Julian Richer

Julian Richer LVO (born 1959) is an English retail entrepreneur, philanthropist and author, best known as the founder and Managing Director of Richer Sounds, the UK's largest hi-fi retailer. Richer has gained a reputation for his motivational style of management and his philanthropic and charitable activities.

Richer was born in St Thomas' Hospital, London, in 1959. He was at UCS Junior School from 1968-1972 before becoming a boarder at Clifton College in Bristol between 1972 and 1977. His parents both worked for Marks & Spencer before going on to work for themseves. His father, Percy, later qualified as a solicitor when he was 50.

Richer's business career started at the age of 14 while he was still at school at Clifton College, Bristol, and he opened his first shop near London Bridge aged 19. This store in south London holds the Guinness record for the highest sales per square foot of any retail outlet in the world.

Richer in the past advised some organisations on staff motivation, customer service, cultural change, communications and suggestion schemes.In March 2018 Marks & Spencer announced that he was advising them on cultural change.

He holds 51% of the shares of Audio Partnership, an electronics company that designs, commissions and distributes electronics to countries around the world.

He was made the youngest ever Business Communicator of the Year for 1995. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by Kingston University in January 2002 and by Bournemouth University in 2003.

In November 2013, Richer announced to the press that he would bequeath 100% of the firm to a trust co-owned by employees of the company. In May 2019 Richer, then aged 60, announced that he had transferred ownership to employees by passing 60% of his shares to a trust, as well as separately paying each employee, excluding directors, a thank you bonus of £1,000 for every year of work from his own pocket to his 500+ employees who had worked an average of 8 years each (circa £4 million).

In 2019, Richer was awarded the 'Outstanding Contribution to Retail' award by Retail Week magazine.

Richer donates 15% of the profits from Richer Sounds to his charitable trust, whose main areas of support include human rights and animal welfare. He also founded the charities ASBhelp, which supports victims of anti-social behaviour and ACTS435, which allows people to donate directly to those in need. In 2018 he funded TaxWatch which launched in October, dedicated to the research and exposure of aggressive tax avoiding corporations. Richer was appointed as a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in 2007.

He is a vice president of the RSPCA.

Richer has written three books:

The Richer Way, which talks about starting a business and how to motivate a workforce by getting the best out of people. ISBN 978-0-9534415-2-5

Richer on Leadership which details Richer’s vision of leadership and the leader’s task in organisations today. ISBN 0-9534415-0-4

The Ethical Capitalist, which discusses the need for a new sense of moral purpose in business and how to make business work better for society This was a Financial Times book of the month.ISBN 978-1-8479421-9-7

Richer married Rosie, a fashion model, in 1982. They live near York in Yorkshire, England.

Richer was baptised into the Anglican faith in 2006 by The Rev Cannon Roger Simpson at St Michael Le Belfrey, York and was confirmed later the same year by Dr. John Sentamu, The Lord Archbishop of York, in his chapel in Bishopthorpe Palace.

In his spare time, Richer plays the drums in the soul/funk/pop group, Ten Millennia.