Del Boy billionaire switches his Range discount store fortune to his wife… just like Philip Green

Entrepreneur Chris Dawson has made no secret of his admiration for Sir Philip Green.

And now the founder of The Range seems to have taken a leaf out of the Topshop tycoon’s book.

For Mr Dawson is said to have saved millions of pounds in tax by reportedly handing over ownership of his main business to his wife Sarah – who lives in Jersey.

Mr Dawson founded The Range in 1989. He now has around 160 stores in Britain and Ireland, with customers including the Duchess of Cambridge.

Chris Dawson, 67, has given ownership of the company behind discount store The Range to his wife, 56

The businessman is believed to have transferred shares in the firm’s parent company to Mrs Dawson after she moved to the Channel Islands tax haven in 2016.

This meant she did not have to pay the Treasury anything when Norton Group Holdings, which owns The Range, paid out a £39.5million dividend last year, according to The Times. It reported that this denied the UK as much as £15million in tax.

Mr Dawson has previously told how he ‘likes to read what businessmen I admire are up to, like Sir Philip Green’.

Sir Philip himself does not own any shares in his Arcadia retail empire, which owns Burton and Dorothy Perkins, as well as Topshop; his wife Tina owns them instead. The Greens set up new companies after they moved to Monaco – another tax haven.

The businessman had previously been known to visit up to 10 of his stores a day via private helicopter (pictured)

The businessman had previously been known to visit up to 10 of his stores a day via private helicopter (pictured)

Mr Dawson, 67, a former market trader, likens himself to Only Fools and Horses character Del Boy and even drives a Rolls-Royce with the registration DE11 BOY.

He describes his company as ‘a poor man’s John Lewis’ – but that hasn’t stopped it attracting well-heeled customers.

The Duchess of Cambridge was seen doing last-minute Christmas shopping at the Kings Lynn branch near her and Prince William’s home in Norfolk in December.

Mr Dawson and his wife, 56, are worth almost £2billion, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

As a boy, Dawson struggled academically and was so severely dyslexic that he left school without a single qualification, unable to read and write. He is now one of the most successful businessmen in the country 

As a boy, Dawson struggled academically and was so severely dyslexic that he left school without a single qualification, unable to read and write. He is now one of the most successful businessmen in the country 

The man at the top of the list – Jim Ratcliffe, founder of chemicals giant Ineos – drew widespread criticism when he announced his move to Monaco this year to save money in tax. He had been knighted less than a year earlier. Company filings for Norton Group Holdings show the Dawsons lived in England until May 2016, when Mrs Dawson moved to Jersey, The Times said.

At that time Mrs Dawson owned 40 per cent of the company and Mr Dawson owned 60 per cent. The Times said his shares were transferred to her in March 2017.

He follows the same idea that Philip Green had to given his wife Tina ownership of Arcadia to keep millions form the taxpayer

He follows the same idea that Philip Green had to given his wife Tina ownership of Arcadia to keep millions form the taxpayer

Wealthy mainland UK taxpayers who own shares pay a 38.1 per cent tax on any dividend – but because the shares are now owned on the Channel Islands this does not apply to any dividends.

This means the UK Treasury will have been deprived of £15million worth of tax from dividends of £39.5million that were paid in January 2018.

A spokesman for the Dawsons told The Times: ‘Their decisions and actions were not at all inspired by Sir Philip and Lady Green.’ They added: ‘Mr Dawson remains in the UK for tax purposes and all UK taxes are complied with.

‘Mr and Mrs Dawson and their companies comply with HMRC legislation. Mrs Dawson’s move to Jersey has no impact on the group’s tax status.’

The Range did not respond to requests for comment.

‘I still am a market trader, it’s just got more noughts on it’: Meet the real life Del Boy worth £1.75 billion who couldn’t read until he was 27

Like all good businessmen, Chris Dawson comes equipped with his own roll-off-the-tongue catchphrase.

The 64-year-old billionaire, who made his fortune through bargain homeware chain The Range, believes there are three ways to get rich. ‘To have a lot of money, you’ve got to either win it, steal it or inherit it,’ he claims.

And if that oft-used phrase sounds like something more likely to come from the Del Boy school of business spiel, that’s because he probably wants it to.

Chris Dawson, billionaire owner of The Range stores in front of two of his homes near to his hometown LYMOUTH

Chris Dawson, billionaire owner of The Range stores in front of two of his homes near to his hometown LYMOUTH

The self-made tycoon – now worth £1.75billion – identifies so strongly with the character that he has a DE11 BOY number plate on his £350,000 Rolls-Royce Wraith coupe.

Chris Dawson, who has made his billions through the bargain homeware chain The Range, models himself on the Only Fools and Horses character Del Boy – and has the number plate to prove it

He is now at the helm of nearly 110 chains nationwide and visits ten per day in his personalised helicopter

He also jokes that he taught Derek Trotter ‘all his best lines’, while there is even rumoured to be a photo of the cast of the long-running comedy in the reception of his HQ.

Speaking about the programme, he says: ‘I actually had that life. You think, b***** me, I’ve said that, done that.’

He also insists he has the same businessman swagger and eye for a deal that made the Only Fools and Horses character so loveable.

‘I still am a market trader. It’s just got more noughts on it,’ he said. ‘Even now, I’ll stop the Roller and pick up a battery from the side of the road. I still love it.’

Like Del Boy, Dawson makes no secret of his unabashed desire to be filthy rich (‘As each person comes in, I think, kerching, kerching, kerching!’). But, having now taken the 58th spot on the 2016 Sunday Times Rich List, Dawson has proved there is more substance to his patter than that of his television counterpart.

