The family behind the discount retail chain Home Bargains has seen its estimated wealth surge by more than £1 billion in the past year, bucking a subdued national picture in which the number of UK billionaires has fallen sharply, the Sunday Times Rich List has revealed.
Home Bargains surge driven by discount retail and property
The Morris family, headed by founder Tom Morris, now sits third in the North West wealth league with a net worth of £8.061 billion, up from £6.99 billion in 2025. The jump cements their position among Britain’s fastest-growing fortunes and reflects the twin engines of the family’s wealth: the booming Home Bargains chain and an ambitious property development arm.
Home Bargains trades under the parent company TJ Morris. Its sister firm, Davos Property Developments, is currently advancing several major projects in Liverpool, including the £1 billion Kings scheme on the waterfront. The development is set to include Liverpool’s tallest tower, marking a significant bet on the city’s commercial future. The Sunday Times Rich List notes that the growth of the discount retailer – which competes in the budget end of the grocery and household goods market – has been the primary driver of the family’s rising wealth, with property additions providing an increasingly important second pillar.
Tom Morris, who founded Home Bargains, has seen his family’s fortune climb by more than £1 billion in a single year, a feat all the more notable given the broader contraction in billionaire wealth across the country. The Rich List compilers have previously recorded that Morris was the wealthiest Liverpudlian in history, and the latest figures extend that lead.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos losses drag down net worth
At the top of the North West table, Sir Jim Ratcliffe remains the region’s richest person – but his estimated wealth has tumbled by £1.852 billion to £15.194 billion, down from £17.046 billion in 2025. Nationally, the petrochemicals magnate is now ranked ninth.
The Sunday Times Rich List attributes the decline to a deteriorating performance at his multinational empire, Ineos. The group, which operates across 27 countries, has seen its valuation cut to £17 billion as a result of rising debt and falling revenues. Ineos logged a £515.7 million loss in its most recent financial period. Ratcliffe, 73, who was born in Failsworth and grew up on a council estate before founding Ineos in 1998, also holds a 29 per cent stake in Manchester United FC, currently valued at £1.4 billion. He acquired a 27.7 per cent holding in the club for £1.25 billion in 2024, and the Rich List notes that his cost-cutting measures at Old Trafford – including staff redundancies – have proved unpopular with supporters.
The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family hold second place in the North West with an estimated wealth of £9.677 billion, a marginal decline from £9.89 billion last year. The Grosvenor Group, the historic property company founded in 1677, has seen its US real estate portfolio come under pressure, with the Rich List data indicating a £108 million loss in the North American region last year.
North West wealth league and national trends
The North West top ten, as compiled by the Sunday Times Rich List, also features Mohsin and Zuber Issa (estimated wealth £5 billion, down from £6 billion); Fred and Peter Done (£3.612 billion, up); Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora (£2.554 billion); John Gore (£2.25 billion); Henry Moser and family (£2.178 billion); Simon Nixon (£2.05 billion); and John Whittaker and family (£1.5 billion, down from £2 billion).
Nationally, the picture is one of contraction. The total number of UK billionaires has fallen to 157 – 20 fewer than four years ago. The minimum entry level for the list has dropped to £340 million, a figure described by Rich List compiler Robert Watts as “another indicator of a subdued year”. The combined wealth of all 350 individuals and families on the list stands at £783.5 billion, the equivalent of roughly a quarter of the UK’s annual GDP.
Watts said: “This year’s Rich List is a tale of two exoduses. One in six of the individuals and families who appeared on the list two years ago don’t feature this time. Many foreign billionaires who have been living in the UK have also dropped out because they have moved away. We have also seen a sharp rise in the number of British nationals now resident in Dubai, Switzerland and Monaco. These two exoduses pose challenges for the UK economy and its public finances.”
New entries this year include Oasis brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, who debut with an estimated combined fortune of £375 million, boosted by their “Oasis Live ’25” reunion tour, which the Rich List says brought in almost £400 million in ticket sales. The tour spanned 41 concerts across 14 countries, with ticket sales alone averaging nearly £10 million per show. Merchandise sales from the tour reportedly reached £188 million, and the brothers are estimated to have earned at least £50 million each.
The Sunday Times is also publishing a National 40 Under 40 list of young wealthy individuals. Tom and Phil Beahon, founders of the Manchester-based sportswear brand Castore, are joint 15th with a combined wealth of £350 million. Pop star and Co-op Live investor Harry Styles is in 23rd place with an estimated £235 million. Other North West representatives include Adanola founder Hyrum Cook and Represent co-founders George and Mike Heaton.
At the very top of the national list, Sanjay and Dheeraj Hinduja and their family are ranked the richest people in the UK with a wealth of £38 billion, up from £35.3 billion last year – their fifth consecutive year at number one. The Rich List also records that David and Victoria Beckham have become Britain’s first billionaire sports couple, with a combined fortune of £1.185 billion, a sharp rise from £500 million in 2025.
The full list of 350 individuals and families is published online today and will be featured in a special 76-page Sunday Times magazine with the newspaper on Sunday, May 17, 2026. Watts added: “For nearly 40 years the Sunday Times Rich List has analysed the fortunes of Britain’s most affluent people. We believe understanding where wealth lies and where it is being accumulated is a vital part of a functioning democracy.”
