Money makers: An empire built on chocolate

Leaving behind their chocolate empire was never an option for Hotel Chocolat founders Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris.

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Angus Thirlwell and the School of Chocolate

Giving up their chocolate empire for a life of leisure was neveran option for Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris,despite pocketing £40m from the £167m listing of HotelChocolat this year. "We had the £20m each already," Thirlwelltells Hannah Prevett in The Times. "It was just invested inshares." The money "enables us to do all the things we weregoing to do... just faster". Hotel Chocolat began life in 1993 asmail-order firm Choc Express, before opening its first outletin Watford in 2004. "If we can make it work there, we're on tosomething," the pair thought.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

You can follow Chris on Instagram.