The Duke of Westminster remains Britain’s – and the Northwest’s – wealthiest landowner, according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2015. The Duke’s £60m gain in the wealth stakes is recognised in this year’s Rich List.

The patron of Wirral Autistic Society heads a list of the 20 richest in the region who are worth £26bn collectively.

Sir Paul McCartney makes the top 10 of the Northwest Rich List, worth £730m alongside his third wife Nancy Shevell.

Westminster’s wealth is centred on Mayfair and Belgravia in London, but his family seat is at Eaton Hall, in Cheshire, and he owns significant parts of Liverpool city centre.

The company reported profits of £507m in 2013 on its net assets of £3.45bn. The estate has multiple property developments in the pipeline, mostly in the UK, but with further schemes in Ireland, the United States and the Asia-Pacific region.

Recent commercial successes include the Liverpool One shopping, residential and leisure complex.

The 63-year-old Duke’s overall wealth rises £60m this year to stand at £8.56bn, putting him among the 10 richest nationally.

He is one of 15 in the top 20 in the Northwest who have seen rises in their overall wealth in the past 12 months. There are now seven billionaires among the richest in the region.

The biggest year-on-year gain of £350m is recorded by the Arora brothers - Simon, Bobby and Robin – who are behind the B&M retail chain of discount stores, which was floated on the stock market last year.

The brothers sold a 60% stake in the Merseyside-based business in 2012 that valued it at £965m. Following the floating of the business last year, it is worth £2.9bn today.

The brothers’ remaining 27% stake in the company is worth £770m and they have raised a further £480m from share sales.

John Whittaker and Tom Morris in second and third place respectively in the Northwest Rich List have also seen significant gains in their wealth in the past year.

John Whittaker, 73, whose Peel property group is a major player in the region, sees a £70m gain in his family’s fortune.

Tom Morris is another discount store billionaire, alongside the Arora brothers. Morris, 61, founded the Home Bargains retail chain 40 years ago.

The Liverpool-based firm now has more than 300 shops and in 2013-14 it recorded profits of £124.7m. The business, valued at £2.2bn, is owned solely by Morris and his family.

Small property companies and past dividends and salaries carry the family to £2.25bn, up £200m on last year.

A new entry to the region’s exclusive club of billionaires are brothers Fred and Peter Done, the men behind the Betfred bookmaking chain. They started out with a single betting shop in Salford in 1967.

Today their empire spans bookmaking, insurance, sports promotion, property and a restaurant. The businesses are worth combined about £950m and last year made about £72m profit.

The 27th annual Sunday Times Rich List – the definitive guide to wealth in Britain and Ireland – is published on April 26 in a special 128-page issue of Sunday Times Magazine.

The list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It excludes bank accounts, to which the paper has no access.