Tim Knowles is the ultimate rags-to-riches story.
He left school aged 16 unable to read or write and without a single qualification to his name.
Knowles is the latest guest on The Naked Founder podcast and started his working life washing cars before buying a fishmonger’s shop in Chorley at the age of 17, which became the springboard for his property empire, FI Property Group (previously FI Real Estate Management).
After a lot of ‘hard graft’, his property empire now has assets totalling more than £1.4bn and has gone from being the industry’s ‘best-kept secret’ to a major player in the office, retail and industrial property sectors.
For full disclosure, I’ve known Knowles for 20 years, both professionally and personally, and last year he stepped in to save my cricket club, White Coppice, by replacing a leaking septic tank for free.
Over the years, he estimates he’s given millions to charities and good causes, normally on the condition of anonymity, but rarely talks about it in his occasional media interviews.
Knowles grew up in Leyland and says what his family lacked in material things, they made up for in love and by teaching him that if he wanted something, he had to work for it.
Despite being unable to read or write when he left Leyland St Mary’s High School aged 16 he quickly showed a flair for business.
In 1982, aged just 17, he launched his first business – Knowles Way – when he bought a fishmonger’s shop in Anderton Street, Chorley, for £6,250.
After cleaning it out, he rented it to several businesses and embarked on a lifelong career in property.
The young Knowles quickly recognised the value of old cotton mills, and our interview takes place at the company’s headquarters in Botany Bay, a former cotton mill dating back to 1855 which stands alongside the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
His career has been forged by his ability to identify value in property, refurbishing buildings and renting them out – all underpinned by a healthy dose of hard graft.
What’s remarkable is the entrepreneur normally functions on three or four hours sleep a day.
“I go to bed when I’m tired, I get up when I’m awake and I work as hard as I can,” he explained
Today, FI Property Group designs, manages and cares for spaces that help businesses grow, operate and adapt across the UK.
Ambitious
The company has a portfolio of more than 15 million sq ft and manages real estate assets totalling more than £1.4bn.
It has extensive property interests in London, Wrexham, the North West and across the UK, recently adding Shoreham Cement Works to its growing portfolio.
Knowles said: “The company always has a vision, it has a masterplan. Our vision and masterplan is to create just shy of £400m of rental income with a value of between £6bn-£7bn, depending on yield.
“We’re always looking forward. We’re always trying to make sure we think about where we’re going. That is the masterplan, that is the business plan. That is what we are obsessed about. We’re probably at £1.4bn.”
However, Knowles’ story has not been without drama.
A quarter of a century ago, he made national headlines when his helicopter crashed into the icy waters of Lake Windermere. Thankfully, the pilot – Bill Scarrett – was able to swim to safety.
Knowles wasn’t in the helicopter at the time but remembers the day like it was yesterday.
“I remember the next-door neighbour said, ‘I think your helicopter has crashed’,” he recalled.
“That was horrific. Finding Bill was alive was amazing, euphoric, because he was a great guy.”
Knowles said of the brush with death: “You’ve got to analyse what happened and push on in life. Learn from the past, plan for the future.”
Tim Knowles and Chris Maguire on The Naked Founder podcast
Despite being a fixture in the Sunday Times Rich List, he says he has ‘no idea’ of the size of his personal fortune but says that’s not what drives him.
Knowles’ fortune has taken a hit more than once, including a £400m loss on paper, during the global financial crash of 2008, but he prefers not to panic.
“Of course, you think ‘oh my days, what are we going to do?’ The key thing for me, whether it’s family, colleagues or friends, is if they motivate you, you work it out pretty quickly.
“You know you’ve got to decrease the debt and increase the value of the property. You get up and you get on with it.”
Knowles prefers not to go into detail about the money he’s given to charity and only speaks about it in this interview because I ask him.
“If you’re going to give to charity, it’s because it’s the right thing to do,” he told The Naked Founder podcast. “That’s my philosophy.
“Everything we did over the years was because it was the right thing and it felt good, hence why you shouldn’t talk about it otherwise people will take it the wrong way.”
Last year, 14 pupils from St Peter’s CofE Primary School in Chorley were treated to a helicopter ride over Lancashire following a chance encounter at the new Co-op store at Botany Bay Business Park.
Pupils from St Peter’s CofE Primary School in Chorley were given a ride in Tim Knowles’ helicopter
Botany Bay is less than a mile from the school, and Knowles is regularly seen flying overhead in his eight-seat Agusta 109 helicopter.
“I was asked to cut this ribbon,” he recalled. “There were all these kids from a school and one girl or lad said ‘hey mister, can I go in your helicopter?’ and I said ‘yeah, ok.’ It was dead easy.
“At the end of the day, I was there and why not? It’s so easy to do. It feels good.”
You can listen to the latest episode of The Naked Founder podcast here