Cambridge computer gurus top the entrepreneur list
Forget City slickers and property tycoons; niche markets, small companies and computer gurus dominated this year's top 100 entrepreneur list, with the majority of enterprises based outside of London.
Britain's Top 100 Entrepreneur list, compiled by Philip Beresford, author of The Sunday Times Rich List, showed the harsh economic climate has taken its toll on larger City-based enterprises, while niche markets and companies specialising in computer software, anti-virus programs and gaming are coming to the fore.
The list, published annually in monthly magazine Management Today, revealed an absence of property entrepreneurs and established City types. The most successful entrepreneurs were also some of the youngest, and the top three are Cambridge University graduates.
Philip Beresford said this year's list, the sixth of its kind, was the most challenging he had ever compiled.
He said: "I've never known a climate like this. The sheer difficulty of finding 100 entrepreneurs that were doing reasonably well and the fear when doing it that someone would go bust, announce huge losses or a huge restructuring, was overwhelming."
He said this year's list was dominated by strong niche brands and computer software, with no larger companies and no City types or property entrepreneurs.
Mike Lynch, head of Cambridge-based software company Autonomy, was crowned top entrepreneur for 2009. Profits at Autonomy soared 80% in Q2 2008, defying the economic downturn which swung many businesses into the red. Irish-born Lynch graduated with a maths degree from Cambridge in 1991 and borrowed £2,000 (€2,091) to launch the firm - Lynch's personal stake is now worth £175m.
Billionaire Joe Lewis, known for being the largest shareholder in defunct US investment bank Bear Stearns, was one of the early investors in the company.
Second on the list are Cambridge graduates Richard Reed, Adam Balon and John Wright, the founders of drinks maker Innocent. The trio, aged between 35 and 36, are some of the youngest to make the list.
The west-London based firm doubled in size over the last three years and now has annual sales of £115m. The trio are estimated to be worth £55m each.
Brothers Andrew and Paul Gower take joint bronze with gaming software company Jagex, of which the trophy games, World of Warcraft and RuneScape, dominate the market with 11 million subscribers. Andrew Gower founded RuneScape as a pet programme while still an undergraduate at Cambridge; he introduced the game online in 2001, and sales in 2006 to 2007 soared to £28.1m.
The notoriously publicity-shy brothers, aged 30 and 32, hold a 52% stake worth £104m.
Other tech-savvy stars include Natalie Massenet, founder of online fashion retailer Net-a-Porter.com. At seventh place she is also the top female entrepreneur, one of three in the top 100. In 2007-2008 the firm made a £3m profit on sales of £55m.
Click below to read the full list of entrepreneurs.
Write to twilkinson@efinancialnews.com
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