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MT's second annual ranking of the Top 100 entrepreneurs shows that in the past five years they have collectively conjured up nearly 63,000 of them, an 85% increase. Virtually all these increases are due to organic growth rather than fancy financial engineering and takeovers.

Employment growth is one of three ways of ranking the Top 100 (see 'How we chose them', p35). Another key indicator is turnover growth. Here, the Top 100 have raised their game sharply in the past five years with sales up from £7.6 billion to more than £16.4 billion. Turnover growth - at 114% - is higher than the employment growth, perhaps a key to success.

By keeping the latter below sales growth, the entrepreneurs are, in effect, improving productivity and their competitive position.

The third measure of success comes from a valuation of our entrepreneurs' stake in the business and other assets, based on stock market valuations if quoted or in line with those values for entrepreneurs running private companies. Such valuations come with many caveats, but collectively the Top 100 are, by our reckoning, worth about £8.45 billion.

These entrepreneurs reflect the geographic, ethnic and gender mix of Britain, and are as financially robust as it is possible to be today. We avoided those with hefty borrowings, and although sales growth is one of our measurements, we also keep an eye on profits. Of particular interest are those who reinvest their profits in the company.

On these criteria, who makes up our Top 100? At the head is low-key Michael Newton, who has taken the fledgling CCTV industry by storm with the software produced by his Warrington-based Anglo Design. It's a sign of our troubled times that this industry is booming as never before, but at least we can take satisfaction from the fact that a British entrepreneur is at the vanguard of the technology.

Women, too, are making their mark in the enterprise culture, even in such traditionally male preserves as technology. In all, we have 22 women in our Top 100 this year - either working alone or with husbands/partners to drive a business forward. This may be a record, but it is still far too few and the figures are inching ahead too slowly. Furthermore, no women make it into the top 10, although the highest female, Penny Streeter, a health and nursing home recruiter, is at number 13.

Entrepreneurs are also drawn from the Asian community. Here we salute the likes of the Patel brothers who aim to turn their Waymade Healthcare operation into another GlaxoSmithKline, or the Khushi brothers, who run ski and sportswear company Jacobs & Turner.

Indeed, the diversity of this year's Top 100 is its strength. Entrepreneurs are succeeding in retail, engineering, leisure and technology. Despite the dot.com demise, we have not written off the internet sector, and the founder of the profitable Moneysupermarket.com, Simon Nixon, is second on the list after Newton. The fact that the top two entrepreneurs are from the north-west is also good news for regional diversity. True, the south-east still dominates, supplying 41 of our 100, but there are 15 from the north-west and 12 from the Midlands.

But what unites all our Top 100 - veterans and young 'uns alike - is their demonstrable record of success. They will need to draw on that experience for the testing times ahead.

BRITAIN'S TOP 100 ENTREPRENEURS

Rnk Name Age Company Activity

1 Michael Newton 44 Anglo Design CCTV

2 Simon Nixon 37 Moneysupermarket.com Finance

3 Peter Jones 38 Phones Int'l Mobile phones

4 Patrick McKenna* 48 Ingenious Media Media

5 Andrew Turner 46 Central Trust Finance

6 John Caudwell 52 Caudwell Holdings Mobile phones

7 Simon Fuller 44 19 Entertainment Music

8 Hamish Ogston 56 CPP Group Business servs

9 Duncan Bannatyne 55 Bannatyne Fitness Leisure

=10 Dr Jan Hruska 47 Sophos Software

=10 Dr Peter Lammer 46 Sophos Software

12 Gordon Shields 56 Shields Environmental Recycling

13 Penny Streeter 37 Ambition 24 Hours Recruitment

14 Charles Dunstone 40 Carphone Warehouse Mobile phones

15 Chris Dawson 53 CDS (Superstores) Retailing

16 Judy Craymer 47 Littlestar Services Theatre

=17 William Haughey 48 City Refrigeration Air conditioning

=17 John Smith 51 Vital Resources Recruitment

19 Richard Teatum 47 Stoneacre Car sales

20 Emma Harrison 41 Action for Business servs

Employment

21 Richard Abel* 44 Bristol & London Insurance

Accident

22 John Morphet 50 South Lakeland Leisure

Caravans

23 Gary Dutton 55 Synseal Holdings Industry

24 Fred & Peter Done 61/57 Done Brothers Gaming

(Cash Betting)

