More billionaires in NW than any region outside London

More billionaires have appeared in The Sunday Times Rich List from the North West than any other region outside London.

Eight billionaires appear in the list, one more than a year ago. They include brothers Mohsin and Zuba Issa, founders of Blackburn forecourt company Euro Garages.

The business, backed by private equity funding, enjoyed revenue of more than £815m in 2014/15 and profits of £34.7m.

The 26-year-old seventh Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, is the wealthiest man in the region and the ninth riches in the country with a £9.52bn fortune. Some £9.48bn is held in family trusts, an increase of £170m on the prior year.

Grosvenor inherited the title following his father’s death in August.

Meanwhile, at number to on the list is Tom Morris and family – behind Liverpool-based Home Bargains with a £3.09bn fortune, which has climbed by £40m.

At number three is Peel Group founder, chairman and owner John Whittaker and family with £2.2bn, the only entry in the top 20 to record a drop in wealth, down by £140m.

Fourth are Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora whose fortune is unchanged at £1.92bn.

They built their fortune on Speke, Merseyside discount retailer B&M, which now has more than 530 stores in the UK as well as 73 in Germany and is valued at £2.97bn.

Fred and Peter Done are fifth with a wealth of £1.33bn, up by £30m. The brothers founded bookmaker Betfred in 1967 as a single betting shop in Salford before growing it into a household name, and they now have a diverse range of other interests including property and business services.

Two families in the North West have seen their wealth increase dramatically over the past 12 months.

Anthony Green, ranked 12th in the region with his wider family, is the former chairman of PZ Cussons, the Greater Manchester-based company known for its Imperial Leather and Carex soaps.

Green is the nephew of the late Sir John Zochonis, who is a descendant of the Greek founder of the business, George Zochonis. The family owns 53% of the £1.31bn company and is valued at £744m, up by £541m from last year.

The Kamani family has also seen its wealth increase this year, with its 38.14 per cent stake in Manchester-headquartered online fashion retailer Boohoo valued at £602m, up by £417m on last year. Boohoo’s strong sales performance and subsequent share price increase makes the Kamani family the 13th richest in the region.

Robert Watts, the compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List 2017, said: “This year’s larger than ever Rich List lays bare how the fortunes of Britain’s richest 1,000 people have fared amid the astonishing events of the past 12 months.

“Our North West list is an intriguing mix of old money and new, with the head of long-running family businesses rubbing shoulders with some of the country’s most exciting new entrepreneurial talent.

“The Issa brothers’ petrol stations operation, the Arora family and the founders of the fast-growing Boohoo fashion business show how quickly fortunes can be built.

“While in the fresh-faced new Duke of Westminster – now arguably the nation’s most eligible batchelor – old money tops our North West Rich List. But will these new challengers catch-up the 26-year-old duke and his family? It will be fascinating to watch.”

The North West’s top 20 entries have a combined wealth of more than £29bn, with their wealth up by more than £1.9bn since last year. Some 16 out of these 20 increased their fortunes over the past year.

The 2017 Sunday Times Rich List will be published on Sunday (May 7). The 160-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine is the biggest issue of the Rich List published since it first appeared in 1989.

It charts the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in the UK. The list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It excludes bank accounts, to which the paper has no access.