SITTING by the sea one dreary afternoon in Jersey, self-confessed beach-bum Duncan swore he'd turn his life around.

"I'd just turned 30 and I'd been happy doing nothing much. Money had never interested me too much but I suddenly decided two things - that I was going to start up a business and that I was going to become a millionaire," says Duncan, who now lives in the West End of Darlington and is worth £70m.

Son of a Scottish labourer, Duncan, 52, was born in Clydebank, near Glasgow, and grew up lacking any material wealth. He never had toys bought for him and he spent most of his childhood playing 'kick the can' with his mates. But early childhood hardship never motivated him to make money - until his 30th birthday.

"The big three-O can do funny things to you. It struck me I wasn't going to live forever and that I had to take a risk and go for it," says the dad of five daughters, whose partner is expecting another child in six months time.

By the age of 38, he'd fulfilled the tall order he set himself on the beach eight years ago to become a millionaire. He says he never envisaged appearing on the country's rich list as a lad and finds more modest pleasures to be the most gratifying.

"My parents lived in a council house and I love owning a home without having to worry about paying a mortgage," says Duncan, whose partner Joanne McCue is a co-director of Bannatyne's Health Clubs.

Starting off as a stoker in the Royal Navy at the age of 15, Duncan moved to Teesside and bought an ice-cream van to sell Mr Whippy's down the length and breadth of Stockton, including the hard-up council estates.

In the mid-80s, he scraped together enough money to buy his first nursing home - but not without personal sacrifice. "I sold my car and house and even my colour TV. I remember someone had to lend me an old black-and-white telly," he says.

But the risk was worth the worry and Quality Care Homes netted £26m when the company was sold 11 years on.

When the homes were sold off in 1997, Duncan began to establish a set of 12 Bannatynes Health clubs, primarily because he was himself a health fanatic. The opening of his latest Darlington club this week has seen him appear next to club members in many of the classes.

Duncan says it was easier for him to take a risk and borrow money for his original business venture because he wasn't in a secure job and without a family to support. He says not everyone is able to 'make it' precisely because they are in secure jobs which they don't want to gamble away with a daring business idea. "I think I was prepared to take a risk because I had very little to lose," he says.

His family is proud of his immense achievement and he is of the belief that money does actually make you happy - or certainly happier than poverty.

While Duncan grafted to earn his place on the rich list, young millionaire Darren Casey appears on the list as one of the top hundred richest young people in Britain after inheriting Teesside business, Lindy Electronics, from his 70-year-old father Gerry Casey.

But as managing director of the company, based at Teesside Leisure Park at Thornaby, Darren feels he deserves to be at the helm of the £5m empire. He says he wouldn't be there if he wasn't trained.

"I don't feel guilty about being where I am because I know I can do the job," says Darren, 30, who appeared in Company magazine's 'most eligible bachelor' list two years ago. "And while I inherited the company and the wealth from my father in 1992, I like to think I've helped it blossom since that time." He never felt parental pressure to take on his father's company; his love of business was instinctive.

"I know the sons of millionaires who are not managing the company because they aren't able to. No father wants his business ruined so he won't put a son in charge if he can't do what's required," says Darren, who lives in Yarm with 29-year-old Phillipa Chapman.

"I have had to prove myself so I feel I deserve to be here. I would have been whipped out of the company if my father felt I couldn't do a good enough job. I'm not saying it hasn't helped me in life having a millionaire as a dad, but it's not the sole reason I'm where I am."

He says rather than feeling indebted to his father, who originally started a computer cable business after a win on the dogs, he feels he's worked hard to get where he is.

And while Duncan has inner wranglings over what extent he should pamper his daughters and provide them with things he never had as a child, Darren says his father never believed he should learn the hard way.

"My father didn't believe in me starting out from scratch. There are some who think because they've learnt the hard way and started out from the bottom, their children should do it all for themselves as well," says Darren, who is worth £5m - the same as young celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver. "My dad's never been like that. He's always been willing to help financially."

He feels children of millionaires will always be subject to a certain level of 'spoiling' but says his father didn't lavish him with material goods on a whim. He still had to work his way through summer jobs at his father's company during his years at Leeds Metropolitan University where he studied business, and says he hasn't developed overly-expensive tastes.

My father didn't become a millionaire until I was about 20 so I grew up in a comfortable family for most of my childhood, one that wasn't too out of the ordinary. But every child from a wealthy family is going to be spoilt to some degree.

"Even now, I have sensible tastes and although I own a few designer suits, I will wear mainly Next ones to the office. I tend to like cars and my biggest luxury item is my yellow Porsche, along with my home cinema. I love films."

He says being brought up with money can make your life easier and though it doesn't necessarily mean instant happiness, money does "lubricate the wheels".

"I know money doesn't make you happy, but there are an awful lot of people with money problems. Perhaps some would be happier if they weren't there."

Though his father is his biggest role model, he doesn't feel he's 'had it easy' just because he's not a self-made man.

"My father really rose from the gutter and made a success of himself. But he always jokes those who spend their lives making millions are often too old to enjoy them once they're made."