Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneurs 2015: The List
Rank Name Age Company Activity Region Wealth (£m) Latest turnover (£m) 5-year % In turnover No. of staff 5-year % rise in staff Score
1 Simon and Bobby Arora* 45/43 B&M Discount retail North West 1,900 1,648 206 19,462 203 30
2= Nitin Passi 32 Missguided Online fashion North West 133 87 866 210 2,233 33
2= Denise and John Coates* 48/45 Bet365 Online gaming West Mids 2,350 1,371 226 3,138 139 33
4 Peter Kelly 58 Softcat Software South East 260 505 246 602 181 43
5 Philip Day 50 Edinburgh Woollen Mill Retail North West 750 552 186 10,290 148 45
6 Jason Bannister 44 Oak Furniture Land Furniture retail South West 90 191 635 880 679 50
7 Gareth Williams 46 Skyscanner Online
travel 		Scot 80 93 933 492 693 54
8 Chris Dawson 63 The Range Discount retail South West 1,650 814 174 9,000 116 58
9 Jonathan Ruffer 64 Ruffer Investment Management Wealth management South East 400 160 171 145 134 59
10 Tony Pidgley 68 Berkeley Group Housebuilding South East 270 2,120 185 2,178 133 61
11 Maurice Critchley 67 Severn Glocon Industry South West 112 115 211 944 136 66
12 Alex Chesterman 45 Zoopla Online property South East 70 80 900 217 268 70
13 Tom Morris 61 Home Bargains Discount retail North West 2,250 1,277 116 11,098 130 73
14 Steve Timoney 50 Smart Metering Systems Utility services Scot 60 42 250 247 606 77
15 Thomas Taziker* 69 TI Industrial Group Business services North West 60 54 286 525 436 78
16 Steve Parkin 54 Clipper Logistics Logistics Yorks 188 235 183 2,964 98 80
17 Ted Fort 78 Fort Vale Engineering North West 150 77 250 497 81 84
18 Lawrence Jones 47 UKFast Internet North West 247 29 142 200 100 88
19= Graeme and Yvonne Brooks 61/60 Avtrade Aircraft parts South East 90 75 134 167 209 90
20 Brian Conlon 49 First Derivatives Financial software N. Ireland 113 83 124 999 120 96
21= Phil Dudderidge 66 Focusrite Recording equipment South East 85 41 193 111 105 98
21= James Neville* 48 Volac Nutritional products South East 102 197 190 382 91 98
23 Stephen and Paul Harrison 46/48 Harron Homes Housebuilding Yorks 101 75 188 105 91 100
24 Alex Pusco 50 ActivTrades Financial brokerage South East 60 21 162 1 42 306 101
25 Nick Grey* 47 Grey Technology (Gtech) Electrical appliances
West Mids 50 48 586 65 141 102
26= Neil Smith 47 Comex 2000 Telecoms East Mids 60 21 162 423 250 103
26= Dr Jonathan Milner 50 Abcam Biotech East Anglia 165 144 73 820 176 103
28= Andrew Vincent 59 BJSS Software Yorks 80 50 138 321 133 109
28= Julian Dunkerton 50 SuperGroup Fashion South West 365 487 105 2,352 84 109
30= Ian and Nicola Warhurst 46/47 Melett Industry Yorks 74 23 109 110 307 110
30= Chrissie Rucker and Nick Wheeler 46/50 The White Company/Charles Tyrwhitt Retail/Fashion South East 330 289 105 1,813 84 110
