BLUES director Holly Bellingham has been listed as the 20th-richest person in Suffolk with an estimated worth of £26m.The ardent Ipswich Town supporter is one of the highest individual shareholders, with the maximum allowed 15% after investing more than £300,000 in the club and is seen as a potential successor to David Sheepshanks as chairman of the Blues board.

By Derek Davis

BLUES director Holly Bellingham has been listed as the 20th-richest person in Suffolk with an estimated worth of £26m.

The ardent Ipswich Town supporter is one of the highest individual shareholders, with the maximum allowed 15% after investing more than £300,000 in the club and is seen as a potential successor to David Sheepshanks as chairman of the Blues board.

The 45-year-old insurance broker, who specialises in liability indemnity, particularly in the medical field, is chairman of Marketform Group Ltd and vice-chairman of Marketform Management Agency limited.

Her group manages non-United States medical malpractice underwriting for a consortium of other insurers on a fee and commission basis.

Bellingham's experience in the business world, her man-management style and love of football, especially Ipswich Town, has marked her out as a potential Blues chairman when Sheepshanks steps down, as he has hinted he will if the team is promoted.

As chairman for Marketform the company has built a reputation as one of the top companies concerned for employee welfare, according to the 2006 Best Companies to Work For list.

Last year when an undergraduate on a year's work experience was caught in the Aldgate Tube bomb blast Bellingham took him home from the hospital and made sure he was looked after as his parents were abroad.

Bellingham lives in Lavenham with her partner Simon, also a keen Town fan and investor, and between them they have four children.

The bubbly Bellingham's wealth is worked out by the Rich List through figures from Marketform's public accounts.

As chairman she sold £3m worth of her shares to Caledonia Investments in 2003 that bought a stake in the company for £15m.

Marketform Acquisitions made a 36.2m profit and is estimated to now be worth £65m, of which Bellingham owns a 36.6% stake, worth £23.8m. Other assets should make her worth the £26m listed, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

But Bellingham's £26m is dwarfed in comparison to another major shareholder in Michael Spencer.

The money-broking firm Icap's chief executive is estimated to be worth a cool £372m and is listed as 138 on the Sunday Times Rich List for the United Kingdom. The close friend of David Sheepshanks has sufficient clout in the celebrity world to have been a guest at 'Beckingham Palace' last weekend when David and Victoria Beckham hosted a lavish pre-World Cup bash.

Another wealthy Blues investor and shareholder is Kevin Britton, an Essex property developer, whose exact monetary worth is unknown as much of his dealings are done through his own personal bank account.

Britton and his wife Jackie, who were last night in Monaco for the Grand Prix, are understood to have personal wealth of more than £20m accrued after building developments such at Clacton Retail Park, the recent Tesco building also in Clacton and office buildings in Kent and Scotland.

Norwich City majority shareholder Delia Smith is a comparative pauper with an estimated worth of £13m.

Suffolks's richest 50 - see June's edition of the Suffolk Magazine for the full story. Out now.