THE richest man in the UK, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, is a former Failsworth schoolboy who counted chimneys from his council house bedroom window before forging a career in industry.

Jim Ratcliffe - the founder of chemical giant Ineos - topped the list and is believed to be worth £21.05bn, rocketing up the list from 18th place in 2017.

The 65-year-old moved from a council home in Failsworth to East Yorkshire at the age of 10 before attending Beverley Grammar School and later studying chemical engineering at Birmingham University and attained an MBA from London Business School.

Mr Ratcliffe’s joiner father progressed to running a factory which made laboratory furniture and his mother worked in an accounts office.

He moved to the top of the list after a revaluation of his assets saw his wealth increase by £15bn. He is the first UK-born person to top the rich list since 2003, when the wealthiest individual was the Duke of Westminister.

Twice-married father-of-three Mr Ratcliffe, who lives in London's affluent Chelsea area, is a Manchester United fan.

He founded Ineos in Hampshire in 1998 in a buyout of INSPEC and its Antwerp, Holland site.

From a small base, using high-yield debt top to finance his deal, Mr Ratcliffe began buying unwanted operations from companies like ICI and BP, selecting targets based on their potential to double their earnings over a five-year period.

In 2006, Ineos bought BP's refining and petrochemical arm Innovene, giving Ineos refineries and plants in Scotland, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium and Canada.

In 2010, Mr Ratcliffe moved Ineos's head office from Hampshire to Rolle in Switzerland, decreasing the amount of tax the company paid by £100 million a year.

Five years later, Mr Ratcliffe opened the UK headquarters of the chemicals and energy group in Knightsbridge, London along with gas and oil trading, and other functions, saying he was "very cheerful about coming back to the UK”.

He said he was pleased with UK policy, London as a business base, and untroubled by the prospect of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Ratcliffe is well-known for having, as a boy, counted chimneys from the bedroom of his parents' Failsworth council home before embarking on his journey.

He enjoys physical adventure and has made expeditions to the North and South Poles, as well as a three-month-long motorbike trek in South Africa, and has founded a charity "Go Run for Fun", encouraging thousands of children aged between 5 and 10 years, to get active by creating celebrity-driven events.