AMIGO Loans founder James Benamor is the richest person in Dorset for another year after seeing his wealth double in the past 12 months.

Mark and Mo Constantine of Lush also enjoyed a lucrative year, with a total wealth of £440million, up £150m from in 2018, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

The full list, which is due to be published this weekend, is set to show that 41-year-old Mr Benamor is the richest in Dorset and eighth in the region. He founded the Richmond Group and Amigo Loans, but stood down from the latter’s umbrella company Amigo Holdings last year after it was listed on the stock market. His wealth is estimated at £800m, a £420m increase from a year ago.

The Hon Charlotte Townshend, who owns Ilchester estate, which includes parts of Chesil Beach and Abbotsbury Swannery, is ranked 13th in the south west (£456m).

The Constantines have had another successful year, which earned them a ranking of 15th regionally. Together the couple started their Lush cosmetics company in Poole and its fizzy bath bombs are the emergency Christmas present of choice from 105 UK stores and more than 900 outlets globally. Lush is valued at £700m, with the Constantines’ holding worth £393m.

Tom Singh, founder of Weymouth-headquartered chain New Look, and his family was estimated to be worth £340m, down £30m from last year but still ranked 17th in the region. They sold the company for £1.96billion in 2015 but retained a 10 per cent stake.

Robert Watts, compiler of The Sunday Times Rich List, said: “The days when the Rich List was dominated by fortunes built only from industry, property and finance are long gone. The list includes people like Mark and Mo Constantine, who made their money from soap and bath bombs. Andrew Nisbet and the Brownswords owe their fortunes to catering equipment and greetings cards.

“A lot of people say the rich only ever getter richer, but our South West Rich List shows that isn’t always true. Seven of the region’s 20 wealthiest individuals and families have seen their wealth fall over the past year.

"It’s easy to think this doesn’t matter to the rest of us. But if a bad year encourages these tycoons to shrink their businesses the implications can be big for our communities.”