Business Insider’s annual Rich List identified £45.6 billion of wealth shared between our region’s 50 most affluent individuals and families - up almost 9% on the previous year.
Whilst you will find familiar names in these rankings - such as Mohsin and Zuber Issa, the petrol retailing brothers who took control of Asda, or Fred and Peter Done, another pair of famous billionaire brothers, best known for their BetFred gambling empire - often it’s the new entries and lesser-known entrepreneurs and business leaders who are the most intriguing.
One debutant on the full list is the McMahon family who, ten years ago, bought Heinz’s 11-acre babymilk factory in Kendal for just £1, and now have a fast-growing infant nutrition venture.
Our region has also become home to a number of companies profiting from the boom in vaping. E-cigarettes have proven to be a divisive topic to many - and a sizable business opportunity for Phil Boyle and Mubarak Patel who oth appear in this year’s rankings.
Gone are the days when Rich Lists are dominated by finance, industry or property. Fortunes are now being made in more diverse and surprising ways. There’s some inspiration for ambitious entrepreneurs, whatever type of business they’re growing.
Although the entire list features 50 names, we have outlined just the 25 richest people in the North West for you below...
How the list was created
This list features entrepreneurs or business leaders who are either working in a company they either started themselves or inherited. Business Insider also include those still living in the area who have recently sold their main businesses but retain interests in other ventures.
Business Insider valued stakes in quoted companies in July 2025. Private companies were valued according to the ratios in their sectors or more generally where a sector rating was not evident, at around ten times their latest profit figures, which in many cases is more conservative than stock market ratings.
They deducted appropriate sums from dividends and company sales to reflect tax unless they were certain someone is not domiciled in the UK for tax.
17. John Coulter and Ann Jones (2025: £650m, 2024: £545m)
Retail: High street jewellers This brother and sister team founded jewellers Warren James in the late 1970s and remain at the helm today. Their chain of more than 200 high-street shops employs more than 1,100 people. The Stockport-based retailer reported profits of £43.3m last year and should still be worth £400m. Coulter and Jones also own 40% of Cyprus Bank – a stake worth at least £164.2m. Over the years the siblings have prospered from property, earning around £84m from the 2016 sale of the Pinewood film studios where they held a 26% stake. Baj1, their real estate company with assets in Germany, adds another £44.4m. | Google Maps
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18. Bill Holmes and family (2025: £630m, 2024: £630m)
Business services: Services for vehicle fleets Holmes’ and his family have set up the Helvellyn Foundation, a charity that has already gifted more than £2m to wildlife causes. The former Esso petrol station worker built his fortune from Radius, a tech business that provides payment services, vehicle tracking and other services to more than 400,000 companies. Crewe-based Radius has been valued at around £2bn by minority shareholder Inflexion, the private-equity group. On that basis Holmes’ 30.3% stake is worth about £605m. Dividends and share sales over the years add another £25m. | submit
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19. Mahmud Kamani and family, inc pictured Adam Kamani (2025: £625m, 2024: £675m Adam Kamani)
Retail: Fashion retail Boohoo, the fast fashion retailer Kamani founded almost 20 years ago, rebranded as Debenhams earlier this year. Times have been tough for the fashion tycoon who has had a strained relationship with Frasers. Mike Ashley’s group is now Debenhams’ biggest shareholder and has tried to oust Kamani from the company’s board. Several members of the Kamani family together own just under 22% of Debenhams, which Boohoo bought in 2021. This holding is now worth £59.8m - down £47.2m since last year. The bulk of the Kamanis’ wealth stems from selling Boohoo shares during the fast-fashion platform’s pomp. But there is also an extensive property empire and a £42.4m stake in the group behind the viral video website LadBible. | submit
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20. Jonathan Warburton and family(2025: £610m, 2024: £594m)
Food and drink: Baked goods Oscar-winner Olivia Colman is the latest acting star to grace the baking giant’s quirky TV ads, following in the footsteps of Samuel L Jackson, Robert De Niro and Miss Piggy. Jonathan Warburton chairs his family’s business and appears to relish his turns in his family’s corny commercials. Warburtons will celebrate 150 years in business next year and should be worth the £466.9m we can see on the main balance sheet. Profits have risen by more than 50% to £52.6m. A strong run of dividends – including £27.2m over the past year – adds £143m to Britain’s best-known baking dynasty. | submit