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JCB owner climbs rich list as fortune rises by £1.58 billion

The owner of Staffordshire digger giant JCB saw his family wealth soar by £1.58 billion in the last year.

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Lord Bamford outside JCB Headquarters, Rocester, Staffordshire. Photo: Credit: Anita Maric/newsteam.

Lord Bamford, the Tory peer, is this year’s highest climber in the Midlands in the annual Sunday Times Rich List. His wealth is estimated at £5.9bn.

He is second on the regional list to gambling giants the Coates family with a wealth of £8.79bn

The list is published today online at thetimes.co.uk/sunday-times-rich-list and is in the print edition of the newspaper on Sunday.

It reveals the wealth of the 350 richest people in Britain in its 35th annual edition.

There are 171 billionaires in the UK recorded this year, down six from 2022, the first fall for 14 years. The combined wealth of the UK billionaires is £683.8bn, up £30.7bn, or 4.5 per cent, on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s Rich List.

Having launched Bet365 from a Stoke-on-Trent car park, the Coates family is looking to expand in the US. Their combined estimated wealth is up £158 million and ranks 16th overall in this year’s Rich List.

Third placed in the Midlands is Walsall-born Mike Ashley, of sports equipment and fashion business Frasers Group, at £3.84bn – up £845m.

Fifth placed is Tony Murray and family. He is chairman of Wolverhampton-based Andrews Sykes and his wealth is from plant hire, property and fire protection.

His £2.73bn fortune is up £382m.