The richest people in Greater Manchester and Cheshire are together worth more money than most of us can imagine.
The new Sunday Times Rich List, which will be published in full on Sunday for the 30th consecutive year, has revealed eight multi-millionaires and seven billionaire families.
It charts the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in the UK. The list 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.
The full Rich List will include several interviews and features, focused on some of the leading players and personalities among the richest 1,000, as well as a full ranking by order of wealth.
Here's the lowdown on our region's super-rich:
1. The Duke of Westminster (aka Hugh Grosvenor)
Worth: £9.96bn
At just 27-years-old, Hugh Grosvenor is the richest man in the North West.
His title dates back to 1874 and bestows the estates of Eaton Hall in Cheshire and Abbeystead House in Lancashire.
Hugh became the seventh Duke of Westminster having inherited his family’s property empire following his father’s death in 2016.
While he inherited the fortune, Hugh has managed to grow it by a staggering £444m since last year.
With his family, Hugh controls an empire that includes 300 acres in Mayfair and Belgravia along with property in Oxford, Cheshire, Scotland and Spain.
The Grosvenor Group’s main engine of prosperity remains its vast estate in London, although half of its assets are now held outside Britain, with investments in more than 60 cities around the world.
The family’s private interests and holdings include nearly 165,000 acres of rural land, a dairy farm, the Chester Grosvenor hotel, operated by Bespoke Hotels, and Cogent Breeding, the UK’s largest bull stud operation.
He is also godfather to Prince George.
2. John Whittaker (property mogul)
Worth: £2.25bn
Born in Bury, John was born into an independently wealthy, industrious and entrepreneurial family with interests in the historical cotton industry and property.
He got involved in the business in the 1960s and began buying up land around Manchester Ship Canal before building the Trafford Centre. His insatiable appetite for business has his Peel Group owns shopping centres, ports, airports and MediaCityUK.
Over the last year his wealth increased by £50m, and would have been far greater if the £3.4bn deal between property group Hammerson and Peel Holdings-owned Intu, which owns the Trafford Centre and part-owns the Arndale, had gone through.
3. Fred and Peter Done (betting tycoons)
Worth: £1.35bn
The Salford-born brothers open their first Betfred branch in Pendlebury, Salford, in 1967.
They now boast more than 1,650 UK outlets and shops at 51 racecourses and took over the Tote for £265m.
Other Done family interests include legal services, insurance, sports promotion and a restaurant.
They have seen their wealth rise by £20m over the last year.
4. Philip Day (clothing entrepreneur)
Worth: £1.2bn
Born on a Stockport council estate, Philip turned down a place at university to start his career in clothing manufacturing.
In 2001, he joined Edinburgh Woollen Mill and led a buyout of the company.
He later bought home furnishing company Ponden Mill and soft furnishings company Rosebys, golfing brand ProQuip, women's fashion retailer Jane Norman, outfitters Austin Reed and Country Casuals, and British fashion brand Jaeger.
Day, 52, is now based in Dubai where he watched his wealth rocket by £50m over the last year.
5. Mohsin and Zuber Issa (garage entrepreneurs)
Worth: £1.1bn
Moshin and Zuber started their Euro Garages empire in Bury in 2001 buying the forecourt for £150,000.
By the end of the year EG will own and operate 4,600 sites across Europe and the United States.
Over the last year the brothers' wealth rose by £100m.
6. Henry Moser (mortgage lender)
Worth: £1.01bn
Henry, who is originally form Bury, worked on market stalls before setting up his business in 1974.
As a specialist mortgage lender he added a number of bolt-on businesses including Lancashire Mortgage Corporation and Cheshire Mortgage Corporation before setting up Manchester-based Jerrold Holdings in the early 2000s.
Jerrold, based in Cheadle, has now rebranded as Together and Henry currently owns 70 per cent of the business after selling the rest to a private equity group.
Henry and his family saw their fortune rise by £410m.
7. Mahmud Kamani and family (Boohoo founders)
Worth: £1bn
Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com continues to defy expectations and has grown at a mindblowing rate.
The Manchester-based operation started in 2006 with Kamani and Carole Kane supplying high street chains such as Primark and New Look. The pair managed to grow the business through a recession into a fashion powerhouse.
Mahmud passed down his entrepreneurial spirit to sons Adam, Samir and Umar who have helped expand its brands with boohooMAN and PrettyLittleThing.
The growth has seen the family's wealth increase by £268m over the last year and make them billionaires.
8. Peter Jones and family (property developers)
Worth: £900m
Peter Jones, 83, is owner and founder of property development company Emerson Developments based in Alderley Edge.
A former joiner, Jones moved into housebuilding in Cheshire in 1959 and was one of the first developers to spot the development potential of South Manchester, buying up tracts of land cheaply.
As well as this he is the owner of Middlebrook Park, Boavista Golf & Spa Resort, among other properties in Portugal.
His sons Tony and Mark are directors of the main holding company, Emerson Developments (Holdings).
9. Anthony Green and the Zocchonis Family
Worth: £811m
Anthony is the former chairman of PZ Curzons, the Stockport-based company widely known for Imperial Leather and Carex soaps.
He is also the nephew of the late Sir John Zochonis.
10. Michael and Chris Oglesby (property managers)
Worth: £587m
Over the last 42 years the family-owned property company has expanded to own a third of office space in Manchester city centre.
Bruntwood owns a portfolio of 115 properties and is constantly expanding, most recently with its involvement in Manchester Science Partnership.
Their wealth increase from last year by £67m.
11. Bill Ainscough and family (property developers)
Worth: £566m
Wigan-born Bill Ainscough began his career back in 1973 with his first business, Wain Home.
He sold it 28 years later but has continued with property development because of his passion for bricks and mortar.
The tycoon's wealth went up by £46m last year.
12. Matthew Moulding (health and beauty mogul)
Worth: £550m
The CEO of Cheshire-headquartered online health and beauty retailer, Matthew has led the group to phenomenal growth here in the UK and globally too.
He has almost doubled his wealth last year by £205m.
13. The Warburton family (bakers)
Worth: £545m
Bolton-based Warburtons bakery is one of the nation’s most beloved breadmakers and the largest in the UK.
The company was founded in 1876 by Thomas Warburton and his wife Ellen and started out as a small grocery.
The family-run business is still going strong today with a workforce of around 4,500 people across 12 bakeries and 14 depots around the UK.
Brett Warburton and Ross Warburton are executive directors, while Jonathan Warburton is chairman.
14. Lord David Alliance (peer and retail chief)
Worth: £500m
The South Manchester peer owns owns 33 per cent of clothing catalogue retailer, N Brown Group plc of which is he also chairman.
The 85-year-old who has a long standing relationships with the University of Manchester is the only one who has seen their wealth fall in the past year, losing £60m.
15. Lawrence Jones (technology entrepreneur)
Worth: £315m
Lawrence was born and raised in Wales and wanted to play fly-half for the national rugby team when he was growing up.
After failing at school he went to Manchester as a teenager to make his way in life and went on to create successful data hosting firm UKFast.
