Richard Harpin invests £110 million of his own money in mid-market companies

Home repair magnate Richard Harpin is investing £110 million of his personal fortune in medium-sized businesses and is ‘on a mission’ to save the UK’s High Street.

Harpin last year sold HomeServe, which he founded in 1993, to Canadian investor Brookfield for more than £4 billion, netting him and his wife Kate about £500 million.

He has already invested £55 million in growth companies including outdoor clothing retailers Passenger and ACAI, Keelham Farm Shop and Crafter’s Companion.

Harpin, 58, wants to invest a further £55 million in around ten companies, saying: ‘I’m not doing it primarily for financial returns. If we want to get the country and the economy going, we need to help companies scale up.

“Today I’m using 45 years of insights to help others grow their businesses and drive a renewal of our city centers.”

After the investments, he said he would have ‘a lot’ of money left over.

In an exclusive to MailOnline, Harpin describes the bosses of the Wilko hardware chain as “too slow, too unreachable and too unwilling to learn,” adding, “Wilko is on the brink, and entrepreneurs like me know why.”

“When I visited a Wilko store last week, it was clear they had too many categories, uncompetitive prices, and customers weren’t clear on why they would shop there.”

Harpin, who lives in Yorkshire, where he and Kate run a village pub and ferry service, started a mail order fly fishing business as a teenager. A female customer told him they would make great earrings.

‘Within a few months I was selling them in hair salons all over the country. All because I listened, learned and responded,” he said. “Up to speed.”

He says he wants to share the secrets he’s learned over the years building a billion-dollar company, including a “Not To Do List.”

“When you run a business you have to focus on things that matter and make a difference,” he said. “We need to do much more to save our main streets.”

Read Harpin’s full article.