All Profile
Who takes credit for Google?
A debate recently raged in the blogosphere on what venture capital has really done for innovation, writes DFJ Esprit CEO Simon Cook.
Simon Dolan, the Twitter investor
Simon Dolan has £5 million to invest, and he’s asking for pitches through Twitter.
Shilpa Shetty talks business
With business interests ranging from curry to cricket, Shilpa Shetty is ready to launch a range of spices and chutneys in UK supermarkets. GB finds out more in an exclusive interview.
Lessons I've learned
Chris Murphy set up his marketing company, Fox Murphy, in 1997 and relaunched the business as Balloon Dog last year. But reinflating the business to give it a much-needed lift wasn’t easy.
Silver lining: Steve Nicholson
Wi-fi broadband provider The Cloud has been through a radical overhaul in the past couple of years. GB meets the man behind the changes, CEO Steve Nicholson.
My best business decision: Sue Stedman
The founder of Sue Stedman Corporate Clothing explains how investing in top sales talent has helped her business prosper.
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.
Speed junkie: Vee Ganjavian
Vee Ganjavian has floated four companies and raced in the World Championship Powerboat P1 series. GB meets a man with launching in his blood.
Barry Norman in a pickle
Behind Barry Norman’s languid exterior lies a firebrand who once squared up to John Wayne. The film critic is now heating up the taste buds of consumers with Pickleodeon, his range of spicy onions.
Caprice talks lingerie (and business)
Having made the transition from lads' mags to business, former Wonderbra model Caprice Bourret now fully finances, designs, models and markets her own lingerie brand, By Caprice.
Matt Lovett has the Wow factor
Seventeen-year-old Matt Lovett started his business, WowVoucherCodes.com, from his bedroom while revising for his GSCEs. He was recently presented with an award by Alistair Darling.
Switch on your ambition
Advances on the web mean it’s easier than ever to set up your own business, claims serial entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den investor Peter Jones.
Beeny’s hot property
GrowthBusiness interviews Sarah Beeny about the property crash, her new venture Tepilo that allows people to sell homes online without estate agents, and why she's so proud of her dating website MySingleFriend.
In rude health
Received wisdom has it that recruitment companies get decimated in recessions. But received wisdom is often wrong, as Kate Bleasdale, the founder of AIM-listed Healthcare Locums, is amply demonstrating.
Keeping it simple: Peter Ilic
Peter Ilic, the founder of Little Bay Restaurants, recently grabbed headlines with a daring publicity stunt. But he’s no flash in the pan – he’s been a fixture of London’s restaurant scene for more than 20 years. GB meets him.
Online dragon: Julie Meyer
GrowthBusiness talks exclusively to Dragon's Den investor and Ariadne Capital chief executive Julie Meyer about raising girls’ aspirations and what you really need to make it big.
Pizza success: John Schnatter
Twenty-five years ago in Indiana, Papa John’s founder and CEO John Schnatter sold his car to buy his first pizza oven. The franchise now has sales of more than $1 billion and just opened its 50th store in London.
Mr Cool: Frank Frederick
Over three generations, Frank Frederick’s family has gone from street-corner ice cream selling to running the largest independent manufacturer of ice cream in the UK.
Go with the flow: Charlie Mullins
From the age of nine, plucky plumber Charlie Mullins dreamed of picking up a plunger. The 52-year-old saw his company Pimlico Plumbers recently turn over £13.2 million and his clients include Jonathan Ross and Daniel Craig.
Spin-out doctor
NESTA’s chief executive Jonathan Kestenbaum tells GrowthBusiness why he's delighted by the Budget and explains why the private sector alone is unable to provide adequate support for the UK's most innovative ventures.
More from GrowthBusiness
The Entrepreneur
Space: The final entrepreneurial frontier
Despite it taking until 2013 for the UK to have its first ‘official astronaut’, Britain’s space industry offers many opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Growing A Business
Light touch regulation: Friend or foe?
Sophia Harrison, director of financial and professional services at Grayling, looks at how a new exchange platform out of Sweden could strike the right chord of regulation for SMEs.
Comment & Analysis
Partnering with larger businesses for growth
Building a high-growth business stage three: Choosing to partner with larger firms to collaborate on projects.
Research
The rise of cash shells
New research from GrowthBusiness shows that the number of UK cash shells is climbing. We speak to new entrants to the market and those that have recently closed deals to find out what’s driving shells’ increasing popularity.
