19. Peter Jones & Family
£556m
Emerson Developments (Holdings)
2008: £695m (-£139m)
Peter Jones reckons the diverse nature of Emerson Developments' portfolio and its strong rental income should enable it to mitigate the effect of the property downturn.
The Alderley Edge-based company was started by Jones, a former joiner, who moved into housebuilding in Cheshire in 1959. He was one of the first developers to spot the potential of south Manchester, buying up tracts of land cheaply. He never looked back and has taken his development work overseas to Portugal and Florida. Jones, 74, has also been active in the north of England with developments such as the successful Lowry Outlet Mall.
Emerson Developments (Holdings) saw its profits fall from £43.3m to £34.7m on nearly £180m turnover in 2007-08 when its net assets increased sharply to over £694m. Another company, PE Jones (Properties), had around £45.9m of net assets in 2007-08. Jones and family trusts own all the shares in both. We would normally value the businesses on their £739m total net assets but, in this climate, we cut that back to around £540m, adding £16m for other assets and property.