{"id":97917,"date":"2023-08-26T00:31:55","date_gmt":"2023-08-26T00:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebritycovernews.com\/?p=97917"},"modified":"2023-08-26T00:31:55","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T00:31:55","slug":"i-started-off-shovelling-dirt-to-help-build-the-london-underground-now-im-one-of-the-uks-richest-men-worth-350m-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebritycovernews.com\/lifestyle\/i-started-off-shovelling-dirt-to-help-build-the-london-underground-now-im-one-of-the-uks-richest-men-worth-350m-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"I started off shovelling DIRT to help build the London Underground – now I'm one of the UK's richest men worth \u00a3350m | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

A FORMER "pony boy" who shovelled dirt to help build the London Underground has become one of Britain's richest men.<\/p>\n

Ray O'Rourke now sits on a fortune of \u00a3350million yet has told of his humble start earning money hauling carts through Tube tunnels.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The filthy-ridden toil he recalls helping create the capital's Victoria Line is a far cry from the construction empire he now runs.<\/p>\n

His career started as a so-called "pony boy" back in 1966 pulling carts for fellow workers on what's now one of London's most-used routes.<\/p>\n

He and brother Des branched out alone 11 years later, setting up a concrete sub-contracting firm which first won a deal worth \u00a32,300.<\/p>\n

He has remembered how their first office was a utility room linking a kitchen and a garage.<\/p>\n

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When making deals over the phone he would attempt to explain away the noise of the family washing machine as a JCB instead.<\/p>\n

Swift success saw R O'Rourke & Son not only expand into engineering but also buy the construction arm of John Laing plc for \u00a31 in 2001.<\/p>\n

The 76-year-old now remains an industry leader as Laing O'Rourke chief executive – and last year put off plans for retirement, though son Cathal did become chief operating officer this March.<\/p>\n

This year's Sunday Times Rich List valued him at \u00a3350million.<\/p>\n

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The firm's have included London 2012 Olympics venues, a Northern Line Tube extension and Premier League football club Everton's new \u00a3500million, 52,888-capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.<\/p>\n

The company has also worked on Heathrow airport's Terminal 5, hospitals, hotels, schools and Canary Wharf skyscrapers.<\/p>\n

Their global operations include developments in Australia, Canada, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Mr O'Rourke was born and grew up in County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland before moving to England.<\/p>\n

But he has told the Irish Independent: "We shouldn't be too hard on ourselves in Ireland, because relatively speaking it's a small country.<\/p>\n

"The horsepower in any country comes from its people – that's the engine room, it's our brainpower.<\/p>\n

"I think we punch well above our weight in the world and it's something we should be proud of."<\/p>\n

After living on the outskirts of London both he and his brother, as well as their families, later moved to the Channel Island of Jersey.<\/p>\n

He told an interviewer how they "like the lifestyle there" and yet without being "so far from Ireland or Britain".<\/p>\n

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He also insisted the move was not "because of tax", insisting: "If I have to pay more tax at some point, I will pay what's due."<\/p>\n

And he says he pays little heed to his Rich List rankings, describing money as "a disease if you start looking at it like that".<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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