Sandy and James Easdale, who bought the old Notre Dame High School site at Clerkhill in Dumbarton for a housing development with spectacular views of the River Clyde, earned £10 million last year to add to their personal fortune of £1.46 billion.
The Sunday Times Rich list has revealed that the two men, who are described as “bus barons,” own the McGill’s transport operation which operates on the other side of the River Clyde in Renfrewshire. They are also said to have a financial interest in Rangers Football Club.
Construction of the houses at the convent site, where generations of Catholic schoolgirls were educated by the Notre Dame nuns, is now well underway.
The site lay derelict for a number of years before it was sold by the Notre Dame nuns to the Carmelite Sisters, an enclosed order preciously based in a mansion at Kirktonhill in Dumbarton, before eventually being sold on to the Easdales.
Billionaires Sandy and James Easdale and the Clerkhill housing site.
Meanwhile, clothing billionaire Anders Holch Povlen has been named as the richest man in Scotland.
According to the the Sunday Times Rich List, the CEO of Bestseller (which owns Vero, Moda and Jack Jones) and the largest shareholder of the international retail clothing chain ASOS has seen an increase in his wealth of £974m, bringing his net worth to £7.704bn.
Glenn Gordon and family came second in the list of rich Scots with £6.398 billion in wealth, down £779 million. The family own the William Grant & Sons whisky dynasty, while Harry Potter author JK Rowling sits in eighth place with £945 million personal wealth.
Media and television personality Georgia Toffolo, who is married to BrewDog entrepreneur James Watt, ranked top in Scotland for the richest richest under 40s category with a family wealth of £425m.”
In the UK as a whole, Gopi Hinduja and family topped the rich list for the third year in a row with £35.304 billion wealth.
The 76-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine reveals the largest fall in the billionaire count in the guide’s 37-year history, from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 156 this year.
The number of billionaires has dropped for three successive years – but this year’s decline is the sharpest yet.
This year’s list of 350 individuals and families together hold combined wealth of £772.8 billion — three per cent down on last year.
Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Euan Blair, Sir Lewis Hamilton and Sir Christopher Nolan all appear in the annual survey.
The combined wealth in the 37th annual edition of £772.8 billion is a sum larger than the annual GDP of Switzerland.
Sunday Times Rich List 2025 has been revealed.
The minimum entry level flatlines at £350 million — another indicator of a subdued year.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: “The Sunday Times Rich List is changing. Our billionaire count is down and the combined wealth of those who feature in our research is falling. We are also finding fewer of the world’s super rich are coming to live in the UK.
“This year we were also struck by the strength of criticism for Rachel Reeves’s Treasury. We expected the abolition of non-dom status would anger affluent people from overseas. But homegrown young tech entrepreneurs and those running centuries-old family firms are also warning of serious consequences to a range of tax changes unveiled in last October’s budget.
“Our research continues to find a wide variety of self-made entrepreneurs building fortunes not just from artificial intelligence, video games and new technologies but also mundane, everyday items such as makeup, radiators and jogging bottoms.
“We know many of our readers find these people and their stories inspiring — especially the many who had tough starts or setbacks to their lives and careers.”
In the UK as a whole, Gopi Hinduja and family topped the rich list for the third year in a row with £35.304 billion wealth
Ineos chairman and Manchester United shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has suffered considerable losses for a consecutive year with a £6.473 billion decline in wealth.
Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson are valued at an estimated £450 million thanks to their deal ceding creative control of James Bond to Amazon MGM Studios.
The Sunday Times Rich List 2025
The magazine includes several interviews and features, focused on some of the leading players and personalities among the richest 350, as well as a full ranking by order of wealth.
The Rise and Fall of Michelle Mone
This programme will be available on BBC i player shortly after broadcast
The extraordinary story of a young girl who grew up poor in Glasgow’s East End – her grandmother lived in Dumbarton – and went on to live a life filled with private jets, mega yachts and opulent homes around the world. But the price of these luxuries turned out to be much more than the money they cost.
Baroness Michelle Mone achieved everything she had ever dreamed of – fame, power, money and status. Yet just when she thought she had made it in life, it all came crumbling down.
Top of page picture: Sandy Easdale presents the Carmelite Sisters with a statue of Saint Joseph which was “rescued” by workmen during the demolition of the old chapel on the site.
