The founders of bookmakers Betfred have entered the top 10 in a list of the region's richest people, it was revealed today. Salford brothers Fred, 79, and Peter, 75, Done, who own the Warrington-based betting business and Manchester-based human resources outfit Peninsula, are now jointly worth £1.476bn, according to the Sunday Times Rich List published on Friday morning.
That's an increase of £241m their wealth reported last year, according to the study. Michael Platt is the richest person in the north west of England, according to the list's new edition.
The 68-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine reveals the wealth of the 250 richest people in Britain in its 34th annual edition. There are a record 177 billionaires in the UK this year, up six from 2021.
The combined wealth of the UK billionaires is £653.122bn, up £55.853bn on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year's Rich List. At the top of the north west Rich List, Preston-born hedge fund manager Michael Platt, 53, who lives in Switzerland, has seen his fortune rise by £2bn in the past year.
The co-founder and chief executive of BlueCrest Capital Management is now worth £10bn, ranking him equal 11th with Alisher Usmanov among the wealthiest people in the UK.
Cheshire-based Hugh Grosvenor, 31, The 7th Duke of Westminster, has lost the top spot after a fall in the asset value of his family's vast property operation Grosvenor Group. His family fortune is now £9.726bn, down £328m from last year. Oldham-born chemical engineer Jim Ratcliffe, CEO of the Ineos chemical group, sits in third position on £6.075bn - down £255m.
Tom Morris, 68, the founder of flourishing Liverpool-based retailer Home Bargains, is £766 million richer with a family fortune which now stands at £5.127bn. The rich list has him in fourth place.
Lancashire brother Mohsin and Zuber Issa - founders of Euro Garages and majority shareholders in Asda, are worth £4.73bn in fifth place - their wealth has increased by £50m.
They are followed by Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora, of discount store B&M, with a wealth of £2.543bn; John Gore at £1.681bn; John Whittaker and family, from the Peel Group, at £1.6bn and Henry Moser and family, from finance group Together, at £1.565bn. The Done brothers follow them in tenth.
Two of the 10 wealthiest people in the North west in 2021 have lost their billionaire status, reports the list. Matt Moulding, 50, founder of the Manchester-based online retailer THG, and his wife Jodie, have seen their fortune plummet to £700m million from £2.1bn a year ago.
Manchester-based Mahmud Kamani, 57, meanwhile, who controls the internet fashion retailer Boohoo, has seen his family wealth cut by almost half to £720m from £1.42bn in 2021.
The Rich List charts the wealth of the 250 richest people in the UK. It 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.
