Sadly for the average citizen, the life of a billionaire is one we can only dream about.
On May 18, the Sunday Times Rich List 2014 will be revealed, listing the 1,000 richest individuals and families in the UK.
While the proportion of wealth is still largely in favour of London, seven of the top 100 come from the North West.
So who exactly are these billionaires?
7. John Hargreaves and family – £1billion (National rank – 98=)
Born in Liverpool, Hargreaves is the founder of Matalan. He opened the first Matalan store in Preston in 1985 – now there are 200 stores across the UK employing over 16,000 people, and is one of the most successful retailers in the country.
He resigned as Chairman of Matalan in 2007 and now lives in Monaco.
6. Robin Sheppard and family – £1.04billion (National rank – 94)
Sheppard owns the Liverpool-based European Metal Recycling, a global scrap metal giant based in Warrington.
It pushed its turnover past £3billion in 2011 but the recent economic downturn led to a fall in profits, though recent figures show they are on the rise again.
5. Lord Grantchester and the Moores family – £1.2billion (National rank – 78=)
Lord Grantchester is the grandson of John Moores and his mother is nominal head of the Moores family, founders of the Liverpool-based Littlewoods football pools and retailing businesses.
Lord Grantcheter runs a dairy farm in Cheshire and is also a share holder of Everton F.C. where he was once a director.
He is also a trustee of the David France Collection, the world’s largest club specific football memorabilia collection.
4. Simon, Bobby and Robin Arora – £1.4billion (National rank – 62=)
The Arora’s are yet another family that have made their fortune in retailing.
The three brothers bought the struggling B&M Retail in 2005 in 2005 at which time it had 21 stores.
It now has nearly 300 more B&M Bargains and B&M Homestore Retail stores across the country.
In 2010, the Aroras moved their headquarters from Blackpool to a new £24 million distribution centre in Liverpool.
3. Tom Morris and family – £2.05billion (National rank – 46)
Tom Morris and his three brothers started out with a shop in Old Swan, Liverpool in the 1970s selling discount home goods.
They now own Home Bargains – a chain which turns over £1billion a year and has 350 stores in the UK.
In addition to Home Bargains, TJ Morris Ltd comprises several businesses including property ownership, and Far Eastern ventures.
2. John Whittaker and family – £2.3billion (National rank – 42=)
Whittaker is the Chairman of The Peel Group – a property investment that mainly invests in North West England
The first major real estate deal the Peel Group was involved in was the development of The Trafford Centre which opened in 1998.
When it was sold in 2011 for £1.6 it was the property acquisition in British history and the biggest European property deal of 2011.
1. The Duke of Westminster – Estimated £8.5billion (National rank –10)
Major-General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, KG CB CVO OBE TD CD DL (born 22 December 1951), is a British landowner who can trace his roots back to the Norman Conquest.
He is the owner of property company Grosvenor Group, worth £8.5 billion, placing him tenth in the national list and making him the third richest British-born person.
Grosvenor Estates is the richest property developer in the United Kingdom and one of the country’s largest landowners, with vast estates in Oxford, Cheshire and Scotland, as well as large areas of Mayfair and Belgravia in central London, and also in Europe.
Image courtesy Howard Lake, with thanks.