Liverpool tycoon behind Home Bargains pockets £1.2bn windfall after surge in profits

The Liverpool tycoon behind Home Bargains paid himself £1.2bn last year after a surge in profits.

Tom Morris, dubbed “the richest Scouser who ever lived” by his hometown press, has grown his TJ Morris discount empire after opening his first store almost 50 years ago.

The 70-year-old owns 98 per cent of the business and therefore received the vast majority of a £1.22bn payout, according to the group’s accounts.

This is a huge increase on the £36m paid the previous year to a man whose humble origins meant he started out as a merchant’s son.

Home Bargains has been able to capitalize on shoppers looking for cheaper home goods amid the cost of living crisis, along with rivals B&M and The Range.

Sales rose 11.7 per cent from £3.76bn to £4.2bn in the year to June 2024, partly because it opened a number of new stores. This helped profits rise from £336.5m to £454.8m.

At just 21 years old, Morris opened his first shop, called Home and Bargain, in Old Swan, east Liverpool, in 1976.

It changed the name in 1995 and has expanded greatly in recent years. The group now has 617 stores and employs around 28,000 people in the UK.

There are plans to open more stores in the next six months and increase ownership to between 800 and 1,000, according to the accounts.

Morris has kept himself and his family, including his wife Kristina O’Hare and their five children, away from the spotlight.

He and his family were ranked 25th in last year’s Sunday Times rich list, which put his fortune at £6.67bn.

That ranks just behind fast fashion investor Anders Holch Povlsen, who is the biggest investor in Asos, and Andrew Currie, director of chemicals company Ineos.

The billionaire has spent his wealth on a £36million superyacht called Moskito and a £37million private jet, with M-ORIS written on the tail.

He rarely speaks to the press and previously left publicity to his brother, Joe, also involved in the business.

Joe once said: ‘(Tom) has a real sense of smell for the retail business. He knows what’s going on. The key is a good purchase. It has an incredible reputation for it.

Its main rival B&M will today reveal how its trading fared over Christmas, alongside an update from retailer Marks & Spencer.