Britain sees rise in number of billionaires

Russian billionaire and Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has lost his place as the richest man in Britain, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, as the crisis in Ukraine wiped billions of pounds off the bank balances of Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.

His place on the top spot has been taken over by Indian-born, London-based brothers Sri and Gopi Hinduja, who run the global automotive, banking and investment Hinduja Group.

The brothers' wealth is valued at £11.9 billion, while Usmanov fell to second place after losing £2.7 billion over the last year.

Ukrainian-American Len Blavatnik, who owns international record label Warner Music, and Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, together lost nearly £1.8 billion in the last 12 months.

Philip Beresford, who compiles the annual table, said: "The malaise of the Russian economy and the current crisis has had its effect on them all."

There are now 104 billionaires based in the UK, who have a combined wealth of more than £301 billion, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

It is the first time the figure has risen to more than 100 and means Britain has more billionaires per head of population than any other country - and more than triple the number from a decade ago.

The list, published in full on May 18, reports that Britain's billionaires have a combined wealth of more than £301 billion.