101 THE THOMSON FAMILY
Media
£1.407bn ▲£6m

Dennis the Menace and Gnasher are proving nice little earners for the Thomsons. Circulation of the Beano grew by more than 10% in 2018-19 and the second series of Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! is set to be aired this spring. The family may be best known for its comics, Scottish newspapers and titles such as the 151 years young magazine The People’s Friend, but its Dundee-based media empire continues to diversify.

Its Findmypast genealogy service is digitising the 1921 UK census, the biggest project of its kind the National Archives has undertaken, featuring the records of nearly 38 million people. While group profits fell by 31% in 2018-19 to £21.1m, we value the operation (pre Covid-19) on its