William "Bill" Adderley (born February 1948) is a British businessman and founder of the

FTSE 250 The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...

-listed

Dunelm Group Dunelm Group Plc is a British home furnishings retailer operating throughout the United Kingdom. One of the largest homewares retailers in the United Kingdom, The company headquarters are based in Syston, England. It also has its own factory for ...

home furnishings retailer.

Early life

Adderley was born on a council estate in February 1948 in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, Yorkshire. Adderley left school at 16, with a basic education level. He was a boyhood fan of Leeds United.

Career

Adderley was a manager at a Woolworths store in

Coalville Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Tr ...

, but left in 1979 after the company wanted him to relocate to its

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, ...

store. In 1979, while looking for a new job, Adderley and his wife, Jean, sold curtains which had been rejected by Marks and Spencer from a stall on Leicester market. In 1984, they opened their first home furnishings store, calling it Dunelm Mill. He retired from Dunelm at the age of 58 in 2006 and left the growth of the company in the hands of his son, Sir William (“Will”) Adderley, and it was at this time the company floated. In October 2013, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' commented that Adderley had become the largest private shareholder in

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

, having built a stake valued at £250 million. Adderley sold most of his stake in Marks & Spencer and bought a stake in

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqu ...

in 2017. Currently, Dunelm operates in 175 stores across the UK and runs an ecommerce business. The Adderley family still owns approximately 43% of the shares.

Wealth

In 2022, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated his net worth at £1.78 billion.

Personal life

He is married to Jean and has two children. His son, Sir William "Will" Lester Adderley, is a director and deputy chairman of Dunelm Group plc, while his other son, Jonathan, is not actively involved in the business.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adderley, Bill 1948 births Living people British retail company founders Businesspeople from Leeds English billionaires English chief executives English company founders English philanthropists