25 Phillip Sheppard 47 European Metal Waste recovery

Recycling

26 Sarah Tremellen 38 Bravissimo Retailing

27 Andrew Tinkler 41 WA Developments Construction

28 Fred Story 48 Story Construction Construction

29 Chey Garland 47 CJ Garland Call centres

30 Allen Timpany 48 Vanco Telecoms

31 Christian Rucker* 36 The White Co (UK) Retailing

32 Charles Wigoder 44 Telecom Plus Telecoms

=33 Karan Bilimoria 43 Cobra Beer Beer

=33 John Coulter & 53/50 Warren James Retailing

Anne Jones

35 Madan Showan 51 Empire EC Retailing

36 David Beach 40 Beach Capital Financial servs

37 Sir Richard 54 Virgin Phones,travel

Branson etc

=38 David Atherton 46 Dabs.com Computers

=38 Stephen & 35/33 Harron Homes Building

Paul Harrison

=40 Johnny Boden 43 JP Boden Retailing

=40 James Hopkins 44 Hopkins Homes Construction

=42 Linda Bennett 42 LK Bennett Retailing

=42 Shiraz Dharamshi 55 LPC Industry

Tejani

44 Fred Duncan 62 Grampian Country Food production

Foods

=45 Nick Robinson 45 Phoenix IT Software

=45 John Marshall 48 DP Furniture Express Retailing

=47 John Woodward 62 Blue Anchor Leisure Leisure

=47 Harold Martin 69 HW Martin Holdings Industry

49 John & Jeffrey 55/50 Millwood Designer Construction

Elliott Homes

50 David & Luisa 53/53 Mama's and Papa's Retailing

Scacchetti

51 Rajan & Sanjay 43/35 Rajan Group Retailing

Kumar

=52 Michael & 48/51 Hollybrook Homes Building

Pauline Cox

=52 Vijay & Bhikhu 55/57 Waymade Healthcare Pharmaceuticals

Patel

54 Nick Robertson 37 Asos Retailing

55 Sir Arnold Clark 77 Arnold Clark Car sales

56 Carole Nash 63 Carole Nash Insurnc Insurance

57 Richard Matthews 56 Oyster Yacht building

58 Brian Kingham 60 Reliance Security Security

59 Neil McRoberts 61 Moorcroft Debt collection

60 Bharat Shah 55 Sigma Pharmaceuticals

61 Sir Paul Smith 58 Paul Smith Fashion

62 Tim & Robyn Jones 45/43 Charlton House Catering

Catering

=63 John Bloor 61 Bloor Holdings Building/

motorbikes

=63 Michael Clare 49 Dreams Retailing

=63 Laurence Graff 66 Graff Diamonds Jewellery

=63 Sam Rayner 51 Lakeland Retailing

67 Edward Atkin 60 Cannon Avent Baby feeding

68 Afzal & Akmal 49/48 Jacobs & Turner Fashion

Khushi

69 John Guest 77 John Guest Int'l Industry

70 Jane Cavanagh 47 SCi Computers

71 Charles & John 46/41 Sherborne Holdings Builders'

Sherborne merchant

72 Gary Widdowson 46 GAD Holdings Industry

73 Colin Graves 56 Costcutter Retailing

74 John Randall 75 Kanes Foods Food

75 Surinder Arora* 46 Arora Holdings Hotels

76 Geoff Dyson 55 Chartdale Building

77 Douglas & Iain 49/46 Gap Holdings Plant hire

Anderson

78 Stewart Milne 54 Stewart Milne Grp Construction

79 Dorothy Purdew 72 Champneys Henlow Health clubs

=80 Judy Naake 57 St Tropez Cosmetics

=80 Anthony Murtagh* 44 The Mortgage Grp Finance

82 Dawn Gibbins 46 Flowcrete Construction

=82 Eric & Gordon Herd 47/45 Farmfoods Food retailing

=84 Peter O'Hara* 48 OLM Software

85 Annoushka Ducas* 43 Links (London) Retail

86 Lorna Moran 54 Northern Recruitment

Recruitment Grp

87 Bill Gammell 52 Cairn Energy Oil

=88 John Robinson 57 Jigsaw Fashion

=88 Sir Peter Vardy 57 Reg Vardy Car sales

90 Patsy Seddon 56 Phase Eight Retailing

(Fashion & Design)

