Britain’s richest double wealth since last recession

The 1,000 richest families in Britain have seen their wealth double since the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 and are now jointly worth more than £547 billion.

Average UK incomes have not yet recovered from the worst recession to hit Britain since the Great Depression of the 1930s and thousands are still using food banks in order to survive, yet the very richest have found themselves richer than ever.

The richest 1,000 had assets of £258 billion in 2009 which has increased by 112 per cent in just six years, according The Sunday Times’ Rich List. The largest increase came in just the last twelve months.

London now has 80 billionaires, eight more than in 2014 and more than any other capital city in the world.

The richest man in the UK today is Len Blavatnik, a Ukrainian billionaire with a London address in Kensington Palace Gardens that is worth £41 million. A US citizen and now owner of Warner Music, as well as stakes in chemical and aluminium companies, Blavatnik’s holdings are said to be worth £13.17 billion. His wealth increased by £3 billion in the past 12 months, pushing the Hinduja brothers, owners of the Hinduja automotive, gas, oil and finance conglomerate, into second place.

Average household incomes, however, have only just recovered to their financial crisis levels according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

The richest one thousand families in Britain today own more wealth than the combined wealth of 40 per cent of all British households, says The Equality Trust. Director, Duncan Exley, said that such inequality was ‘hugely damaging’ for British society.

Three British families feature in the richest 1000 list. Galen and George Weston own Selfridges and Associated British Foods and are at number three. Denise Coates and family who own Bet365 are believed to be worth £2.3 billion, and at 44th place. Sir James Dyson and family jumped seven places to 22.