Charlie Mullins’ father worked in a toy car factory. His mother cleaned homes. Today, Mullins, 71, lives in a £10 million London penthouse with a view of the Thames, say Sabah Meddings and Michael Sasso on Bloomberg.
He can credit his “dazzling rise to the unlikely intersection of high finance and blue-collar labour”. Mullins left school at 15 with no qualifications and became an apprentice to a plumber. Over four decades, he built a successful firm, Pimlico Plumbers, that sought to improve the industry’s reputation for poor service.
Smartly dressed workers in clean vans would turn up promptly, for a premium price. In the year ending May 2021, Pimlico reported £49.2 million in revenue, distributing £3.2 million to Mullins in dividends. He sold out at the end of 2021 to Wall Street giant KKR for £140 million. Mullins now says he regrets selling.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Sales have declined since the acquisition, a son and grandson have quit in frustration and Mullins says he hears complaints about service from customers who assume he’s still in charge. The American buyers lack the personal touch associated with smaller, British companies, he says, and so he is now planning to go “head to head with his former empire” by setting up a new company, says Lucy Burton in The Telegraph.
WeFix will be trading when a non-compete clause agreed with Pimlico’s new owners ends this September. A fleet of distinctive vans is ready to be rolled out, and the plan is for the venture to repeat Mullin’s initial success and become the “Harrods of the handyman world”. Mullins, who has become a celebrity thanks to his rock-star looks and conservative commentary for the media, affirms there will be no “working from home” at WeFix. At Pimlico, he forbade workers to use their smartphones and is known for his no-nonsense approach.
Workers at WeFix will, however, get a share of the profits after a year’s service. While most rich founders mumble about making a difference, Mullins is straightforward about what gets him out of bed in the morning, says Lucy Tobin on This Is Money. “Money motivates me,” he says. “Become an apprentice plumber and you’ll never run out of work, and you’ll earn loads of money.” It’s a strategy that’s worked, and he’s sticking with it.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
-
Barclays begins paying up to £100 compensation to customers after banking outageBarclays will pay up to £7.5 million in compensation to customers after its banking services were disrupted by an IT outage
-
Review: Shangri-La Paris – an ode to the world’s best foodNatasha Langan enjoys fine French and Chinese cuisine at the Shangri-La Paris
-
Anne Wojcicki: the 'daring' 23andMe CEO who reached too farProfile Anne Wojcicki dreamed of a revolution in personal genomics and medicine and set up 23andMe in 2006. Its collapse into bankruptcy provides a cautionary tale
-
A new wealth tax is a terrible idea. The rich are already being hit by sneaky taxes – Merryn Somerset WebbOpinion Ideologues want to squeeze more tax out of the rich with a wealth tax. They’re already wrung dry, says Merryn Somerset Webb
-
Why are energy bills so expensive in the UK?Electricity bills in the UK are higher than in any comparable rich country. Some blame the net-zero zealotry of the government for that. What is really to blame for high energy bills?
-
Why French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for officeMarine Le Pen, presidential candidate and leader of France's right-wing National Rally party, has been barred from standing by the country's judges.
-
Five years on: what did Covid cost us?We’re still counting the costs of the global coronavirus pandemic – and governments’ responses. What did we learn?
-
Remembering Eddie Jordan: Formula One’s inimitable maverickProfile Eddie Jordan was one of the great characters of motor sport with a zeal for deal-making. His death leaves a hole in the sport that won’t be filled
-
London can lure Brexit-fleeing banks back to UK – but the City must move quicklyOpinion Many banks fled to Paris in the wake of Brexit but are now in full-scale retreat. The City should move quickly to lure them back, says Matthew Lynn
-
Palmer Luckey: the billionaire flame of the westProfile Palmer Luckey started Oculus, the virtual-reality headset business, and sold it to Facebook for $2bn. Now he’s set his sights on the arms race.