91 Graham Anwyl 61 Anwyl Construction Building

92 Michael Herbert* 47 Herbel Restaurants Restaurants

93 Iain Liddell 41 Uniserve Freight

94 Richard Burbidge 62 Richard Burbidge Timber

95 Angela Yeoman 73 Foster Yeoman Aggregates

96 Ron Zeghibe 48 Maiden Group Advertising

97 Julie Davey 48 Angel Group Hotels, training

98 Frank Van Wezel 63 Hi-Tec Sports shoes

99 Janet Crawford 70 Angel Human Resources Recruitment

100 Alan Revie* 45 Axle Holdings Tyres

Rnk Name Wealth Latest 5-yr % No of 5-yr % Score

(pounds t'over rise in employ- rise in **

m) (pounds t'over ees employ-

m) ment

1 Michael Newton 430 73 7,200 388 762 11

2 Simon Nixon 192 38 3,700 300 1478 22

3 Peter Jones 180 189 1,250 148 4,833 29

4 Patrick McKenna* 150 34 1,600 46 557 35

5 Andrew Turner 200 50 733 354 316 40

6 John Caudwell 1,280 2,276 282 7,401 366 48

7 Simon Fuller 220 53 1,666 79 163 48

8 Hamish Ogston 400 132 291 1,438 358 53

9 Duncan Bannatyne 115 28 366 829 273 59

=10 Dr Jan Hruska 90 65 333 700 418 60

=10 Dr Peter Lammer 90 65 333 700 418 60

12 Gordon Shields 30 31 6,100 156 5,033 77

13 Penny Streeter 50 59 1,375 133 280 81

14 Charles Dunstone 500 1,849 165 10,183 171 83

15 Chris Dawson 100 66 214 927 265 85

16 Judy Craymer 55 8 700 15 200 87

=17 William Haughey 35 177 436 8,016 755 90

=17 John Smith 70 82 332 167 183 90

19 Richard Teatum 50 99 330 439 393 91

20 Emma Harrison 55 60 328 1,500 268 94

21 Richard Abel* 21 9 800 78 1,200 101

22 John Morphet 70 25 316 210 153 103

23 Gary Dutton 87 66 200 600 183 104

24 Fred & Peter Done 200 559 229 1,238 88 106

25 Phillip Sheppard 200 599 180 1,282 102 107

26 Sarah Tremellen 13 15 1,400 129 760 109

27 Andrew Tinkler 20 21 600 188 683 110

28 Fred Story 50 47 261 383 227 111

29 Chey Garland 20 16 1,500 1,102 298 112

30 Allen Timpany 94 77 267 344 92 115

31 Christian Rucker* 17 21 425 170 580 119

32 Charles Wigoder 50 82 331 163 114 121

=33 Karan Bilimoria 35 16 300 48 182 123

=33 John Coulter & 100 81 138 675 107 123

Anne Jones

35 Madan Showan 35 83 295 297 160 130

36 David Beach 50 18 200 23 155 131

37 Sir Richard 2,200 4,660 133 36,000 44 134

Branson

=38 David Atherton 90 184 114 400 113 135

=38 Stephen & Paul 34 29 460 111 102 135

Harrison

=40 Johnny Boden 32 60 216 359 187 136

=40 James Hopkins 27 49 227 107 257 136

=42 Linda Bennett 82 27 93 331 178 138

=42 Shiraz Dharamshi 100 113 95 747 113 138

Tejani

44 Fred Duncan 105 1,470 126 19,032 85 139

=45 Nick Robinson 70 53 104 648 109 151

=45 John Marshall 30 28 300 227 105 151

=47 John Woodward 98 32 100 314 85 152

=47 Harold Martin 55 43 169 246 89 152

49 John & Jeffrey 24 33 312 58 123 153

Elliott

50 David & Luisa 57 74 64 498 204 155

Scacchetti

51 Rajan & Sanjay 80 88 72 197 140 157

Kumar

=52 Michael & 33 36 227 14 100 158

Pauline Cox

=52 Vijay & Bhikhu 425 285 58 612 75 158

Patel

54 Nick Robertson 6 9 2,900 44 91 159

55 Sir Arnold Clark 315 1,450 85 6,410 53 160

56 Carole Nash 21 19 217 351 147 161

57 Richard Matthews 32 38 138 286 127 164

58 Brian Kingham 102 292 91 11,763 56 166

59 Neil McRoberts 70 26 136 216 55 167

