Trailblazer: Angus Thirlwell

Willy Wonka had his factory, but Hotel Chocolat’s Angus Thirlwell is out to go one better by building an entire empire of chocolate. Marc Barber meets him   

Trailblazer: Patrick Reeve

Away from the City, Patrick Reeve can be found at archaeological excavations around Kent, trowel in hand, scraping at the mud to try and find a Roman relic or two.

Trailblazer: Gordon Banham

In less than a decade, Gordon Banham has transformed Hargreaves Services from a Durham haulage company to a diversified support services and energy group delivering consistent turnover and profit growth throughout the recession. Nick Britton reports 

Trailblazer: Steve Nicholson

Wi-fi broadband provider The Cloud has been through a radical overhaul in the past couple of years. Marc Barber meets the man behind the changes

Keith Tozzi: accidental entrepreneur 

Keith Tozzi may have stumbled across the idea for drugs and alcohol testing provider Concateno, but there’s nothing fortuitous about the chairman’s approach to growing a business for a big sale. Marc Barber reports 

Kate Bleasdale: healthy margins

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 

Ice cream man: Frank Frederick

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

Jonathan Kestenbaum

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

Lines of Latitude: Alex Hoye

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

Playing the game: Rod Richards

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

Exit Strategist: Simon Cook

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

Media mogul: Kishore Lulla

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

Fresh thinking: Graeme Dignan

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.

Playing it Straight

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

George Coelho: The golden touch

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

Wol Kolade: Defender of the realm

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

The last laugh

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.

My name is Earl

‘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...

Tour operator de force

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...