Draft:Roy Richardson

Roy Richardson was born 1930 in Brierley Hill, then Worcestershire, England. He is a British businessman who specialised in commercial development, working in conjunction with his twin brother Don Richardson until Don’s death in 2007.

Roy and Don were joint owners of Richardson Developments. In the early 1980s they embraced the government's new enterprise zones, creating thousands of jobs in areas suffering from high unemployment due to deindustrialisation.

Their impact to the regional and national economy was significant. In the teeth of the recession when unemployment was at 20% and interest rates at 18%, they built boldly and speculatively. With no inherited wealth, Roy and Don led an organisation that was self-financed, undertaking major brownfield regeneration in some of the country’s most deprived areas.

Taking on the derelict Round Oak steel works and turning it into the iconic Merry Hill shopping centre transformed Brierley Hill in the late 80’s, creating more than 10,000 jobs, subsequently bringing in over £950m in local business rates.

In true Richardson spirit and in their own back yard, they proved they were ahead of the game with a number of innovative plans for the centre. A much-loved £22m monorail was constructed, only the second to be built in the UK, while in the late 1980s plans were also unveiled to build the world's tallest tower at Merry Hill. The tower, intended to be the UK’s answer to Toronto’s CN Tower, would have been 2,000 feet tall, with a hotel at its base, a restaurant halfway up and a nightclub plus observatory at the top. A positive consulting report on the viability of the tower was completed by Trafalgar House but ultimately the plans did not proceed due to a variety of reasons.

The brothers went on to stamp their mark on the redevelopment of Birmingham city centre, with the transformation of the former John Lewis department store into prestigious offices. Other landmark developments around the city included the Fort retail park and major leisure schemes on Broad Street, which cumulatively created over 15,000 jobs.

Roy and Don’s commitment and investment in the region means they will always be associated with the West Midlands. However, their business grew wider with schemes stretching across the UK.

Their national footprint of developments initiated sustained economic activity in other challenging areas including County Durham, Broadstairs and Swindon, leading to the creation of 10,000s jobs for local people across a range of sectors.

Today, Richardson is a leader in real estate and growth capital with a business portfolio that is embedded across the world. Roy is Life President of the organisation, with the family office being led by his sons, Martyn, Lee and Carl.

Honours
Roy is Honorary Life President of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce. , was awarded the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce President’s medal in 2019, received a lifetime achievement award from the Black Country Chamber in 2020 and was the recipient of the inaugural lifetime achievement business award by the Express & Star in 2022. He was inducted into the Property Hall of Fame by Property Week in 2022.

In 2017 he was made a Freeman of the Borough of Sandwell, in 2018 he became a Freeman of the neighbouring borough of Dudley and in 2022 he was awarded the Freedom of the City of London.

Despite leaving school at 14, Roy has always been active in promoting and supporting individuals, particularly encouraging young people and the next generation of entrepreneurs.

His efforts were recognised by Birmingham City University who conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate in 1998, the University of Wolverhampton who presented him an Honorary Fellowship in 2002 and the University of Worcester who awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 2021.

Foundation
The Richardson family have a long history of charitable giving and actively supporting the communities in which their business operates. In August 2006 this was formalised with the establishment of the Richardson Brothers Foundation. The Foundation is a completely separate entity to Richardson, although it is funded by the Richardson family. It gives financial support to a wide range of charities and individuals, especially those focusing on children and young people, social projects connected with homelessness and food poverty, and military service personnel.

Military
The Richardson family have a proud military heritage, with seven family members having served in the Armed Forces, and Roy is no exception. Roy and Don completed their national service together in the RAF and became consistent and passionate champions of the Armed Forces. Their ongoing financial support goes back around 40 years and includes BLESMA, the Army Benevolent Fund and Help for Heroes.

More recently Roy and his family were invited to become an Affiliate of HMS Daring, supporting their welfare fund and community engagement. They have sponsored termly awards for sailors, contributed towards expeditions and hosted large scale events to mark Trafalgar Day in the UK and overseas.

Locally, Roy chaired the fundraising committee for a new Cenotaph to be built in Dudley to remember his home town’s fallen.