Entrepreneur John Bloor’s £425 million career began as an apprentice plasterer at age 17, which introduced him to the housing industry and gained him a top ten position on the City & Guilds Vocational Rich List. Before long he had launched Bloor Holdings, which he gradually built up into one of England’s most successful housing developers.
Then when Bloor Holdings was looking for property to develop in 1983, he was unaware that his purchase would lead to a huge new venture. However, having been shown the shuttered Triumph factory in the Midlands by a real estate agent, Bloor ended up buying not only the factory but the Triumph name and assets as well.
The Leicestershire-based motorbike manufacturer Triumph, still be best known for its classic Bonneville model, grew slowly but steadily through the 1990’s. In 2006 Triumph outstripped BMW as the top-selling European motorcycle brand in America, a title the German firm had held for almost 30 years. John now plans to build 80,000 bikes in 2008, selling at least 25% of them in America.
