A former trader at Plymouth Market, Dawson’s discount retailer now has more than 200 UK stores. The Range is spoken of as a “poor man’s John Lewis”, with 16 different departments together selling 140,000 different products. Turnover has topped £1bn for the past three years and Dawson has recently built a vast new distribution centre in Suffolk to power expansion in London and further into the South East. A lover of a bargain himself, he paid around £5m for the Wilko brand. Once a rival of The Range, the low-cost chain fell into administration in 2023, but Dawson realised it was a much-loved high-street name and has begun opening his own Wilko stores.