Sunday Times Rich List 2025: The 10 wealthiest people in the Midlands revealed - and what they're worth

Construction business boss Lord Bamford and family have been named the wealthiest in the West Midlands in the Sunday Times Rich List.

Bamford’s Staffordshire-based JCB business, famed for its iconic yellow diggers, is booming and has paid the family a £300 million dividend in the past 12 months.

Their 2025 fortune stands at a whopping £9.45 billion - up £1.8 billion on their previous 2024 total of £7.65 billion.

The second richest people in the West Midlands are Denise, John and Peter Coates, of Stoke on Trent gambling business Bet365, followed by Birmingham-born John Caudwell, co-founder of Phones4U, who is worth £1.6 billion and makes the number three slot on the list, which is published online today (Friday May 16).

At number four is Caspar MacDonald-Hall and family, of Kingswinford-based London & Cambridge Properties, with a fortune of  £1.355 billion, followed by industrialists Sir Peter, James and Steve Rigby, of the Stratford-upon-Avon headquartered Rigby Group, who have amassed a  £1.041 billion fortune to be named the fifth wealthiest family.

'Chicken King' Ranjit Boparan and wife Baljinder and family are at number six, with £1.017 billion thanks to the success of Birmingham-based 2 Sisters Food Group which has a plant in West Bromwich.

Black Country investor and developer Richardson, the Oldbury-based entrepreneurs  headed by Roy Richardson, who created Merry Hill shopping centre and are also behind the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet in Cannock, are number seven on the list, with a fortune of £985 million.

Motor trade entrepreneur Lord Edmiston takes the number eight slot, with £855 million, while singer Kirsty Bertarelli, a former Miss United Kingdom beauty queen, is the tenth richest person in the region with  £715 million.

Solihull-based Gymshark founder Ben Francis came in at number nine as well as being named the richest person under the age of 40 in the West Midlands, with a fortune of £726 million. 

Dan and Melanie Marsden, who created Solihull based lingerie company Lounge Underwear, are also on the list of the wealthiest under 40-year-olds in the region, with a fortune of £253 million.

The 2025 Sunday Times Rich List is the ultimate guide to wealth in the UK. It charts the wealth of the 350 richest people in the UK and is based on identifiable wealth including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It does not include bank accounts as this information is not available publicly.

This year’s list of 350 richest individuals and families together hold combined wealth of £772.8 billion — three per cent down on last year but nevertheless it's a sum larger than the annual GDP of Switzerland.

This year's list shows the largest fall in the billionaires from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 156 this year. The number has dropped for three successive years – with this year's decline the sharpest yet.

Robert Watts, compiler of the 37th annual list, said: “The Sunday Times Rich List is changing. Our billionaire count is down and the combined wealth of those who feature in our research is falling. We are also finding fewer of the world’s super rich are coming to live in the UK.  

“This year we were also struck by the strength of criticism for Rachel Reeves’s Treasury. We expected the abolition of non-dom status would anger affluent people from overseas. But homegrown young tech entrepreneurs and those running centuries-old family firms are also warning of serious consequences to a range of tax changes unveiled in last October’s budget. 

“Our research continues to find a wide variety of self-made entrepreneurs building fortunes not just from artificial intelligence, video games and new technologies but also mundane, everyday items such as makeup, radiators and jogging bottoms. We know many of our readers find these people and their stories inspiring — especially the many who had tough starts or setbacks to their lives and careers.”

Top 10 richest people in the West Midlands:

1. Lord Bamford and family -  construction (£9.45bn)

2. Denise, John and Peter Coates - gambling (£9.445bn)

3. John Caudwell - telecoms (£1.6bn)

4. Caspar MacDonald-Hall and family - landlords (£1.355bn)

5. Sir Peter, James and Steve Rigby - industrialists (£1.041bn)

6. Ranjit and Baljinder Boparan and family - restaurateurs (£1.017bn)

7. Richardson family - international investors and developers (£985m)

8. Lord Edmiston - car dealer (£855m)

9. Ben Francis and family - retailer (£726m)

10. Kirsty Bertarelli - divorcee and songwriter (£715m)

Wealthiest people under 40 in the West Midlands:

1. Ben Francis - fashion (£726m)

2. Thomas Hartland-Mackie  - electrical products (£684m) 

3. Timothy Goodwin - engineering (£308m) 

4. Dan and Melanie Marsden - lingerie ( £253m)

Denise Coates and family of Stoke on Trent's Bet365 saw the highest overall increase in wealth in the region - growing  by £1.9 billion - and the 100 most philanthropic rich listers gave £3.7 billion.

Celebrities on the list include Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Euan Blair, Sir Lewis Hamilton and Sir Christopher Nolan.

The Sunday Times Rich List, compiled by Robert Watts and edited by Helen Davies, is available to the paper’s digital subscribers online at https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list and in the print edition of the newspaper on Sunday May 18.