Sunday Times Rich List: Issa brothers place fifth in North West

The owners of the EG Group saw their wealth go up by £302 million in the past year - that's £827,400 a day - according to the Sunday Times Rich List which is published in the national newspaper this weekend.

They are the fifth richest people in the North West of England behind INEOS boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe, hedge funder Michael Platt, The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family, and Tom Morris, the founder of Home Bargains, and his family.

Blackburn born brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa founded Euro Garages (later renamed EG Group) in 2001 and still live Blackburn, and in recent years have expanded their business portfolio by taking over supermarket giant Asda, and fast food chain Leon.

The brothers built an empire from a single petrol station in Bury.

In March, full-year results for the company headquartered in Haslingden Road showed a 1.9 per cent annual rise to £1.18bn. Revenues also rose by just over a quarter to £26.61bn.

The pair are now worth £5.05bn after adding £302m to their personal wealth in 2022.

Speaking in March, Zuber Issa said: “In 2022, we delivered a highly resilient performance, despite macro-economic headwinds. 

“We continued to expand our successful Foodservice business through disciplined investment in our unparalleled offering and ongoing innovation across proprietary and popular third-party brands. 

“The Grocery & Merchandise business also performed well in 2022 and customers continue to respond positively to our converted Asda On the Move convenience stores. 

"We again made good progress in Fuel against a highly competitive backdrop across our markets, and are encouraged by our ongoing trial of ultra-fast chargers and infrastructure, evpoint, in the UK, as part of our energy transition plans to lower-carbon fuels.”

The EG Group headqaurters in Blackburn

The 2023 Sunday Times Rich List charts the wealth of the 350 richest people in the UK. 

There are 171 billionaires in the UK recorded this year, down 6 from 2022, the first fall for 14 years.

The combined wealth of the UK billionaires is £683.856 billion, up £30.734 billion, on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s Rich List.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, from Failsworth, Oldham, founded the INEOS chemicals group, and the 70-year-old has a personal wealth of £29.688 billion, up a huge £23.613bn from 2022.

Sir Jim, who lives in the tax haven principality of Monaco, has seen the surge in global oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine boost his personal fortune, which now makes him the second richest person in the country.

He owns the INEOS Grenadiers cycling team, football clubs in France and Switzerland, and is currently in the running to buy Manchester United from the Glazers despite being a Chelsea fan.

Preston's Michael Platt, 54, is ranked second in the North West with a wealth of £11.5bn. He is the co-founder and managing director of hedge fund BlueCrest Capital - Europe's third largest hedge fund, and lives in Jersey with his company based in Guernsey, both tax havens, and is an avid art collector.

Third on the list is the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, who is the richest person under 35 in the UK.

The 32-year-old from Cheshire and his family are worth £9.878bn thanks to their Grosvenor Group property empire which he inherited when he was 25.

He has turned one eye to philanthropy since taking over the family firm, by pledging to build more affordable homes and to make his businesses more energy efficient.

Fourth on the list is Tom Morris, the low-profile tycoon behind budget retailer Home Bargains.

The retailer has thrived during a cost-of-living crisis and saw sales increase to £3.4 billion last year.

The son of a shopkeeper, Morris started the outfit in the Old Swan district of Liverpool in his early twenties. His chain of 575 stores now employs nearly 30,000 people. 

Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: "This year's Sunday Times Rich List shows 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.

"The bursting of the tech bubble, the end of rock bottom interests and the jitters creeping through the banking industry have all taken their toll.  

“The super rich don't exist in a vacuum. Many small investors lost money in some of their overblown stock market floats.

"Many people also work for their businesses. Financial losses for billionaires can have implications for us all."

The Sunday Times Rich List is published on Sunday May 21.