His incredible story epitomises the rags to riches tale that seems to dominate the world of British business.

Dawson epitomises the rags to riches tale that seems to dominate the world of British business. He started life on the market stall in Plymouth (pictured) and used to sell upcycled furniture and scrap metal to punters

Despite his new-found wealth, Dawson has not shunned his roots, admitting that he regularly chooses to fly with budget airline Flybe

Despite his new-found wealth, Dawson has not shunned his roots, admitting that he regularly chooses to fly with budget airline Flybe

As a boy, Dawson struggled academically and was so severely dyslexic that he left school without a single qualification, unable to read and write. He is now one of the most successful businessmen in the country

His humble beginnings saw him and his two brothers raised on a council estate in Hooe, Plymouth, with their labourer father Thomas and his cleaner mother, Elsie.

Prospects were bleak – his younger brother still lives in the same house – and money was so sparse that he did not own his first pair of pants until he was 12.

Now, his billionaire lifestyle includes a sprawling 30-acre riverfront estate near Plymouth, which has his own motocross track converted from a golf course.

Despite his new-found wealth, Dawson has not shunned his roots, admitting that he regularly chooses to fly with budget airline Flybe

His numerous garages are home to a Ferrari, a Range Rover and a Porsche and, when he visits London, he stays in the penthouse at the Corinthia hotel, splashing out £14,000 for the two-floor room, complete with a private butler.

Despite his new-found wealth, Dawson appears reluctant to shun his roots, regularly choosing to fly with budget airline Flybe.

While many in his position might use a good business deal as an excuse to splurge on a luxury car or holiday, Dawson – who barely manages to take two weeks off per year -rewards himself with a greasy fry-up, complete with all the trimmings.

The father-of-two is also insistent that people should not credit his success to a desire to escape his destitute lifestyle.

‘People want to say, “Ah, he was poor, his father knocked him from here to there’ — he did a bit, as it happens,’ he told The Sunday Times.

‘But what if we were good at what we done? It’s called ability, I believe.’

Despite wanting to talk about his talent, Dawson admits that those who know him from school would be shocked to see him now.

As a boy, he struggled academically and was so severely dyslexic that he left school without a single qualification, unable to read and write.

‘Dyslexic is a polite way of putting it, I just didn’t have a bloody clue,’ he told the Telegraph.

It wasn’t until he was 27 that Dawson learned how to read. However, even at the age of 64, he still cannot write.

He struggles to understand the Sat Nav on his fleet of luxury cars and admits sometimes pretending to forget his glasses when checking into a hotel so he doesn’t have to fill out his form.

But, it is clear that Dawson’s business brain was switched on from a young age.

The budding entrepreneur started selling ice-creams at the age of seven, before taking on three paper rounds – two of which he subcontracted to friends.

He also earned money by doing early-morning wake-up calls for military officers in his garrison home town of Plymouth and began selling teas to builders on construction sites at the age of 14.

Last year, he told Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on their Channel 5 show How The Other Half Lives that he doesn’t intend to sell the company or stop expanding

They filmed the interview at the Corinthia hotel, where he stays when he visits London. He pays for a £14,000 for a two-floor room (pictured) complete with a private butler

He later embarked on a career as a scrap metal dealer, ‘borrowing’ leftover scraps from his school technology class. When he was caught, a teacher apparently told him: ‘You’ll end up in prison or very rich.’

Dawson then began branching out in all sorts of trades. He was once asked to join the showbiz circuit as a warm-up act for Little and Large but, when he was told he would earn £500, he replied: ‘I can earn that in an hour.’

He then continued to feed his money-making drive by selling watches from a briefcase on a market stall, later selling everything he could get his hands on from the back of a lorry.

It was with those wheeler-dealing profits that he was able to open his first The Range superstore at Sugar Mill business park in Plymouth in 1989.

It wasn’t long before he had turned the company into a booming chain of retail park shops, which is dubbed as working man’s John Lewis and sells everything from lawn-mowers to scented candles.

There are now more than 100 chains across the UK, complete with a workforce of more than 9.000. Dawson also plans to open a store in Limerick and is mooting an expansion to Germany.

Dawson jokes that he taught Derek Trotter (pictured in Only Fools and Horses) ‘all his best lines’, while there is even rumoured to be a photo of the cast of the long-running comedy in the reception of his HQ

Despite the overwhelming expansion of his business, Dawson insists that he is involved in as many of the chains as possible. Using his private helicopter, he visits up to ten stores per day, ensuring he sees each individual shop six times per year.

Mr Dawson founded The Range in 1989. He now has around 160 stores in Britain and Ireland, with customers including the Duchess of Cambridge

Mr Dawson founded The Range in 1989. He now has around 160 stores in Britain and Ireland, with customers including the Duchess of Cambridge

He is a self-confessed workaholic, sleeping only six hours per day and admitting he does nothing to relax, except work. He reportedly does not have a work email and instead communicates with employees in a regular early-morning conference calls, ensuring he is physically and metaphorically everywhere in the business at all times.

‘I’m like Anneka bloody Rice,’ he says.

It was through his wheeling and dealing that he met his wife of 35 years, Sarah, when he sold her a knock-off watch and then chased her for top-up payments.

She works as a buyer for the company, alongside their daughter Lisa, who is in her 30s. Their son Christopher – also in his 30s – works on store refits.

Last year, he told Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on their Channel 5 show How The Other Half Lives that he doesn’t intend to sell the company or stop expanding.

Asked if he would prefer to be relaxing on a beach or yacht somewhere exotic, he replied: ‘No to all of those. I don’t know how to relax is unless I have had a gin. I will have a go at being a trillionaire.’

 

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