Sir David Rowat Barclay (27 October 1934 – 10 January 2021) and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay (born 27 October 1934), commonly referred to as the "Barclay Brothers" or "Barclay Twins", were British billionaire brothers, of whom Frederick Barclay is now the sole survivor. They were identical twins and, until David's death in 2021, had joint business interests primarily in media, retail and property.
The Sunday Times Rich List of 2020 estimated their wealth at £7 billion. They earned a reputation for avoiding publicity and have often been described as reclusive.
David's son, Aidan, manages their UK businesses. Their businesses have been accused of tax avoidance, by placing assets under ownership of companies registered abroad and controlled through trusts. Their Press Holdings company controls Telegraph Group Limited, parent company of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. It formerly owned Apollo and The Spectator magazines.The Telegraph Press office
In 1993, the brothers bought the lease of the island of Brecqhou, one of the smallest of the Channel Islands, just off the coast of Sark.
Biography The Barclay brothers were born within ten minutes of each other in Hammersmith, London, to Scottish parents Beatrice Cecilia (née Taylor; died 1989) and her husband, Frederick Hugh Barclay, a travelling salesman. The couple had eight other children. Frederick Sr. died when the brothers were twelve years old, and they left school four years later in 1950 to work in the accounts department at the General Electric Company before setting up as painters and decorators.
In 1955, David married Zoe Newton, who had trained as a ballet dancer, at St John the Baptist Church, Holland Road, Kensington. Zoe Barclay pursued a modelling career and became the most photographed and highest paid model in Britain of her time, appearing on the front of popular magazines such as Picturegoer. She appeared on television and in the Dairy Council advertisements as the "drinka pinta milka day" girl."Milk Bottle Museum", The Birmingham Post (archived at thefreelibrary.com)
By the end of the 1950s, the brothers were running Candy Corner, tobacconists and confectioners, on the edge of Kensington. However, in November 1960 the business folded when Frederick and Douglas were made bankrupt at the High Court after their landlord seized the shop because they were in breach of the terms of the lease. A notice in The London Gazette at that time announced the bankruptcies, listing a former business interest of Frederick, then aged 26, and Douglas, two years his junior, as builders and decorators called Barclay Brothers based at the Barclay family home.
Meanwhile, David was registered as a director of Hillgate Estate Agents in 1962, with his wife Zoe as a co-director; she had given up her modelling career to concentrate on her young sons. By 1968, however, Frederick was running the family businesses, replacing Zoe on the Hillgate board. He had obtained the discharge of his bankruptcy after David paid the creditors. During this time they redeveloped old boarding houses in London, and made them into hotels.
Between 1968 and 1974, the twins received increasingly large loans from the Crown Agents, a government agency designed to help the colonies and developing countries do business in Britain. In 1970, they bought Gestplan Hotels, which operated the Londonderry House Hotel in Park Lane, from a group of Lebanese bankers.
In the mid-1970s, Frederick met and married Hiroko Asada (née Kuzusaka), a familiar figure among Japanese society in London. She had a son from her previous marriage, and later had a daughter, Amanda. Meanwhile David married Reyna Oropeza, with whom he had a fourth son in 1989, named Alistair.
From the late 1960s onwards, the Barclay brothers continued to build up stakes in businesses such as breweries and casinos. In 1975, they bought the Howard Hotel, overlooking the Thames at Temple Place. In 1983, they bought Ellerman, the brewing and shipping group, for £45m. They later sold its brewing division for £240m. They used the proceeds to buy the Ritz Hotel in London's Piccadilly in 1995. They spent £370 million on Gotaas-Larsen, a Bermuda-based shipping company, and £200 million on the Automotive Financial Group, a motor retail chain in 1994. The brothers were involved in philanthropy, and were knighted in 2000 for their support of medical research, to which they have donated an estimated £40 million between 1987 and 2000."Barclay twins knighted in 'double dubbing'", The Daily Telegraph, 1 November 2000.
In 2004 they were listed in 42nd place with an estimate of £750 million on The Sunday Times Rich List, and in 2006 they were ranked 24th with a value of £1,800m. In 2012, they topped the Media Rich List with an estimate of £2.25 billion.
David died aged 86 on 10 January 2021, after a short illness.
In May 2021, the court ordered Frederick to pay his wife, Hiroko, £100 million on a divorce she had initiated; the judge criticised Frederick for selling a yacht contrary to court orders. The court said he had "completely ignored those orders, sold the yacht, and applied the equity for his own use. I regarded that behaviour as reprehensible" ... "[He] is a public figure who should have been aware of the potential consequences of disobedience of court orders and his behaviour in the proceedings should not be allowed to pass completely under the radar”. On 28 July 2022, a high court judge ruled that Frederick's ex-wife of 34 years had failed to prove he was in contempt of court for not paying her a £100 million divorce settlement. However, he was told he faced a potential jail sentence after a judge found him in contempt of court for failing to pay his ex-wife £245,000 in legal fees and monthly maintenance costs.
