The wealthiest people in Merseyside have been revealed and a Scouser has been named the richest man in the whole of the North West.
Our colleagues at Insider Media have released their latest ‘Rich List’ for 2024, ranking 50 of the North West’s most successful business people based on net worth. The annual list is compiled by Rob Watts, also known for the Sunday Times Rich List.
So, who are the richest people with business links to Merseyside region? And how did they earn their fortunes?
From the reclusive businessman behind Home Bargains, to the brothers taking sportswear by storm, these ten people and families have amassed an impressive wealth and many came from humble beginnings...
1. Tom Morris and family
Net worth of £5.170bn. Morris started the Liverpool-based discount retail chain Home Bargains in 1976 when he was 21 years old. He reportedly founded the brand using a bank overdraft It now has nearly 600 stores, employing more than 22,000 staff. His business certainly thrived during the cost-of-living crisis, with profits climbing by 13 per cent to £332.4m on record sales of almost £3.8bn. Few will begrudge Morris and his family the £36m of dividends paid out since last year. Home Bargains should now be worth £5bn. Wealth outside the company adds another £170m. Not only he is the richest man in the North West, but the wealthiest Liverpudlian. | The Sunday Times
2. The Arora Family - Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora
Net worth of £2.1bn. Simon Arora went into business with his younger brother Bobby Arora, importing homewares from Asia and supplying them to UK retail chains, before buying B&M in 2004, which was then a struggling grocery chain In 2017, Simon and Bobby cashed in £215m of shares and reduced their stake in B&M by a quarter, three years after taking it public. The B&M headquarters is based in Liverpool. | UGC
3. John Whittaker and family
Net worth of £1.623bn. Whittaker is best known for grand redevelopment projects, such as Manchester’s MediaCity or the Trafford Centre. Peel L&P Investments Holdings and Peel Holdings (Land and Property) – have grown their assets by nearly £23m over the past year. John Whittaker (far left) is the chairman of the Peel Group, which owns the Port of Liverpool and the Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters site. | AFP via Getty Images
4. Lord Grantchester and the Moores family
Net worth of £1.205bn. Dairy farmer Lord Grantchester is the grandson of the late Sir John Moores, who founded Liverpool’s football pools nearly 100 years ago. The family later moved into retailing and mail order services through their Littlewoods empire. Lord Grantchester himself worked in the business for many years. Some stores were sold in 1998 and the pools side of the empire was offloaded in 2000. Proceeds from those deals and past dividends were worth at least £445m. A larger windfall followed in 2002, when the remaining department stores and mail-order operation were sold to the Barclay brothers for £750m. A Labour member of the House of Lords, Grantchester serves as a shadow Defra minister. He has property in Cheshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Westminster, Harrogate and Texas. Lord Grantchester sold the family’s shares in EFC in 2019. | Chris McAndrew?CC BY 3.0/Wikimedia Common