Jun 09 issue
Received wisdom has it that recruitment companies get decimated in recessions. Kate Bleasdale, the founder of Healthcare Locums, is proving everyone wrong.
Marc Barber finds out how
May 09 issue
Over three generations, Fredericks Dairies has gone from street-corner ice cream selling to becoming the UK’s largest independent ice cream manufacturer.
Marc Barber speaks to chief exec Frank Frederick about fast cars, ladies, taking on the corporate giants, and the horrors of HR
Apr 09 issue
NESTA’s chief executive Jonathan Kestenbaum has called on the government to spend billions revitalising the UK’s damaged venture capital industry. He tells
Nick Britton why
Mar 09 issue
Though he hails from the American Northwest via Silicon Valley, internet pioneer Alex Hoye remains convinced of Europe’s potential to create world-leading companies. That’s why he’s lived here for the last ten years. Nick Britton reports
Feb 09 issue
Wagamama, Paperchase and GAME have one thing in common: Graphite Capital.
Nick Britton talks to managing partner Rod Richards about how the firm has helped build market-leading consumer brands, and finds out how its investments are faring
Dec 08/Jan 09 issue
With budgets savagely slashed in all sectors, now doesn’t seem the time to try to build a global online advertising agency. Internet entrepreneur Tyler Moebius, CEO of Adconion Media Group, disagrees, as do the VCs who have ploughed over £40 million into the business.
Marc Barber reports
Nov 08 issue
After Allan Leighton turned around the fortunes of ASDA and Lastminute.com, he could have opted for the easy life as opposed to becoming chairman of the Royal Mail. He tells
Marc Barber why he doesn’t do easy
Oct 08 issue
DFJ Esprit head honcho Simon Cook has had a string of multi-million dollar exits under his belt, but he’s still on the lookout for more great early stage companies.
Marc Barber gets the lowdown
Sep 08 issue
Media company Eros International released five of Bollywood’s top ten releases in 2007. Chief executive Kishore Lulla tells
Marc Barber how he’s planning to build a global giant that can take on anything Hollywood has to offer
Jul/Aug 08 issue
When a key figure in venture capital says that now is a fantastic time for fast-growth companies, it’s worth listening.
Marc Barber speaks to Wellington Partners’ Eric Archambeau
Jun 08 issue
Five years ago, creative guru Graeme Dignan set out to change the way he did business with his corporate clients. Now, through a joint venture with Coca-Cola, his company Erasmus is establishing a business model all of its own.
May 08 issue
With interests ranging from free diving to filmmaking, eccentric billionaire Alki David is now looking to tap the online video-on-demand market. He talks to
Nick Britton about his latest project, FilmOn, making a film with Kelly Brook, and why he wants to become a priest.
Apr 08 issue
With a total of £100 million of VC investment, Christina Domecq is out to make her third company, Spinvox, a global technology business.
Marc Barber meets the ambitious 31-year-old.
Mar 08 issue
Insurance conjures up images of risk-averse males in grey suits and bowler hats. It’s made Towergate’s executive chairman, Peter Cullum, a billionaire. He tells
Marc Barber what keeps driving him to be the best
Feb 08 issue
Skype, Last.fm, Lovefilm... Saul Klein has been involved in the remarkable success of each of these companies. Since joining VC firm Index Ventures last year, he’s on the lookout for more web start-ups with the potential for greatness.
Marc Barber reports
Dec 07/Jan 08 issue
There must be easier ways to make a living than creating a global software company in the UK. The chief executive of Tideway Systems, Richard Muirhead, wouldn’t have it any other way, as
Marc Barber reports
Nov 07 issue
Anyone can spot an opportunity, but it takes someone special to seize it.
Nick Britton speaks to Ernst & Young’s 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year, Jonathan Straight, about how he built a £28 million turnover company from a business that no-one wanted
Oct 07 issue
A Silicon Valley veteran, George Coelho could fill Fort Knox with the value he’s created from turning nascent tech ventures into the blue-chip giants of tomorrow. No wonder he topped Business XL's Power Top 50 earlier this year.
Marc Barber reports
Sep 07 issue
Luke Johnson has made a fortune from pizzerias, bars, gaming, parcel delivery and dental surgeries, and he's also chairman of Channel 4.
Marc Barber speaks to the UK 's most restless entrepreneur
Jul/Aug 07 issue
Wol Kolade, managing partner of ISIS Equity Partners and chairman of the British Venture Capital Association, talks to
Marc Barber about effective styles of leadership and why private equity is a force for good in the UK
Jun 07 issue
Inspired by musicians, writers and football managers, James Brown is an outsider who loves popular culture. After a period away from the limelight, he’s finally itching to start another project.
Marc Barber reports
May 07 issue
Japan and the US may be the hotbeds of creation when it comes to new technology, but Simon Daniel proves the demise of innovation in the UK has been greatly exaggerated.
Marc Barber reports.
Apr 07 issue
Confidence and self-belief can help you achieve great things: they’ve enabled Deirdre Bounds to go from backpacker to comic to an entrepreneur who has exited her business and become a millionaire many times over.
Marc Barber reports.
Dec 06/Jan 07 issue
After taking Pizza Express into the FTSE 250, David Page is once again building national restaurant chains such as Gourmet Burger Kitchen and The Bombay Bicycle Club. The new business is called Clapham House and it’s one of Britain’s fastest-growing companies
...
Nov 06 issue
‘Every now and then I climb mountains’ is the kind of self-effacing comment you can expect from renaissance man Peter Earl, Harvard Kennedy scholar, UN adviser, pal of Bolivia’s Evo Morales, author of a textbook on cross-border takeovers, and now bringing power to emerging regions
...
Oct 06 issue
Recruitment guru Brian Hamill placed many blue-chip bosses in jobs when he was still in his early twenties, but he’s best known for building up and selling the successful Walker Hamill agency in the 1990s. Today, he’s blazing trails anew as boss of Imprint, the first ever start-up recruiter launched on AIM and, latterly, its fastest-growing company. James Crux gets the lowdown from the loquacious Irishman...
Sep 06 issue
From humble beginnings above a pub, Jongleurs has become one of the UK’s best-loved comedy club chains, bringing mirth to the masses and proving laughter can be a serious money-spinner. Adam Jolly meets founder Maria Kempinska, who now has her sights set on global domination...
Jul/Aug 06 issue
Alistair Baker, the innovator who has led Microsoft UK for the past two years, talks to Leslie Copeland about leadership, change management and how the corporation is more than geared up for the next great turn in the technology cycle...
Jun 06 issue
It’s a brave man who becomes CEO of internet colossus Friends Reunited at a time when its phenomenal growth appears to be stalling. But from day one, Michael Murphy set about strengthening the brand, turning a potential one-trick wonder into an attractive acquisition for media giant ITV, as he explains to Sally Giles...
Jun 06 issue
Self-driven, ambitious and always ready for a new challenge, Chris Mottershead is a travel industry pioneer and crystal ball gazer. James Crux meets the man who has taken both Airtours and Thomson to the summit of the UK travel sector and is looking to weave similar magic with his new project, Travelzest...