RETAILING tycoon Sir Ken Morrison checked out as chairman of supermarket chain Morrisons with a £1.45bn fortune, figures have revealed.

Sir Ken, 76, who earlier this year stepped down as chairman of the Bradford-based retailer after 56 years with the business, is ranked second in the 2008 Yorkshire Rich List.

He retains his regional position despite seeing his family’s wealth fall by £145m in the past year as a result of a decline in stock market values.

But as a result of the fall in values, Sir Ken slips from 35th to 52nd in the Sunday Times Rich List – despite the supermarket chain posting a 66% rise in profits to £612m on sales of £13bn.

The regional ranking is headed by Eddie and Malcolm Healey, whose £1.9bn fortune comes from property deals and the Hygena kitchens business. They are equal 35th in the national rankings after being equal 25th last year.

Motor racing fanatic Lawrence Tomlinson, 43, finds himself on the fourth row of the grid in eighth place for his first appearance on the Yorkshire Rich List. His £400m fortune also ranks him 214th nationally among Britain’s 1,000 wealthiest men and women.

Mr Tomlinson’s debut in the list follows the sale of his Orchard Care Homes business to its management for £175m. He now heads Leeds-based LNT Group, with interests in building, aviation and motorsport. The group includes sports and kit car manufacturer Ginetta Cars while Mr Tomlinson also owns Team LNT, a racing car development and racing team operation.

The second new entry among the Yorkshire top 20 richest is Paul Caddick, who comes in at 14th place worth £220m. Mr Caddick, 57, heads the family-based property and construction business based in Wetherby. It also has shares in Headingley Carnegie Stadium, in Leeds.

Caddick Group’s assets are worth £52.5m while property interests take the family to £220m and equal 366th among the richest 1,000 in Britain.

Paul Sykes, 64, who made his fortune from the sale of the Meadowhall shopping centre, in Sheffield, is fourth on the regional list and equal 146th UK-wide with a fortune of £550m.

Yorkshire’s 10 richest people are together worth £7.22bn compared with £6.98bn in 2007.

The number of Yorkshire entrepreneurs featured in the top 1,000 stands at 36 compared with 39 a year ago.

The biggest gains in Yorkshire were made by 65-year-old building tycoon Terry Bramall – up from £157m in 2007 to £450m today following the £563m sale of his family’s Keepmoat construction company.