William Barnett and family, along with Harold Montgomery and family, are at number 58 and 96 respectively in the Sunday Times Tax List today.
JD Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin (PA)
And Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin, who was educated in Northern Ireland, is at number eight in the Tax List, paying a total of £199.7m last year.
Mr Barnett’s fourth-generation family business, W&R Barnett, has interests spanning grain, animal feed, packaging, oils and molasses. The family tax contribution in the 2026 list is given as £23m.
The business saw pre-tax profits grow to nearly £67m in the year to July 31 2024 compared to £61.9m in the previous period.
Harold Montgomery and his family’s tax contribution is estimated by Sunday Times at £11.8m, due to the success of its logistics business employing more than 2,000 people.
The business includes Montgomery Transport, though the business sold off its trailer company, Montracon, to Martin Group last year.
The Tax List, which is published in full tomorrow, identifies Fred and Peter Done of gambling giant Betfred at number one in the list, contributing more than £400m in 12 months.
New entries for 2026 include popstar Harry Styles, footballers Mo Salah and Erling Haaland, and hedge funder Chris Rokos.
Other well-known names on the list include Harry Potter author JK Rowling, musician Ed Sheeran and boxer Anthony Joshua.
The 100 wealthy individuals or families revealed in the eighth edition of the list paid a total of £5.758bn of tax.
Robert Watts, who compiled The Sunday Times Tax List, said: “The Sunday Times Tax List features household names as well as some of our economy’s hidden heroes, quietly successful entrepreneurs who have set up companies employing hundreds of people and plugging vast sums into the public finances.
“This is an increasingly diverse list with Premier League footballers and world famous pop stars lining up alongside aristocrats and business owners selling pies, pillows and baby milk.
“This year there’s been a big jump in the amount of tax we’ve identified — largely because of higher corporation tax rates. All of the 100 individuals and families who appear delivered at least £11m to the Exchequer over the past year.
“Fourteen of the entries paid at least £100m.”
News Catch Up – Friday 30 January
In total, the top 100 paid 15.5% more tax than a year ago, while 45 paid more, 30 paid less, and two paid the same.
According to the Sunday Times, the main reason is the jump in corporation tax from 19% to 25% in 2023-24, and a higher tax rate on dividends.
Mr Watts added: “One in nine of the people who make the Tax List are no longer listed as resident here in the UK, instead choosing to live in Monaco, Dubai, Switzerland, Cyprus, Portugal, the United States or the Channel Islands.
“Clearly the Tax Listers who have moved offshore are still delivering huge sums to HM Treasury through their businesses, but the Chancellor would no doubt be raising even more money from these people had they chosen to stay put and remain liable for personal tax here.”
The Tax List rankings include corporation tax, dividend tax, capital gains tax, income tax and some payroll taxes as well as gambling and alcohol duties, according to the most recently filed company accounts. These are calculated in proportion with ownership of the company in question.