UK billionaires have seen their fortunes soar by more than a fifth as they shook off the financial toll of the pandemic, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
The list revealed that there are now a record 171 billionaires in the UK, with Ukrainian-born Sir Leonard Blavatnik topping the pile as the richest person in the country.
The number of billionaires jumped by 24%, in stark contrast with the wider economic turmoil of the pandemic which saw millions enter furlough and the rate of unemployment lift to its highest in almost five years.
Wealth among billionaires increased by 21.7% over the year, rising by £106.5 billion to £597.2 billion.
The annual index of the country's wealthiest residents showed that oil and media investor Mr Blavatnik saw his fortune surge by £7.2 billion to around £23 billion during the pandemic-hit year.
Here are the 14 people from Merseyside and the North West that made the rich list - including 12 billionaires.
1. The Duke of Westminster- Hugh Grosvenor- and family. Worth £10.054bn- down by £241m.
The Duke of Westminster is the richest person in North West and at 29, remains the UK's youngest billionaire.
The Grosvenor family seat is at Eaton Hall, near Chester.
The Grosvenor Group own Liverpool ONE along with many more swathes of land.
The family’s wealth stems from the 300 acres of Mayfair and Belgravia it owns in London, together with land in Cheshire, Oxford, Scotland and Spain.
2. Mohsin and Zuber Issa. Worth £4.68bn- up £1.12n
Moshin and Zuber Issa started their Euro Garages empire in Bury in 2001, buying their first forecourt for £150,000.
Since then, Euro Garages has established itself as one of the UK’s fastest-growing and most recognisable forecourt operators, with an expanding portfolio of more than 340 freehold-owned sites located throughout the UK.
They most recently purchased Asda.
The pair are the second-highest ranked in this year's list amongst those in the North West.
3. Tom Morris and family. Worth £4.361n - up £261m
Tom Morris ranks third in the region, up £261m in the last year thanks to his Home Bargains shopping chain.
Last year it was announced he was Merseyside’s biggest employer.
With more than 500 stores, Morris hired an average of six staff a day in 2017-18.
More than 23,000 people are now employed by the Home Bargains organisation, and assets of £912m increase its worth to £4.1bn.
4. Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora. Worth £2.524bn - up by £413m
The Arora brothers and the family are behind the B&M chain of discount stores, based on Merseyside.
Simon is the chief executive officer.
The firm has been built up from humble beginnings in Blackpool and supplying other chains with homeware sourced from Asia.
5. Johnny Boufarhat - £1.446bn - new entry
Johnny Boufarhat has become Britain's youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 26 after launching his business at the start of the pandemic.
The University of Manchester graduate raised funding to help launch video conferencing app Hopin last March after Britain was plunged into its first lockdown, reports the Mirror.
6. Mahmud Kamani and family. Worth £1.422bn - up by £391m
Mahmud Kamani, 54, is a non-mover in the region, despite a £163m increase in his family’s wealth.
His family has a £929m holding in Manchester-based Boohoo, the online fashion retailer sculpted from a Manchester market stall which is now valued at £2.78bn, a £500m increase on a year ago.
Kamani is executive chairman and co-founder of the business, which also includes Manchester fashion business PrettyLittleThing.
7. John Whittaker and family. Worth £1.4bn - down by £200m
John Whittaker ranked fourth in the North West.
His Peel Group owns shopping centres, ports, airports and MediaCityUK.
Whittaker got involved in the family business in the 1960s and began buying up land around Manchester Ship Canal before building the Trafford Centre.
8. Henry Moser and family. Worth £1.102bn - down by £280m
Moser worked on market stalls before setting up his business in 1974.
As a specialist mortgage lender he added a number of bolt-on businesses including Lancashire Mortgage Corporation and Cheshire Mortgage Corporation before setting up Manchester-based Jerrold Holdings in the early 2000s.
Jerrold, based in Cheadle has now rebranded as Together and Henry currently owns 70 per cent of the business after selling the rest to a private equity group.
9. Lord Grantchester and the Moores family. Worth £1.2bn - down by £6m
Lord Grantchester is the grandson of Sir John Moores, who founded the Littlewoods pools business in the 1920s.
The family went on to diversify into catalogues and retail - and football on Merseyside.
10. Fred and Peter Done. Worth £1.235bn - up by £35m
The Salford-born brothers opened their first Betfred branch in Pendlebury, Salford, in 1967.
They now boast more than 1,650 UK outlets and shops at 51 racecourses and took over the Tote for £265m.
Other Done family interests include legal services, insurance, sports promotion, a restaurant and the Salboy construction projects.
11. Peter Jones and family. Worth £1.157bn - up by £65bn
Jones is owner and founder of property development company Emerson Developments based in Alderley Edge.
A former joiner, Jones moved into housebuilding in Cheshire in 1959 and was one of the first developers to spot the development potential of South Manchester, buying up tracts of land.
As well as this he is the owner of Middlebrook Park, Boavista Golf & Spa Resort, among other properties in Portugal.
12. Trevor Hemmings. Worth £1.115bn - up by £90m
Born in Woolwich, London, the majority of Hemmings' business interests remain in the North West.
His portfolio includes brewing, textiles, leisurewear and property - and horseracing.
Mr Hemmings' business career began when he started to build post-war homes in Lancashire and his foundation supports charities.
13. Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell. Worth £820m - up £25m
Beatles star Sir Paul went on to have further musical success with Wings and as a solo artist, earning a knighthood in 1997 for services to music.
He married his third wife, American businesswoman Nancy Shevell, in 2011.
14. Chris Oglesby and family. Worth £696m - down by £25m
Chris Oglesby is chief executive of family-owned property company Bruntwood.
Over the last 42 years the family-owned property company has expanded to own a third of office space in Manchester city centre.
Bruntwood owns a portfolio of 115 properties and is constantly expanding, most recently with its involvement in Manchester Science Partnership.
