Derek Coates
Entrepreneur Derek Coates is working on probably his third fortune. His first came in 1988 when he sold the UK marketing services agency he had floated on the London Stock Exchange. Moving back to his native Guernsey and bored with retirement, he founded nutritional supplements group Healthspan in 1996. Earlier this year it paid an eight-figure sum for Guernsey-based rival Healthy Direct and now has a 60 per cent share of the direct sales market for nutritional products in the UK. Committing up to 10 per cent of the profits of Healthspan, Mr Coates is now diversifying into tourism and travel. In 2006, he bought a small airline that has become the leading carrier between Jersey and Guernsey, and has expanded to the Isle of Man, Southampton, Bournemouth, Geneva and Zurich. He built luxury hotels in Guernsey and Alderney and recently bought another Guernsey hotel.
