The Sunday Times’ rich list includes 12 billionaires from Merseyside and the North West
British billionaires have seen their fortunes climb by more than a fifth as they shed the financial toll of the pandemic, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
The list revealed that there was now a record 171 billionaires in the UK, with Sir Leonard Blavatnik of Ukrainian descent leading the pack as the richest person in the country.
The number of billionaires has jumped 24%, in stark contrast to the wider economic turmoil from the pandemic which has seen millions of people go on leave and the unemployment rate has reached its highest level in nearly five years.
The wealth of billionaires grew 21.7% on the year, from £ 106.5 billion to £ 597.2 billion.
The annual index of the country’s richest residents showed that oil and media investor Mr Blavatnik saw his fortune increase from £ 7.2bn to around £ 23bn during the year hit by the pandemic.
Here are the 14 people from Merseyside and the North West who made the rich list – including 12 billionaires.
1. The Duke of Westminster – Hugh Grosvenor – and his family. Valued at £ 10.054 billion – down from £ 241 million.
The Duke of Westminster is the richest person in the North West and, at 29, remains the youngest billionaire in the UK.
The headquarters of the Grosvenor family are at Eaton Hall, near Chester.
The Grosvenor Group owns Liverpool ONE as well as many other pitches.
The family’s wealth comes from the 300 acres of Mayfair and Belgravia it owns in London, as well as land in Cheshire, Oxford, Scotland and Spain.
2. Mohsin and Zuber Issa. Worth £ 4.68bn – £ 1.12bn up
(Image: Lancashire Telegraph / SWNS.com)
Moshin and Zuber Issa started their Euro Garages empire in Bury in 2001, buying their first forecourt for £ 150,000.
Since then, Euro Garages has established itself as one of the UK’s fastest growing and most recognizable forecourt operators, with an expanding portfolio of over 340 freehold sites located across the UK -United.
They recently bought Asda.
The pair are second-highest on this year’s list among those from the Northwest.
3. Tom Morris and his family. Worth £ 4.361m – up to £ 261m
Tom Morris is third in the region, up £ 261million last year thanks to his Home Bargains chain of stores.
Last year it was announced that it was Merseyside’s biggest employer.
With over 500 stores, Morris hired an average of six employees per day in 2017-18.
More than 23,000 people are now employed by the Home Bargains organization, and assets of £ 912 million increase its value to £ 4.1 billion.
4. Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora. Worth £ 2.524bn – up £ 413m
The Arora brothers and family are the founders of the Merseyside-based discount store chain B&M.
Simon is the CEO.
The company was founded from humble beginnings in Blackpool and supplies household items from Asia to other chains.
5. Johnny Boufarhat – £ 1.446 billion – new entry
Johnny Boufarhat became Britain’s youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 26 after starting his business at the start of the pandemic.
The Manchester University graduate raised funds to help launch the Hopin video conferencing app last March after Britain was plunged into its first lockdown, reports the mirror.
6. Mahmud Kamani and his family. Worth £ 1.422bn – up £ 391m
Mahmud Kamani, 54, is a non-mover in the area, despite a £ 163million increase in his family’s wealth.
His family owns £ 929million in Manchester-based Boohoo, the online fashion retailer carved from a Manchester market stall that is now valued at £ 2.78 billion, an increase of £ 500million. of pounds sterling compared to a year ago.
Kamani is executive chairman and co-founder of the company, which also includes Manchester fashion company PrettyLittleThing.
7. John Whittaker and his family. Worth £ 1.4bn – down £ 200m
John Whittaker placed fourth in the Northwest.
Its Peel group owns shopping centers, ports, airports and MediaCityUK.
Whittaker got involved in the family business in the 1960s and began buying land around the Manchester Ship Canal before building the Trafford Center.
8. Henry Moser and his family. Worth £ 1.102bn – down £ 280m
Moser worked on market stalls before starting his business in 1974.
As a specialist mortgage lender, he added a number of complementary businesses, including Lancashire Mortgage Corporation and Cheshire Mortgage Corporation, before establishing Manchester-based Jerrold Holdings in the early 2000s.
Cheadle-based Jerrold has now renamed Together and Henry currently owns 70% of the business after selling the rest to a private equity group.
9. Lord Grantchester and the Moores family. Worth £ 1.2bn – down £ 6m
Lord Grantchester is the grandson of Sir John Moores, who founded the Littlewoods swimming pool company in the 1920s.
The family continued to branch out into catalogs and retail – and football in Merseyside.
10. Fred and Peter Done. Worth £ 1.235bn – up £ 35m
The Salford-born brothers opened their first Betfred branch in Pendlebury, Salford, in 1967.
They now have over 1,650 UK outlets and stores at 51 racetracks and have taken over the tote for £ 265million.
Other interests of the Done family include legal services, insurance, sports promotion, a restaurant, and Salboy’s construction projects.
11. Peter Jones and his family. Worth £ 1.157bn – up £ 65bn
Jones is the owner and founder of Alderley Edge-based real estate development company Emerson Developments.
A former carpenter, Jones moved into house building in Cheshire in 1959 and was one of the first developers to spot the development potential of South Manchester, purchasing plots of land.
In addition to this, he is the owner of Middlebrook Park, Boavista Golf & Spa Resort, among other properties in Portugal.
12. Trevor Hemmings. Worth £ 1.115bn – up £ 90m
Born in Woolwich, London, the majority of Hemmings’ business interests remain in the North West.
Its portfolio includes brewery, textiles, casual wear and property – and horse racing.
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Mr Hemmings’ business career began when he started building post-war houses in Lancashire and his foundation supported charities.
13. Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell. Worth £ 820million – up to £ 25million
Beatles star Sir Paul had more musical success with Wings and as a solo artist, earning a knight in 1997 for his services to music.
He married his third wife, American businesswoman Nancy Shevell, in 2011.
14. Chris Oglesby and his family. Worth £ 696million – down £ 25million
Chris Oglesby is Managing Director of the family owned real estate company Bruntwood.
Over the past 42 years, the family-owned property company has grown to own one-third of the office space in Manchester city center.
Bruntwood has a portfolio of 115 properties and is constantly expanding, most recently with its involvement in Manchester Science Partnership.