Business interests Hotels the London Ritz (1995-2020)
Shipping
Ellerman Lines (1983–1985) In 1983, the brothers purchased brewing and shipping group Ellerman for £45m. They later sold its brewing division (for £240m), and in late 1985 its shipping business (to its management). The Ellerman deal helped the Barclays develop the strategy of buying companies, breaking them up and profiting from the real estate. The technique of approaching an insider to obtain an advantage also set a precedent for later deals: the Barclays approached the Ellerman non-executive chairman, David Scott, at a secret meeting in Monte Carlo. Scott recalled in his memoirs that David Barclay requested an exclusive option to buy the firm, and to keep it secret from all but two directors, in return for a promise that Scott would stay on as non-executive chairman. However, moments after signing the sale document, Scott was handed a letter (by the Barclays' lawyer) demanding his immediate resignation on grounds that he had been indiscreet about the offer."Dealmaking Barclays accustomed to getting their way", articles.chicagotribune.com, 1 February 2004.
Retail
The Very Group and Littlewoods In 2002, the brothers purchased the Liverpool-based retail company Littlewoods from its founders, the Moores family, for £750 million. The deal was bankrolled by HBOS, which also took a 5% equity stake in the brothers' bidding vehicle, LW Investments. The brothers merged the company with their earlier purchase, The Very Group, to form Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited, which operates a majority share of the United Kingdom's home shopping market. They also closed and sold off the Littlewoods department store chain, with the largest parcel of 120 properties being purchased by Associated British Foods for leasing mainly to its subsidiary Primark,"Primark takes over Littlewood stores", Manchester Evening News while other stores were leased to Marks & Spencer, New Look and British Home Stores."Structure of Industry" by Robert Paisley , dialspace.dial.pipex.com
Two years after the brothers' acquisition of Littlewoods Ltd., HM Revenue and Customs repaid the company VAT that it had charged in breach of EU law. Since October 2004, more than £200 million in overpaid VAT and £268 million in simple interest was repaid to the company.International Tax Review, 19 July 2012 However, Littlewoods argued that the company was owed a compounded interest rate and subsequently sued HMRC for £1 billion."Littlewoods court case could cost taxman billions", AccountancyAge, 18 July 2012.
In 2024, Very Group auditors, Deloitte, resigned after stating they struggled to access "appropriate and relevant information in respect of certain financing arrangements between companies in the wider group". Very Group's ownership is spread across many different companies, some unaudited, with an ultimate offshore owner.
Yodel Delivery company Yodel has received criticism for its poor service in the past, but has improved over recent years.bbc.co.uk, 22 March 2012 Yodel (which operates via Home Delivery Network Ltd.) suffered a £130 million loss in 2011.bizzy, Home Delivery Network Limited profile
handbag.com (1999–2006) In October 2006, the Barclays sold handbag.com for £22 million. This was almost all profit: they acquired the website after it was set up as a joint venture between Hollinger International and the Boots Group in 1999. The Handbag group was a collection of four websites designed for female users: the high fashion getlippy.com, the fashion and home life-focused allaboutyou.com, a "specialist pregnancy site" gomamatoday.com and handbag.com.Journalism.co.uk "NatMags buys Handbag.com", journalism.co.uk
Woolworths and Ladybird brands (2009–2021)
On 2 February 2009, it was announced that the brothers' Shop Direct Group had purchased the brand names of Woolworths and Ladybird children's clothing for an undisclosed amount, from Deloitte, the administrators of the failed Woolworths Group. In July 2021, the British and Irish Woolworths brands would be sold to Woolworth in Germany, with The Very Group retaining the Ladybird brand.
Newspapers Many of the brothers' publishing interests are owned through a Jersey company, Press Holdings.
The European (1992–1998) In 1992, the Barclay brothers entered the newspaper publishing industry by buying The European newspaper, formerly part of Robert Maxwell's holdings. The weekly paper became a high-end business tabloid, but closed in 1998.
The Scotsman (1995–2005) In 1995, they bought The Scotsman newspaper, and in 1996 appointed former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil to oversee their publishing interests. On 19 December 2005, the Barclays sold The Scotsman Publications Ltd, itself then part of Press Holdings Group, for £160 million to Johnston Press. The Barclays had owned these publications for a decade, and said they intended to use the capital raised on their other interests. During their ownership of The Scotsman, the newspaper had seven editors in nine years (see The Scotsman: Editors).
Sunday Business (1998–2008) In 1998 they bought and relaunched the Sunday Business newspaper with editor Jeff Randall. It became a weekly magazine The Business in 2006, and was merged into The Spectator in 2008.
The Telegraph Media Group (2004–2025) In July 2004, the Barclays bought The Telegraph Group (now Telegraph Media Group), which includes The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, and The Spectator after months of intense bidding and lawsuits. The Telegraph Group was owned by Hollinger Inc. of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the newspaper group controlled by the Canadian-born British businessman Conrad Black. As part of a February 2004 judgment, an American judge, Leo Strine, accused the Barclay brothers of being "less than fully candid", adding they had "remained silent while Lord Black misled the Hollinger Inc. International board", remarks that incurred the brothers' wrath, with David branding the criticisms "grossly unfair".