Duke tops the rich list

The Duke of Westminster remains the North West’s richest man with a £10.1bn fortune, according this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.

The Duke, who owns the Abbeystead Estate in Lancashire, has seen his wealth rise by £136m in the past 12 months, according to media previews of the list, which will be officially published by the newspaper this weekend.

The title was inherited by Hugh Grosvenor after the death of his father three years ago. Now aged 28, he became Britain’s youngest billionaire and his property interests include 300 acres in Mayfair.

Other people from the region in the list include Preston North End owner Trevor Hemmings, who is reported to have an estimated wealth of £1.025bn, according to reports previewing the Rich List.

The Blackburn-based Issa brothers, founders of multi-national EG group, are also reported to be in this year’s list, with their wealth put at £1.2bn.

The North West entrepreneurs and families behind Homes Bargains, Betfred and B&M also make the list, which examines the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in Britain. The annual list is now in its 31^st year.

The combined wealth of the richest 20 in the North West is put at £32.175bn this year, and there are 11 billionaires from the region featured in the Sunday Times research.