Oldham's Sir Jim Ratcliffe has become the second richest person in the UK and is now the wealthiest man in the North West, according to the new Sunday Times Rich List.

The Oldham born billionaire who grew up in a council house in Failsworth has seen his wealth soar by over £23bn.

The chief executive of the chemicals giant Ineos, who is currently bidding for a stake in Manchester United, is now estimated to be worth £29,688bn.

Three decades after mortgaging his house for £140,000 to do his first big deal, the 70-year-old is now estimated to be the biggest private energy operator in the North Sea.

Last year he was estimated to be worth £6.075bn, putting him in 27th place on the Sunday Times Rich List. Since then, his wealth has surged 400 per cent.

The part-time mountaineer and beekeeper built his fortune snapping up unloved petrochemicals plants and making them profitable. When energy prices rocketed and Europe shivered at the start of the Ukraine conflict, Ineos grew exponentially.

As a child growing up in Failsworth, Ratcliffe earned pocket money as a teenager selling Golden Goal lottery tickets outside Hull City’s ground.

He now owns two football teams — the French club Nice and the Swiss club Lausanne Sport — as well as the Ineos cycling squad and an America’s Cup crew, and hopes to fulfil a childhood dream by buying Manchester United. The Sunday Times Magazine 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 £683.856 billion, up £30.734 billion, or 4.5 per cent, on the total wealth of the billionaires in last year’s Rich List.