W Galen Weston, the patriarch of one in all Canada’s wealthiest households and a retail titan, has died aged 80.
Weston was the third technology of his household to guide George Weston Restricted, an already-prosperous retail empire based by his grandfather, which he expanded considerably.
The corporate, now run by his son, Galen Weston, controls Primark and Selfridges within the UK, in addition to the Canadian grocery chain Loblaws, the pharmacy chain Consumers Drug Mart and the true property firm Alternative Properties. The empire additionally contains the posh retailer Fortnum & Mason, together with meals manufacturers together with Twinings teas, Kingsmill Bakery and Dorset Cereals.
Weston, who had Canadian and British nationality, died peacefully at residence after an extended sickness, a press release from his household stated.
He was born in Buckinghamshire, England, and moved to Dublin at 21 to flee a domineering father, the Irish Occasions reported in 2014, the place he met a mannequin, Hilary Frayne. They married in 1966.
His grandmother gave him the funds to launch a line of outlets in Eire, one in all which finally turned Primark beneath the father or mother firm Related British Meals, which is now listed on the London inventory change. ABF is in flip majority-owned by Wittington Investments, the household holding firm that controls the entire empire, together with Selfridges Group.
Within the Seventies Weston returned to his household’s base of operations, Canada, to revive the household’s struggling Loblaws grocery store chain, and helped flip it into one of many largest meals distributors within the nation.
“In our enterprise and in his life he constructed a legacy of extraordinary accomplishment and pleasure,” Galen Weston stated.
Alannah Weston, Weston Sr’s daughter and the chair of Selfridges Group, stated: “The luxurious retail business has misplaced an important visionary.”
The Weston household are among the many wealthiest in Canada, with Forbes estimating their complete wealth at $8.7bn.
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