32 Robin and June MacGeachy 51/56 Peak Scientific Industry Scot 60 34 161 271 176 111
33 = Geoffrey Mortimer 62 Construction Marine Civil engineering Yorkshire 60 32 191 133 108 116
33= Tony Langley 60 Langley Group Engineering East Mids 1,097 605 77 4,093 84 116
35 Seamus and Daniella Shields 47/47 Advance Construction Construction Scot 35 86 218 682 220 117
36 Ray Kelvin 59 Ted Baker Fashion South East 530 388 106 2,804 65 120
37 Tim Martin 60 JD Wetherspoon Pubs South East 262 1,405 41 32,635 173 124
38= Patrick Flannery* 65 P Flannery Plant Hire Plant hire South East 48 36 125 101 461 125
38= Phil Cronin 51 Tombola Online gaming North East 125 44 100 243 91 125
40 Derek Hood 55 JD Classics Classic car restoration South East 100 72 200 43 54 127
41 Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh 47/43 The Wiskey Exchange Drinks South East 70 38 123 71 109 131
42 Angus MacSween 59 Iomart Cloud computing, web hosting Scot 50 66 164 334 109 135
43 Andrew Nisbet* 55 Nisbets Catering equipment South West 440 227 53 1,049 88 136
44= Jeff and Jonathon Batson 51/51 Ralawise Leisurewear Wales 70 90 105 399 112 139
44= Ernie and Dr Karen Graham* 54/53 Graham Care Care homes South East 80 23 109 581 92 139
44= Sir James Dyson 68 Dyson Electrical appliances South West 3,800 1,380 56 4,545 66 139
44= Philip Meeson 68 Dart Group Aviation Yorks 280 1,253 131 4,894 37 139
48 Dame Margaret Barbour* 75 J Barbour & Sons Fashion North East 165 167 86 989 66 140
49 Rajbir Singh Manak 49 Akaal Group Construction South East 90 89 117 203 73 142
50= Tim and Tom O’Connor 55/54 O’Connor Utilities Utility maintenance North West 45 65 183 95 98 143
50= Dale Vince 54 Ecotricity Green energy South West 105 70 89 295 81 143
52 Sir David McMurtry 75 Renishaw Precision instruments South West 620 485 68 3,811 60 145
53 Jeffrey Pears 59 JG Pears Animal waste processing Yorks 85 56 60 200 120 150
54 Kuljinder Bahia 42 Southall Travel Leisure South East 330 402 65 44 63 151
55= Richard and Sara Mancey 54/54 Paultons Park Leisure South East 50 22 175 447 80 153
55= Charles Wigoder 55 Telecom Plus Telecom/energy services South East 155 729 74 793 65 153
57 Peter McNeil* 61 Westbridge Food Group Food production West Mids 55 366 120 156 95 154
58 Martin and Adrian Lake* 52 Pro-Direct Online retail South West 68 55 120 216 77 158
59 James Hook* 59 PD Hook Poultry and eggs South East 140 148 63 709 69 161
60 David Newman 54 Ridgeway Garages Car sales Yorks 110 648 110 1,138 46 162
61= Andy Bell 49 AJ Bell Financial services North West 145 53 51 548 73 164
61= Tim Steiner 45 Ocado Online food retail South East 98 949 84 7,005 65 164
63= Hugh and Anne McWilliams 58/58 H&A Mechanical Services Property maintenance N.Ireland 40 29 71 334 185 169
63= Martin Thatcher* 47 Thatchers Cider Drinks South West 75 60 161 123 45 169
65

