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.
21. Matt Moulding and family (2025: £600m, 2024: £661m)
Retail: Health and wellbeing products The gym-loving founder of THG sold the buildings that house his ecommerce giant for £180m last November. Moulding co-founded THG, previously known as The Hut Group, with a colleague from the high-street chain Phones4u in 2004. Starting out as an online CD retailer, the Manchester-based group has evolved into a diverse group wrapping in 300 websites, beauty brands and two hotels. Moulding and his wife Jodie sold THG stock worth around £54m at the 2020 float. But since then THG’s shares have lost almost 96% of their value and the couple’s stake is worth £112.8m - down £96.3m in 12 months. | UGC Photo: UGC
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22. Matthew Greensmith and family (2025: £591m, 2024: £650m)
Energy: Oil distribution Revenues and profits have been falling at the Greensmiths’ fuel, oils and lubricants supplier. Matthew Greensmith runs the Bury-based Crown Oil. His grandfather Harry set up the business, selling lamp oil door-to-door and earning the nickname “Harry Lamp Oil”. Profits of £54m at the group’s two main companies suggest this is easily a £500m operation, less than at the height of the energy crisis of a few years ago. A property company and a run of dividends - including £33.9m over the past year - take the Greensmiths to £591m. | Google Maps
23. Chris Oglesby and family (2025: £544m, 2024: £569m)
Property: Real estate development Oglesby’s property group Bruntwood has seen a £25m fall in the value of its assets over the past year. Founded by Oglesby’s late father Chris almost half a century ago, the Manchester-based group now has a diverse portfolio ranging from offices and co-working spaces to shops and laboratories. A recent restructuring of the Bruntwood’s assets distorts the latest accounts, but the group should easily be worth £450m. A separate company, Abney, houses another £44.3m. Allowing for earlier dividends and extensive philanthropy, the Oglesbys should be worth £544m. | Insider
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24. Andy Bell (2025: £537m, 2024: £470m)
Financial services: Fund management The founder of AJ Bell recently urged Rachel Reeves to axe stamp duty on shares and simplify Isa rules to “save the UK stock market”. Bell set up his fund manager 30 years ago from a 149 square foot office in Salford Quays after borrowing £10,000. The company now manages more than £90 billion for its clients, growth that has driven up the share price by more than a third over the past year. Bell’s 18.1% stake is now worth £389.2m. His holding should have delivered £8.6m of dividends since our last Rich List. Bell is now chairman of the supplements business Applied Nutrition and owns Moor Hall, a sumptuous stately home set in the Lancashire countryside. The restaurant at the Grade II*-listed retreat has three Michelin stars. | Joel Goodman