Tom Morris founded Home Bargains in Old Swan in 1976Dan Haygarth Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter
06:30, 16 May 2025
From left, Joe Morris of Home Bargains, Francis O’Brien of Arrowcroft, Tom Morris of Home Bargains and Christopher Fox of Arrowcroft, pictured in 2001(Image: Liverpool ECHO)
Home Bargains billionaire Tom Morris remains the richest Scouser to have ever lived, according to the latest Sunday Times rich list. The 2025 list, published today, shows that Tom Morris and family are the third richest people in the North West with wealth of £6.99bn, ranking them 26th nationally.
Regionally, Manchester United part-owner and chemical company INEOS CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe is the richest person with £17bn, despite seeing a decrease by £6bn in the last 12 months. The Duke of Westminster and the Grosvenor family take the second spot with £9.88bn.
The discount Home Bargains chain that has given the Morris family their wealth began with one store – then called Home and Bargain – which opened in Old Swan in 1976. It was established by a then-21-year-old Tom, the son of a Scotland Road shopkeeper.
The first store started with takings of less than £100 per week but the brand, which changed its name to Home Bargains in 1995, has grown into a retail empire with more than 500 shops across the UK.
As his Gillmoss-based company has grown, Mr Morris has become the richest Liverpudlian to have ever lived, with his wealth rising this year by £316m. He was also given this title in last year’s Sunday Times rich list.
The last 12 months have seen Home Bargains play a key role in the campaign to save Zoe’s Place. The Morris family’s company TJ Morris covered a crucial £2.5m of the £5m needed to save the charity, keeping it afloat.
Home Bargains, Speke(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
TJ Morris also has a number of property interests. Most notably, it is involved in a skyscraper project on the Liverpool waterfront, aiming to construct the tallest building in the city.
Unlike many of the people on the rich list, however, Mr Morris has always shunned the limelight. It is his brother Joe Morris who is usually found speaking in public on the Home Bargains founder’s behalf.
Of his brother, Joe once said: “(He) has a real sense of smell for the retail business. He knows what is going on.
“The key is good buying. He has an incredible reputation for it. If you get the buying right you can make money even if the stores are not perfect. You can have perfect stores but if you don’t have the product you will fail.”
It is hard to come by more information about Mr Morris. The one photo of him that the Liverpool ECHO has on file is the grainy 2001 picture at the top of this article. Second from right, he is pictured with his brother Joe (left) and two representatives from a company called Arrowcroft.
According to a 2001 Liverpool Daily Post article, Mr Morris worked 12 hour days and his other main business interest was the 60 Hope Street restaurant in Liverpool city centre, but this closed in 2020.
The article added: “Business remains very much a family affair. As well as the three brothers, all now in their forties, there is another who has provided consultancy services while a sister has provided goods and services.”
Number of billionaires falling
The Sunday Times rich list reveals the wealth of the 350 richest people in Britain. It shows the largest fall in the billionaire count in the guide’s 37-year history, from a peak of 177 in 2022 to 156 this year.
The number of billionaires has dropped for three successive years and this year’s decline is the sharpest yet.
Robert Watts, compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, said: “The Sunday Times Rich List is changing. Our billionaire count is down and the combined wealth of those who feature in our research is falling. We are also finding fewer of the world’s super rich are coming to live in the UK.
“This year we were also struck by the strength of criticism for Rachel Reeves’s Treasury. We expected the abolition of non-dom status would anger affluent people from overseas.
“But homegrown young tech entrepreneurs and those running centuries-old family firms are also warning of serious consequences to a range of tax changes unveiled in last October’s budget.
“Our research continues to find a wide variety of self-made entrepreneurs building fortunes not just from artificial intelligence, video games and new technologies but also mundane, everyday items such as makeup, radiators and jogging bottoms.
“We know many of our readers find these people and their stories inspiring — especially the many who had tough starts or setbacks to their lives and careers.”