NORTH Yorkshire is home to some of the country's wealthiest tycoons, an annual survey has revealed.

Eight business brains from the region appear on the Sunday Times Rich List, published yesterday.

Topping the list with a staggering £1,300 million fortune are brothers Eddie and Malcolm Healey.

Malcolm shelled out £40 million to the Marquess of Normanby for an East Yorkshire estate, including the village of Warter, near Pocklington.

Sir Ken Morrison, the pioneer of Wm Morrison supermarkets, is also revealed to be worth £1,300 million.

The 70-year-old lives in Myton-on-Swale, near Boroughbridge.

Weighing in at tied 61st on the list is Harrogate-based developer Paul Sykes.

The property and internet services tycoon is said to be sitting on about £480 million.

Also on the list are Hamish Ogston, Peter Wilkinson, the Shepherd family and Simon Howard and family.

Mr Ogston, who has a fortune estimated at £350 million, is behind CPP Holdings - an insurance and business services company based in York. He is tied for 89th on the list.

Peter Wilkinson, tied for 140th on the list, has assets worth £245 million.

A pioneer of the Internet, Mr Wilkinson owns a £133 million stake in Harrogate firm Intechnology.

Shepherd Building, the York-based construction company, is estimated to be worth about £200 million.

This put the family in at joint 157th on the Rich List, with assets of £210 million in total.

Simon Howard, based at the 13,000-acre Castle Howard, controls a £65 million fortune.

He manages the estate on behalf of his three brothers, with all four owning an equal share.

Updated: 11:01 Monday, April 08, 2002