Specsavers co-founder becomes Britain’s first self-made female billionaire
May 6, 2011 – 3:05 pm 
According to the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List, the couple are now worth £1.15bn, an increase of £340m since last year. As a result, Dame Mary becomes Britain’s first self-made female billionaire.
The two entrepreneurs started Specsavers with one store in Bristol during the 1960s after meeting at Cardiff University. The company now has 1,555 branches in 10 countries, is debt free and is owned completely by the Perkins family. The couple’s two daughters work for the business as does their 38-year-old son John who is joint managing director with Douglas.
In 2009-10 Specsavers’ UK operation made profits of £21.7m on sales of £390m. Turnover for its global business for 2010-11 is forecast to hit £1.6bn.
Tags: Female, Female Billionaire