. Their wealth is reported to have fallen by a third - down by £600m to £1.2bn.

Grouville resident Paul Sykes is 214th on the list with an estimated fortune of £770m. There was no change in his fortune over the course of the year.

In previous years, the Sunday Times’ list has spanned the 1,000 wealthiest. The decision to shorten the list means that some well-known Channel Island names that have cropped up in previous years do not appear. The smallest fortune on the list was £613m.