One of Gloucestershire’s biggest ever business success stories

Diamonds, sport, food, travel and mobile phones are all products of a business group that’s just turned over £550m-plus, making its founder, a Gloucestershire entrepreneur, very rich indeed.

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One of Gloucestershire’s biggest ever business success stories

Diamonds, sport, food, travel and mobile phones are all products of a business group that’s just turned over £550m-plus, making its founder, a Gloucestershire entrepreneur, very rich indeed.

By Andrew Merrell.

It’s one of Gloucestershire’s biggest business groups, committed to combating climate change by influencing how we buy food, travel sport, diamonds and energy, and it’s turnover has just passed more than half a billion pounds with a gross profit of £100m-plus.

Admirable ambitions to change our consumer behaviour and save the planet aside, the group’s figures make it one of the county’s most successful business stories of the last 25 years, growing from nothing to a fascinating stable of companies.

All those companies were founded by one man, who retains sole ownership - ‘green capitalism’, if you like - turning him into a multi-millionaire, helping him develop a high profile and even take a shot at influencing politics on a national scale.

The group’s financial figures now put it near the top of The Raikes Journal’s Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, which tracks the fortunes of the county’s biggest firms buy turnover (all articles can be found in our Reports and Deals channel, sponsored by Randall & Payne).

It’s an extraordinary story - the end of which is yet to be told. We take a look at its latest figures below and what’s driving its current growth.