Richard was born in Oswestry in Shropshire into a military family.

After boarding school and Sandhurst he joined the Royal Artillery and served for 15 years. Richard had always had a knack of making money and was referred to in the Army as Mr Ten Percent! He then went on to run his own commercial landscaping business based in Theale, near Reading. After rising to be one of the biggest landscaping companies in the South of England, he sold up and started a whole new range of activities. Richard is a Deputy Lieutenant of Berkshire.

Richard married Angie in 1980, they have three children and four grandchildren. They live in Reading, Berkshire.