Sunday Times Rich List 2023: Five richest people in the North West revealed – including Failsworth-born Sir Jim Ratcliffe

The Sunday Times has released its annual Rich List of the 350 wealthiest people in Britain – with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Failsworth-born entrepreneur hoping to take over Manchester United, taking the top spot as richest person in the North West and second richest in the UK overall.

Every year, the newspaper compiles its Rich List based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies.

The title of richest in the UK goes to Gopi Hinduja and family, who are worth £35billion, according to the Sunday Times’ Rich List 2023. This is the second year in a row they have taken the top spot.

For the first time in 14 years, the number of billionaires in the UK has fallen and now stands at 171, six down from 2022. At the same time, the combined wealth of the country’s billionaires amounts to £683.856 billion, up 4.5% from last year.

Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: "This year’s Sunday Times Rich List shows a golden period for the super rich is over. For the first time in 14 years we’ve seen the number of UK billionaires fall.

"Two years ago we raised concerns about an unsettling boom in the fortunes of the very wealthy that continued unchecked during the political instability around Brexit and the pandemic. This is not a crash - but there are household names who have lost vast sums over the past year. The bursting of the tech bubble, the end of rock bottom interests and the jitters creeping through the banking industry have all taken their toll.

“The super rich don’t exist in a vacuum. Many small investors lost money in some of their overblown stock market floats. Many people also work for their businesses. Financial losses for billionaires can have implications for us all."

Here are the richest people in the North West:

1. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder of chemical company Ineos,  grew up in Failsworth, Oldham. According to the Sunday Times, he has a wealth of £29.688bn, up £23.613bn.

2. Hedge fund manager and co-founder of BlueCrest Capitals Michael Platt was born in Preston. According to the Sunday Times, he has a wealth of £11.5bn, up £1.5bn fromlast year.

3. The Cheshire-based Duke of Westiminster, Hugh Grosvenor, and his family have a wealth of £9.878bn, according to the Sunday Times. The Duke oversees his family’s vast property portfolio, which has real estate in 43 cities across ten countries. At 32, the Duke also tops the Sunday Times’ 35 Under 35 Rich List.

4. Liverpool’s Tom Morris, the founder of discount store Home Bargains, has a wealth of £6.133bn, up £1.006bn from last year. After a boom in sales during the cost of living crisis and a £30 million dividend payout from Home Bargains this year, he is now the richest Liverpudlian in history.

5. Blackburn-based brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, owners of EG Group, have a wealth of £5.05bn, up £302m from last year.