Rags-to-riches businessman Tom Morris has been named the wealthiest Liverpudlian in history.
Home Bargains magnate Tom Morris, 69, opened his first store in the Old Swan area of the city in 1976, aged just 21.
The chain now has more than 575 stores and is one of Britain’s biggest privately owned firms.
The latest Sunday Times Rich List puts his family’s fortune at £6.1billion, up £1bn on last year, making him the 29th richest person in Britain.
Last year he placed 37th. In contrast, fellow Liverpudlian Sir Paul McCartney is worth a paltry £1.8bn.
Publicity-shy, tycoon Mr Morris – who owns a private jet and a helicopter – has never given a media interview.
But his brother Joe has given some insight into Tom, once saying of him: “He has a real sense of smell for the retail business. The key is good buying.
“He has an incredible reputation for it.” Home Bargains has boomed during the cost of living crisis, with sales hitting £3.4bn last year. Mr Morris has also been ranked at Britain’s ninth biggest taxpayer, contributing £112.2m last year.
Other low-cost retail-ers have prospered during the tough times, boosting their owners’ personal fortunes.
Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley’s wealth has rocketed by 28% since last year to more than £3.8bn now.
And the owners of budget fashion chain Primark, the Weston family, have had their net worth increased to £14.5bn as more shoppers seek out bargains.
Despite it being a boom time for many of the mega-wealthy, Rishi Sunak ’s family fortune fell by £200m in a year, equivalent to more than £500,000 a day. But with a value of £529m, Britain’s richest ever Prime Minister won’t be worrying about making ends meet – unlike millions of cash-strapped households in the country he leads.
The fall is due to a drop in the value of wife Akshata Murty’s shares in Infosys, an IT firm co-founded by her father.
And they are not the only ones to take a knock.
Sir Richard Branson’s fortune shrank by more than 40% in a year, to £2.41bn. His Virgin empire suffered large losses during Covid.
The Hinduja family have topped the list for the second year in a row with their fortune up more than £6bn to £35bn.
Gopi Hinduja and his family were named as Rich List leaders just days after Mr Hinduja’s brother Sri died. Second on the list is chemicals magnate Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose £6bn jump in fortune to £29.7bn will come in handy if he succeeds in buying Man United.
King Charles is ranked a relatively modest 263rd with a wealth of £600m.
There are still 171 billionaires in the UK, six fewer than there were in 2022.
But their combined wealth has risen by £30.7bn to £683.9bn.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, which is now in its 35th year, said: “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.”
