FAMILY fortunes have made the boss of the Joe Bloggs fashion empire's sisters and mum wealthy women.

A league table of the North's richest women reveals the family of Burnley-born Shami Ahmed are worth a cool £15 million, according to the survey carried out for the Lancashire Life magazine group.

Sisters Tesneem, Tabasum and Bushra - all directors of the Manchester clothing giant with a heavy input into the business - are each estimated to have personal fortunes of £3 million.

Mum Saeeda, retired and now living in Altrincham, is worth £6 million.

Shami himself, who has branched out into television by hosting the money programme Dosh, is reckoned to be have a personal fortune of £50 million.

Rosemary Lancaster, wife of John Lancaster, who founded the Clitheroe based Ultraframe company, is said to be the richest East Lancashire woman. Rosemary, company secretary and owner of half the shares in the firm, is said to be worth £12.5 million, putting her at the 10th richest woman in the North.

Janice Mustoe, director and shareholder in Accrington-based Senator International, has an estimated £1.5 million and comes in at 53rd in the table.

Her husband Colin founded the office furniture manufacturing company 18 years ago.

Ann Yerburgh, who owns five per cent of Thwaites brewery, Blackburn, comes in at 26th in the table with a fortune of £5 million.

Her husband John Yerburgh is the former chairman of Thwaites and is the great-great-grandson of founder Daniel Thwaites.

Littlewoods heiress Lady Granchester tops the league with a staggering £120m fortune - £70m more than runner-up novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford.

In third place is Doreen Lofthouse, who runs the Fleetwood firm behind the Fishermen's Friend throat lozenges.

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