The annual Sunday Times Rich List has revealed that the combined wealth
of the UK’s 1,000 richest people rose by 5% in the last year – an
increase of £414 billion ($670bn).
The 2012 Rich List included 77 billionaires – two more than in 2008.
The UK is still coping with the aftermath of the 2008 global banking crisis – five years of austerity are planned as a result and many people in the UK are facing the prospect of job losses and seeking debt advice.
The 2012 Rich List included 77 billionaires – two more than in 2008.
The UK is still coping with the aftermath of the 2008 global banking crisis – five years of austerity are planned as a result and many people in the UK are facing the prospect of job losses and seeking debt advice.
Many working families are also currently struggling to maintain a reasonable standard of living for their children –and man are seeking debt management solutions to help them deal with outstanding debt such as credit cards. More individuals are also seeking debt counselling along with debt management solutions because of the psychological trauma of coping with debt.
However, the increase in wealth among the very rich is the highest recorded in the 24 years since the Rich List began.
The three wealthiest people in the UK are foreign-born steel, mineral or oil industry magnates, who have made a base in the UK. Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittel continues to be the UK’s richest man, despite the fact that he lost one-quarter of his wealth after a fall in the share price of his company ArcelorMittal – Mittel lost £4.8bn, leaving him with an estimated fortune of £12.7bn.
In second place on the UK Rich List is Uzbekistan billionaire Alisher Usmanov with £12.3 billion – Usmanov owns one-third of London Premier League football club Arsenal.
In third place is Chelsea Football Club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich with £9.5bn – down on last year’s figure of £10.3bn.
Last week Britain officially slipped back into recession, meaning a slower climb out of financial difficulties for many people struggling to make ends meet or in need of debt advice.
Chancellor George Osborne played down news of recession – and also announced that the UK will be offering the IMF £10bn to help struggling EU countries which may need a bail out. The Chancellor recently came under fire for making £10bn-worth of cuts in the UK welfare system, which many say will plunge more British families into poverty and potentially in need of debt advice.
Prime Minister David Cameron has also been under attack recently for the government’s Budget tax cuts for the wealthy, the fuel dispute – and pensions. Many pensioners feel they are being penalised by the government’s financial policies, when they have paid into the system for most of their lives through National Insurance and tax contributions – but now will have to wait until they are in their late sixties to claim the State Pension
A poll in the Sunday Express has also found that 82% of 2,002 voters questioned on Friday (27/04/12) felt the government was “out of touch” with the concerns of ordinary voters.
The Sunday Express Angus Reid poll follows Conservative MP Nadine Dorries’ comments that David Cameron and George Osborne are “two arrogant posh boys who show remorse, no contrition and no passion to want to understand the lives of others”.
The Sunday Times Rich List 2012 revealed that the wealthiest Briton, the Duke of Wellington, has slipped from fourth to seventh place, despite a 5% rise in his property fortune, currently £7.35bn.
The UK’s wealthiest woman is a former Miss UK beauty queen and songwriter who is married to a Swiss Italian billionaire entrepreneur – the joint fortune of Kirsty and Ernesto Bertarelli is estimated to be £7.4bn.
The Rich List is based on the identifiable wealth of individuals, including shares, land, property and items such as artworks or race horses.