Blackburn’s Issa brothers have become £50m richer in the past 12 months, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.

Despite their enormous wealth, the annual Sunday Times Rich List only puts Mohsin and Zuber Issa fifth on the list of the richest people in the North West.

The EG Group and Asda bosses have seen their wealth grow to £4.73 billion, which is up £50m from 2021, the latest edition of the list states.

This worth sees them rank 39th in the UK Rich List but despite making almost £1 million a week in the past 12 months they have still dropped two places in the list.

In May 2021, EG Group bought Leon Restaurants and in October the company bought Cooplands, the UK's second-largest bakery. These followed the pair's takeover of supermarket giant Asda.

The EG Group has also recently announced it was to create more than 32,000 jobs globally over the next five-years.

The international recruitment drive is a result of new investment in its food service business.

The Sunday Times Rich List is compiled by Robert Watts.

There are a record 177 billionaires in the UK this year, up six from 2021. The combined wealth of the UK billionaires is £653.122 billion, up £55.853 billion - 9.4 per cent, on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s Rich List.

This huge increase in billionaires comes as much of the country is left facing the brunt of the cost of living crisis, with household bills and inflation soaring and wages remaining stagnant.

Preston-born hedge fund manager Michael Platt, 53, who lives in Switzerland, is the richest person in the North West, with an estimated wealth of £10bn – up by £2bn since 2021.

He is co-founder and chief executive of BlueCrest Capital Management, but his place as the North West's richest man only places him equal 11th with Alisher Usmanov among the wealthiest people in the UK.

Cheshire-based Hugh Grosvenor, 31, The 7th Duke of Westminster, has lost the top spot on the North West Rich List after a fall in the asset value of his family’s vast property operation, Grosvenor Group.

The Duke's family fortune is now £9.726 billion, down £328 million from last year.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The EG Group headquarters opened in Blackburn in 2020

Tom Morris, 68, the founder of Liverpool-based retailer Home Bargains is £766 million richer, with a family fortune which now stands at £5.127 billion.

Brothers Fred, 79, and Peter, 75, Done, who own the Warrington-based betting business Betfred and Manchester-based human resources outfit Peninsula, are now jointly worth £1.476 billion, an increase of £241 million on last year.

Two of the 10 wealthiest people in the North West in 2021 have lost their billionaire status. Matt Moulding, 50, founder of the Manchester-based online retailer The Hut Group, and his wife Jodie have seen their fortune plummet to £700 million from £2.1 billion a year ago. 

Manchester-based Mahmud Kamani, 57, who controls the internet fashion retailer Boohoo, has seen his family wealth cut almost in half to £720 million from £1.42 billion in 2021.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty placed 222nd in the list with their joint £730 million fortune, following intense scrutiny of their finances of late.

Last month, it was revealed that Ms Murty had non-dom status, which could have saved her £20 million in taxes.

Sri and Gopi Hinduja, who run the Mumbai-based conglomerate Hinduja Group, jumped to the top of the list after their wealth grew by more than £11 billion to £28.47 billion.

Meanwhile, entrepreneur Sir James Dyson and his family moved up to second in the list after a £6.7 billion increase to £23 billion.

Property investors David and Simon Reuben meanwhile were third with £22.26 billion, while Ukrainian-born Sir Leonard Blavatnik dropped from top spot to fourth.

Roman Abramovich saw his net worth halved, dropping to a mere £6 billion this year following sanctions against Russian oligarchs with links to Putin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.