David Parkin on why being on the Rich List isn’t great news and a night out with the King of Porn in Bradford

FOR most of us featuring in a Rich List is a fantasy that plays out in our day dreams while we complete some mundane task at work.

But being rich isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Today we publish a preview of this weekend’s annual Sunday Times Rich List and one thing is for certain – those who feature will not welcome their names being there.

I’ve met and chatted to 18 of the 21 people on the Yorkshire list who by my rough guess represent wealth of about £6.7bn.

They enjoy the upside to vast wealth. One enjoyed a holiday island hopping in the Mediterranean – on his yacht which had a 17-strong crew. Another went cycling through Europe with his private jet waiting at the end of every leg of the tour. And one more told me about parking his yacht next to Roman Abramovich’s for a New Year’s Eve party in St Bart’s in the Caribbean.

But being on such a list will bring the downside to being loaded – bags of begging letters and concerns for the security of their families.

And the numbers beside their names are almost certainly wrong. It is only a rough guesstimate by the Sunday Times’ researchers. The likelihood is that some people that should be on the list don’t even feature because they have stayed off the radar.

For the rest of us, luxurious holidays and never having to worry about money again sounds an alluring prospect.

But the reality might be different. The last few conversations I’ve had with tycoons have seen me wonder whether I do want the worries that vast wealth brings.

One moaned about the amount of tax he has to pay because he’s got £100m in the bank. Another now doesn’t send Christmas cards because of the cost of stamps and the vagaries of the Royal Mail’s service.

So passionate were their pleas about how tough life was, I almost fished a fiver out of my pocket to help them in their hour of need.

Think again, next time you are day dreaming in front of your computer in the office.

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ONE man who could provide a few images to fill men’s day dreams was Paul Raymond: self-styled King of Soho who launched a host of nude shows and magazines and shrewdly invested the proceeds in London real estate and was named Britain’s richest man in 1992.

Why am I telling you this? Well a new film about his life called the Look of Love featuring Steve Coogan and Anna Friel is due out soon and it was premiered at the opening of the Bradford International Film Festival last week.

Showing a sharpness of thought that would have impressed Raymond, civic and business bosses behind Bradford Breakthrough, which is promoting the city and district, organised an economic briefing for journalists, followed by the film premiere and a curry at Aagrah Midpoint.

What impressed me most was the welcome confidence which those from Bradford were proud to display. The city has always had plenty going for it, but just hasn’t always told its story very well.

But now, with shopping centre developer Wesfield committed to transforming the ugly hole in the city centre into a shiny new retail destination and the council, led by the impressive and likeable chief executive Tony Reeves, having forged a strong alliance with the business community, Bradford is finally ready to start punching its weight.

Colin Philpott, former BBC boss in Yorkshire and now a writer of some note, was our eloquent host and he and the Bradford Breakthrough team look to me to be on a roll. And not before time for a proud and welcoming city.

And what of the film about Paul Raymond? Well, it’s ok, watchable without being a classic. I amused myself by spotting the comedians in cameo roles – David Walliams and Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry and Dara O’Brian among them. It was easier than counting the nipples.