Sunday Times Rich List: Britain's richest double their wealth in 10 years

The collective wealth of Britain’s richest people has more than doubled in the last 10 years, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

This year’s list found the wealthiest 1,000 individuals and families now have a combined fortune of just over £547bn – or £547m each on average.

The figure has more than doubled since a total of just under £250bn was recorded in 2005, despite the world economy being gripped by a punishing recession over much of the last decade.

Plain old millionaires increasingly struggle to count themselves among the mega-rich, with a fortune of £100m now required to make it into the top 1,000. That is £15m higher than last year’s minimum.

Back in 1997, it took a personal wealth of just £15m to make the grade.

The list, published on Sunday 26 April, includes 117 billionaires – up from 104 last year. And 80 of these are based in London – giving the capital more sterling billionaires than any other city in the world.

London-based Ukrainian businessman Len Blavatnik, whose empire includes the Warner Music Group, came top of the list thanks to his estimated fortune of £13.17bn.

He rose from fourth to first after his wealth rose by more than £3bn.

Blavatnik ousted brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja from top spot. They were nudged into second, despite their fortune rising by £1.1bn to £13bn.

Galen and George Weston and family, who run a retail empire including Selfridges and Primark, enjoyed a particularly prosperous year – with their wealth soaring by £3.7bn to £11bn.

Not all those in the top 25 have got richer, however.

Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal’s fortune fell by £1.05bn to £9.2bn and Chelsea Football Club chairman Roman Abramovich’s total fell by £1.23bn to £7.29bn.

The list charts wealth including land, property, assets or significant shares but excludes bank accounts.