Hull billionaire Eddie Healey dies aged 83
EAST YORKSHIRE’S RICHEST MAN PASSES AWAY
Yorkshire’s richest man and long-time Hull resident Eddie Healey has passed away aged 83 after a battle with illness.
Eddie, 83, who lived in Westella Hall in Kirk Ella with his wife Carol, was the owner of Blue Energy and made a name for himself as a property investor who famously built Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield.
Edwin Dyson Healey and his brother Malcolm Healey had been a permanent fixture on the Sunday Times Rich List over the years, with Malcolm, 76, running Barton-uponhumber-based Wren Kitchens.
In the last list, the East Yorkshire brothers were reported to be the 75th richest people in Britain with a combined value of £2.2bn.
The family are well-known generous patrons of charitable causes, but have shied away from the limelight that their wealth might otherwise attract.
The Healey family’s rise to riches began when Malcolm and Eddie’s father, Stanley, set up a corner shop selling painting and decorating supplies in the now demolished Parrott Street in west Hull.
John then set up his own business, Status Discount, which Eddie and Malcolm joined. In 1972, the firm floated on the stock market.
In 1980, Eddie and Malcolm sold Status Discount to MFI for £30m and John retired to the warm comfort of Portugal.
Eddie began setting up his shopping centre Retail World in Rotherham, but his £100m development hit problems when anchor chain Marks and Spencer pulled out.
Meanwhile, fellow Yorkshireman Paul Sykes was struggling to raise the capital for his shopping mall project in Sheffield.
The two decided to join forces and spotted some derelict land on the outskirts of Sheffield, which they would transform into what has become Britain’s most lucrative out-of-town shopping centre – Meadowhall.
Eddie wasn’t done there. He took the Meadowhall blueprint to Germany and opened the Centre shopping complex in Oberhausen.
Despite their wealth and high-profile dealings, busieast
ness acquaintances, aware of the Healeys’ desire to stay out of the limelight, have continued to say little.
Staff, including their official spokesmen, are well known for refusing to talk about them.
It is well known that both brothers have been generous to charities, but rarely make any such donations public and have a reputation for being friendly.
Eddie’s health had been declining over recent years and he passed away at the weekend, according to a close family source.