Anthony William Pidgley
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(6 August 1947 – 26 June 2020) was an English businessman. He was the founder and chairman of
Berkeley Group Holdings
The Berkeley Group Holdings plc is a British property developer and house-builder based in Cobham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
The company was founded by Tony Pid ...
, one of the UK's largest housebuilding businesses. According to The ''
Sunday Times Rich List
The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...
'' in 2019, Pidgley was worth £335 million.
Career
Anthony Pidgley was born in 1947 in
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
to a single mother, and then adopted from
Barnardos
Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...
. He spent his early life living in a disused railway carriage.
[East End lad makes good to the tune of £123 million]
The Guardian, 21 September 2007 He worked with his parents cutting down trees and selling the logs.
[
Pidgley left home in 1962 and founded a haulage business which he expanded until it had 40 lorries and then sold it to ]Crest Nicholson
Crest Nicholson is a British housebuilding company based in Chertsey, Surrey. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
History
1963-2000
The company was founded by Bryan Skinner in 1963 as Crest Hom ...
in 1968.[ He then worked for Crest Nicholson for seven years.][ In 1976, he established ]Berkeley Group Holdings
The Berkeley Group Holdings plc is a British property developer and house-builder based in Cobham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
History
The company was founded by Tony Pid ...
which he expanded until it was one of the UK's largest housebuilders.[ Berkeley specialises in executive style homes. He has since seen off a bid for his business from his son.
In 2016 Bloomberg referenced research from the previous year that had reported Tony Pidgley to be the second highest paid ]CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the FTSE 100
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...
behind Martin Sorrell
Sir Martin Stuart Sorrell (born 14 February 1945) is a British businessman and the founder of WPP plc, the world's largest advertising and PR group, both by revenue and the number of staff. Upon being ousted in April 2018, Sorrell was the longe ...
, with a pay packet of £23.3 million.
Honours
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in the 2013 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...
.
Pidgley received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...
in 2013.
Personal life
He married twice, most recently to Sarah Hill, and had two children by each marriage.[ They resided in a sixteenth-century house set in in ]Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
.[ Pidgley donated more than £2,000 to the ]Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
. He died on 26 June 2020, after suffering a stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pidgley, Tony
1947 births
2020 deaths
People from Surrey
British businesspeople
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Berkeley Group Holdings people
Conservative Party (UK) donors