27 (22) Michael Horton and family £165m (£160m)

 It’s been another good year for Michael Horton’s property business, and "full-up" signs at Hortons’ Estates’ industrial park ventures have further boosted the coffers.

The final properties on the new 24-acre Cursley Distribution Park near Kidderminster have been let. Tenants include UK Sports Imports and garden equipment supplier Landmann.

And stainless steel stockholder Metalfin has moved into a new £3.5 million warehousing and distribution unit developed by Hortons’ at Anchor Brook Industrial Park, Aldridge.

Acquisitions have also been going apace at Hortons, with well over £10 million of investments during the last year. These include Highlands House, a multi-let office building in Solihull purchased for £2.5 million.

Sixty-seven year old Michael Horton’s great grandfather Isaac - a pig farmer and butcher - began the company in 1871 when he acquired the Midland Hotel in Birmingham and set about developing it. He also bought the Grand Hotel in Colmore Row, and by the time of his death in 1880 he had established a substantial property business.

Since then the Colmore Row-based Hortons’ Estate has become one of the Midlands' most prominent family-owned property companies.

Isaac, who is buried at Key Hill Cemetery in the Jewellery Quarter, bought the Grand in 1875. In its heyday it was a superb example of Birmingham’s confidence and prominence in the Victorian era. Guests later included King George VI.

Meanwhile Hortons’ Estate has net assets well in excess of £150 million.

Major Hortons projects include Cathedral Court in Colmore Row which is leased to Barclays, Latham House in Paradise Street which has undergone a £1.8 million refurbishment, Great Park off junction four of the M5, Innovation Square, a £20 million mixed use scheme on Edmund Street and an office development on Kettering Venture Park.

Small wonder that Hortons’ held a celebration event at the Botanical Gardens, inviting shareholders and guests to share in marking the company’s achievements.

Hortons is a supporter of a number of worthy causes. These include McMillan Cancer Research and the NSPCC, Horton’s corporate charity, who recently received a cheque for £10,000 following a year of fund raising events. The company is also a supporter of the arts and music.