Jake Shafran

63 Jato Dynamics Automotive intelligence South East 100 57 39 587 93 170
66 Afzal and Akmal Khushi 60/59 Trespass Fashion Scot 80 86 62 1,378 85 172
67 Barry and Frances Dodd 68/69 GSM Group Industry Yorks 65 36 140 368 51 173
68 Paul and Thomas Barber* 72/72 AJ & RG Barber Dairy South West 83 87 85 237 58 178
69 Sandy Chadha 47 Supreme Imports Distribution North West 30 45 96 77 114 180
70 Andrew Redmayne* 57 NRL Recruitment North West 45 173 140 128 60 183
71 Peter Cooper 62 Seetec Computer training South East 52 70 84 974 80 187
72 Joe Hemani 65 Westcoast Computers South East 110 1,467 54 1,126 52 188
73 David Wernick* 58 Wernick Group Construction South East 110 93 66 599 36 193
74 Bryan Glastonbury* 62 Integral Maintenance services South
West 		90 310 74 3,398 28 197
75 Jeremy Pilkington* 64 Vp Plant hire Yorks 160 206 46 1,726 23 201
76 Nigel Spokes* 54 Scot Group Southern (Thrifty Car Rental) Car hire South West 270 102 38 1,100 12 203
77 John Hays 66 Hays Travel Travel North East 35 253 124 922 54 204
78 John Mills* 77 Midland Software Software West Mids 35 39 56 506 103 206
79 John and Darren Donnelly 67/45 Retlan Manufacturing Industry N. Ireland 55 131 90 665 48 209
80= Iain Burgess* 43 BVG Airflo Distribution Wales 50 68 70 302 59 215
80= George Materna 62 Matchtech Recruitment South East 52 452 71 426 54 215
82 James Murray 45 Alternative Networks Telecoms South East 74 138 44 616 49 220
83 Cathie Paver* 87 Pavers Shoes Yorks 75 71 42 1,070 48 223
84 Brian and Carole Brown 69/69 Chester Hall Precision Engineering Industry South East 45 20 82 85 49 224
85= Philip Setter 52 Whitehouse Leisure Soft toys South East 40 43 72 42 56 226
85= Suzanne Marshall-Forsyth 51 Phoenix Software Software Yorks 85 92 44 136 22 226
87= David Beddow 67 Border Holdings Car parts West
Mids 		65 65 48 257 47 229
87= Geoffrey Turnbull* 69 GT Group Industry North East 50 37 95 257 11 229
89 Christopher Duncan 76 Numatic Vacuum cleaners South West 103 129 23 907 8 234
90 Stan Archer and Ed Sheader** 79/68 Deep Sea Electronics Industry Yorks 68 34 26 150 50 237
91 Dame Vivienne Westwood
74 Vivienne Westwood Fashion South East
50 32 33 252 57 240
92 Kevin and Dermot Clancy 65/63 The Clancy Group Construction South East 60 281 37 2,233 39 244
93 Bipin and Piyoosh Chotai 68/65 Waremoss Pharmacy South East 35 61 27 611 72 247
94= Jatti and Avneet Sahni 49/44 VIP Computers Computers North West 30 227 27 264 71 250
94= Adrian Dickens* 53 Adder Technology Computers East Anglia 40 19 58 110 43 250
96 Jim Byrne 67 VA Technology Robotics West Mids 40 13 44 75 25 264
97= Graham Baker 63 FW Baker Pet food West Mids 36 87 21 302 34 282
97= Sarah Tremellen* 49 Bravissimo Lingerie West Mids 45 54 23 685 5 282
99 George Jackson* 69 Jackson Lift Services Maintenance South East 27 45 29 393 25 284
100 Richard Tang 49 Zen Internet Web services North West 25 51 27 437 18 290

Methodology

The Management Today Top 100 Entrepreneurs are ranked by three criteria:

1 They are ranked by their own or their immediate family asset wealth, which we identify from their holdings in private or public companies, share sales, dividends, salaries plus any other assets that they have revealed to us.

2 They are ranked on the percentage growth in turnover over the last five years (or less if figures do not go back five years). We rank them on the percentage growth rather than the actual growth as this allows a level playing field for large and small companies. We do not measure profits growth as private and public companies have very different approaches to declaring profits. Public companies try to maximise their profits to please shareholders, while private companies often keep their profits low to minimise tax liabilities. That said, we do keep a careful eye on profits and avoid companies that may be building turnover at the expense of profits.

3 As with 2 , we rank them on the percentage growth in the jobs they have created in the past five years. This is designed to highlight our Top 100 entrepreneurs’ hugely important role as the leading job creators in the private sector.

Finally we add up the figures for their rankings in the wealth, turnover and employment columns. The lowest score (which could theoretically be 3 for first in all three) is the winner and so on down to the 100th person on the list. We have selected the 100 using a variety of criteria: trying to get a good geographic spread, finding women entrepreneurs (still sadly few in number), those who are making good profits (without which the business would not survive) and avoiding those where there are any warnings of deteriorating performance. Where a family owns a company, we have given the name of the lead family member – the entrepreneur – who has built up the business.

* Includes family stake

** Joint founders of business

*** Total score is the sum of 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 accounts filed at Companies House by the end of September 2015 .