Britain's Most Admired No 1: Unilever, Paul Polman

Despite numerous top 10 placings over the years, this is the first time Unilever has taken the overall Britain's Most Admired crown. Having spent his early career at arch-rival P&G, he is now eager to catch the US giant - his goal is to double the size of Unilever, and he is looking to the high-growth, high-margin haircare and bodywash markets to do so. He bought Sara Lee's personal care division for $1.9bn last year and shampoo specialist Alberto Culver for $3.7bn in September. The root-and-branch restructure instigated by predecessor Patrick Cescau has at last given Unilever the organisational agility it was long in need of, so he's in a strong position to achieve his goal.