William Adderley (born February 1948) is a British businessman and founder of the FTSE 250-listed

Dunelm Group Dunelm Group plc, trading as Dunelm, is a British home furnishings retailer operating in the United Kingdom. One of the largest homeware retailers in the UK, the company headquarters are in Syston, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exc ...

home furnishings retailer.

Early life

Adderley was born on a council estate in February 1948 in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, 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, 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 21,128 as of 2021 ...

store. In 1979, while looking for a new job, Adderley and his wife, Jean, sold curtains which had been rejected by

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

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

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

, 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 Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

in 2017. Currently, Dunelm operates in 180 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 and his wife Jean have two children: Will is a director and deputy chairman of Dunelm Group plc, while 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