Charlie Mullins' estimated net worth is $88 million.
Charlie Mullins OBE rose to fame after he built two huge plumbing firms from scratch to become the UK's first millionaire plumber.
Due to his entrepreneurial success, he was a business advisor to David Cameron and George Osborne. He received an OBE for his services to the plumbing industry.
Early life
Sidney Charles Mullins OBE was born on the 28th October 1952 in St Pancras, London. At the time his family was living in just two rooms in the London borough of Camden.
Soon after he was born, the family moved to the Rockingham Estate, Elephant and Castle. The estate was run by Southwark Council.
His father was a factory worker and his mother worked as a cleaner.
Education
Charlie rarely talks about his education, so the names of the schools he attended are not available.
From the age of 8, all Charlie could think about was becoming a plumber, so much so that he regularly skipped school to help a local plumber out.
Unsurprisingly, he left school without any formal qualifications. He immediately started his plumbing apprenticeship and was fully qualified by the time he was 19.
Charlie left school at 15, but said in a 2013 interview with Money Week that he "should have left school at 14".
How did Charlie Mullins build his net worth?
Pimlico Plumbers, the plumbing company he founded, is the source of his fortune. Right from the start, he followed the money.
Instead of setting up his plumbing business in his local area, he targeted the wealthy Pimlico district. As he has said many times, he "followed the money". It was a shrewd move.
Within 9 years, sales had reached £900,000 a year. By 2013, it was turning over £19 million. Around that time around 9% of all plumbing work in London was carried out by Pimlico Plumbers. When he sold 90% of the business in September 2021, it was turning over circa £53.7 million.
Charlie always worked to make the business pay in every possible way, a habit that led him to take an innovative approach. For example, many of the company's vehicles had plumbing-themed personalised number plates such as W4TER, DRA 1N, and BOG 1. This clever marketing ploy helped his vans to stand out from the competition, boosted brand awareness, and was also a shrewd investment since they eventually ended up being valued at £1.5 million.
In 2015, he published the story of how he built his plumbing business from scratch. Part business guide, part memoir, the book is still selling and generating revenue.
Charlie has always invested in property. In 2003, he spent around €2 million on two exclusive villas in Torrenueva, Granada, Spain.
In 2021, he put his £4.75 million Hutton Mount, Essex home on the market.
He also owns an £8 million, six-bedroom London penthouse with views of the Thames that stretch from the London Eye to Big Ben.
This famous businessman splits his time between Spain and the UK. When in Spain he prefers to stay in his largest villa, one of 9 villas located in an exclusive gated community in La Calla, near Marbella, which he bought for £14 million.
Mullins can't stay away from plumbing. Despite selling 90% of Pimlico Plumbers to Neighborly, the American home services firm, for between £125 million and £145 million, he is currently in the process of building another plumbing company based in Marbella, Spain.
Many of his former clients live in the area and there is a large community of wealthy ex-pats that like the idea of using the services of a company they already know and trust.
Charlie spends a lot of time in Spain — hence the tan — but still has strong connections with the UK. He regularly flies between the two countries, for example, to film a TV show or record an interview.
Sometimes he uses scheduled flights, most often from and to London City airport, but he also has access to his private jet.
Mullins also has two Bentley´s worth about £200,000 each. One is kept in Spain and the other in the UK.
FAQs
Is Charlie Mullins a millionaire?
Based on his net worth, Charlie Mullins is a millionaire many times over.
Was Charlie Mullins born rich?
Charlie Mullins was not born rich. He comes from a working-class family. He realised that providing exceptional service and focusing on securing wealthy clients was a recipe for success from an early age, an approach that enabled him to grow his net worth to what it is now.
