Sir Anthony Bamford, the son of the founder of construction equipment firm JCB, is the richest man in the sector, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.
Bamford and his family are estimated to be worth £700m. Although this is £25m up on the 2003 figure, Bamford slipped from 31st to joint 46th this year.

Other high-flying families included the Millers and the Mabeys.

Keith Miller's clan moved up four places to number 120, and were valued at nearly £370m. The family holds a 93% stake in the Miller Group, the UK's biggest privately owned contractor.

Mabey Holdings, a steel, property and plant hire company based in Reading, posted a profit of £48.3m in 2001/02. This helped contribute to David Mabey's family wealth of £310m, placing it at number 141.

Former Redrow boss Steve Morgan made his customary appearance in the list. The 51-year-old is worth about £320m, but even this was not enough to help him in his attempt to take over Liverpool Football Club, of which he is one of the major shareholders.

A major riser in the list was the Wilson family. The sale of its stake in Wilson Connolly last year helped to move it up 115 places to equal 443rd.