Sir Jim Ratcliffe remains the richest man in the North West despite a huge £6bn plunge in his wealth, the latest edition of the reveals.
Meanwhile some of the region’s new entrepreneurs are also making a big impact, with the brothers behind Castore making their Rich List debut.
Sir Jim is founder and owner of the Ineos chemicals group – and is co-owner at Manchester United. He ranks 7th in the overall , with his wealth valued at £17bn – down £6.5bn on last year.
The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family are second in the North West rich list, with their wealth valued at £9.9bn – down £243m on last year.
The Sunday Times calls Home Bargains founder Tom Morris “the richest person in Liverpool history”, with his family’s wealth rising £316m to £7bn. Mr Morris founded his first store in Old Swan, Liverpool, in 1976. Now the TJ Morris group has hundreds of stores across the Ƶ.
The company is also increasingly moving into property. Its ventures include plans for the tallest building in Liverpool, and this month unveiled plans for homes in the city’s Baltic Triangle.
The company also helped save the Zoe’s Place baby hospice in Liverpool, covering of the £5m needed to keep the charity afloat.
The full Sunday Times Rich List will be published in a 76-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine this Sunday and will also
EG Group founders Mohsin and Zuber Issa are fourth in the North West list, with their wealth valued at £6bn. Betfred co-founders Fred and Peter Done are fifth, with wealth of £2.9bn, followed by the Arora brothers, who are now worth £2.6bn thanks to their success at discount retail giant B&M.
Castore founders Tom and Phil Beahon have also made their Rich List debut, with their wealth valued at £350m. They are top of the Sunday Times’ 40 Under 40 ranking in the North West, and 14th in the national 40 Under 40 list.
The Rich List is compiled by Robert Watts and edited by Helen Davies. It includes “identifiable wealth” such as property, land, assets such as racehorses and art, plus significant shares in listed companies – though it excludes private bank accounts. The Sunday Times says this year sees the largest fall in the billionaire count in the guide’s 37-year history, from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 156 this year.
The combined wealth of all 350 individuals and families in the list is £773bn – down 3% on last year, but still more than the annual GDP of Switzerland.
Mr Watts said: “The Sunday Times Rich List is changing. Our billionaire count is down and the combined wealth of those who feature in our research is falling. We are also finding fewer of the world’s super rich are coming to live in the Ƶ.
“This year we were also struck by the strength of criticism for Rachel Reeves’s Treasury. We expected the abolition of non-dom status would anger affluent people from overseas. But homegrown young tech entrepreneurs and those running centuries-old family firms are also warning of serious consequences to a range of tax changes unveiled in last October’s budget.
“Our research continues to find a wide variety of self-made entrepreneurs building fortunes not just from artificial intelligence, video games and new technologies but also mundane, everyday items such as makeup, radiators and jogging bottoms. We know many of our readers find these people and their stories inspiring — especially the many who had tough starts or setbacks to their lives and careers.”