60 Bharat Shah 75 177 99 168 85 168

61 Sir Paul Smith 180 77 88 543 44 169

62 Tim & Robyn Jones 15 32 191 893 145 176

=63 John Bloor 330 403 45 1,689 50 179

=63 Michael Clare 30 57 159 465 89 179

=63 Laurence Graff 450 70 67 71 22 179

=63 Sam Rayner 90 104 73 985 59 179

67 Edward Atkin 203 107 75 1,012 26 180

68 Afzal & Akmal 65 37 37 182 130 182

Khushi

69 John Guest 53 78 86 1,166 89 183

70 Jane Cavanagh 10 28 600 59 55 184

71 Charles & John 32 42 180 196 60 187

Sherborne

72 Gary Widdowson 50 50 150 152 43 188

73 Colin Graves 65 418 50 686 97 189

74 John Randall 40 54 108 782 66 191

75 Surinder Arora* 90 22 100 259 4 194

76 Geoff Dyson 40 27 125 84 47 198

77 Douglas & Iain 53 49 96 588 44 200

Anderson

78 Stewart Milne 200 189 43 866 18 201

79 Dorothy Purdew 25 29 107 1,227 85 203

=80 Judy Naake 45 16 129 87 28 206

=80 Anthony Murtagh* 60 31 72 444 44 206

82 Dawn Gibbins 8 30 200 184 70 207

=82 Eric & Gordon Herd 89 343 63 2,510 37 207

=84 Peter O'Hara* 25 11 57 125 131 208

85 Annoushka Ducas* 24 20 122 172 65 210

86 Lorna Moran 16 22 57 143 180 211

87 Bill Gammell 30 156 103 495 55 212

=88 John Robinson 90 60 15 825 38 215

=88 Sir Peter Vardy 120 1,610 26 5,115 13 215

90 Patsy Seddon 9 24 118 349 78 220

91 Graham Anwyl 47 32 88 172 24 225

92 Michael Herbert* 77 28 47 648 17 226

93 Iain Liddell 25 63 91 111 44 230

94 Richard Burbidge 42 58 61 636 34 236

95 Angela Yeoman 40 211 55 782 43 238

96 Ron Zeghibe 20 88 31 312 66 252

97 Julie Davey 26 22 47 229 30 260

98 Frank Van Wezel 20 94 77 347 9 263

99 Janet Crawford 7 18 64 63 17 277

100 Alan Revie* 24 103 20 1,269 6 281

*Figures may be less than for five years

**Total score is the sum of the rankings for wealth, five-year

percentage rise in turnover and five-year percentage rise in employment.

The lower the better. All figures for turnover and employee numbers are

drawn from most recent accounts filed at Companies House or supplied by

the company.

HOW WE CHOSE THEM

Entrepreneurs are ranked by their personal asset wealth, which is identified from their holdings in private or public companies, plus any other assets that are revealed. Rankings are calculated on the percentage growth in turnover over the past five years (or less, if figures do not go back five years). Ranking on percentage growth rather than the actual growth allows a level playing field for large and small companies. Profits growth is not measured, as private and public companies have different approaches to declaring profits. Public companies try to maximise their profits to please shareholders, whereas private firms often keep their profits low to minimise tax liabilities. Even so, a careful eye is kept on profits, and companies that may be building turnover at the expense of profits are avoided. Entrepreneurs are ranked on the percentage growth in jobs they have created over the past five years. Scores for rankings in all three columns are added together, and the entrepreneur with the lowest score is the winner. Where a company is family-owned, the lead family member who has built up the business is cited.