John-Hargreaves of MatalanEIGHT North West billionaires are listed in the 2013 Sunday Time Rich List, published this weekend.
The annual list, which profiles the 1,000 richest people and families in the UK, also includes "Britain’s first billionaire under the age of 30".
It's Robin Arora, 28, who shares a £1.1bn fortune with his brothers Simon, 43, and Bobby, 41.
The brothers run the Liverpool-based cut price store chain B&M Bargains. They have more than doubled their combined fortune in a year, from £487m to £1.1bn, a rise of 126 per cent.
Even so, they are still running second to cut-price store rivals Home Bargains.
Joe Morris Of The Super
Rich Home Bargains FamilyThe fortune of Tom Morris and his three brothers, who started out with a shop in Old Swan in the 1970s, also doubled in the last year to £1.2bn, proving that one man's cheap bottle of Toilet Duck is the way to another's Indian Ocean yacht or Waitrose trolley.
Skem-based Matalan's John Hargreaves is back on billionaire row after his fortune dropped from £1,3bn to a piddling £600m in 2012. Born less than half a mile from the Liverpool docks where his father worked as a labourer, Hargreaves left school at 14 and got a job on a market stall. Within five years he started his own business. He floated his discount fashion chain in 1998, valued at £200m, but bought it back in 2006 for £817m.
John Whittaker Of PeelTopping the North West billionaires list is the Duke of Westminster, whose most recent hit is Liverpool ONE. Gerry's property fortune has risen to £7.8bn, up £450m on last year and a Home Bargains opened there last month, so happy days all round.
But hot on his heels is Manxman John Whittaker of Peel Holdings which owns John Lennon Airport, The Port of Liverpool, Trafford Centre and the Port of Salford.
See below for the full list of 20 richest in the North West of England.
| Regional rank 2013 | Regional rank 2012 | Name | Source of wealth | National rank | 2013 wealth | 2012 wealth |
| 1 | 1 | The Duke of Westminster | Property | 8 | £7,800m | £7,350m |
| 2 | 2 | John Whittaker | Property | 31= | £2,300m | £2,175m |
| 3 | 5 | Peter Hargreaves | Finance | 47 | £1,523m | £830m |
| 4 | 8 | Tom Morris and family | Discount stores | 62 | £1,220m | £620m |
| 5 | 4 | Lord Grantchester and the Moores family | Retailing and football pools | 64= | £1,220m | £1,200m |
| 6 | 13 | Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora | Discount stores | 73= | £1,100m | £487m |
| 7 | 3 | Robin Sheppard and family | Scrap metal | 80 | $1,040m | £1,235m |
| 8 | 9 | John Hargreaves and family | Fashion | 84= | £1,000m | £600m |
| 9 | 7 | Fred and Peter Done | Gambling | 102= | £850m | £700m |
| 10 | 6 | Peter Jones and Family | Property | 124 | £707m | £720m |
| 11 | 10 | Trevor Hemmings | Property | 148 | £610m | £575m |
| 12 | 14 | Michael Oliver and family | Engineering | 169 | £517m | £344m |
| 13= | 11 | The Walker family | Aviation, steel and property | 173= | £500m | £510m |
| 13= | 12 | The Warburton family | Baking | 173= | £500m | £500m |
| 15 | 16 | Lord Alliance and family | Mail order and textiles | 224= | £400m | £292m |
| 16 | 17 | Sir Lindsey Owen-Jones | Beauty products | 238= | £375m | £280m |
| 17= | 19 | Geoffrey Halstead and family | Flooring | 246= | £350m | £270m |
| 17= | 15 | Henry Moser and family | Finance | 246= | £350m | £298m |
| 19 | 23 | Michael Oglesby and family | Property | 255= | £340m | £200m |
| 20 | 18 | Sit John Zochonis and family | Soap | 261= | £330m | £274m |
