Top 3 UK Businessmen/women

[gingerjedi]

he's succeeded in setting up a cheap nasty environment where chavs like to go for poor quality beer and food, make hay while the sun shines, I suppose

They have a far wider range of beer than a vast majority of pubs, why poor quality? I don't know which individual pubs you're referring to but the ones around Bristol are generally quite good.

[d000hg]

They have a far wider range of beer than a vast majority of pubs, why poor quality? I don't know which individual pubs you're referring to but the ones around Bristol are generally quite good.

I think it's just typical anti-chain mentality. Spoons tend to be clean and well-furnished, unlike a traditional local with beer-soaked carpets and seats that are falling part.

If you like a cosy traditional pub they can seem a bit soulless but they do much better than other chains - open fires, sofas, etc.

[wurzel]

Surpised nobody's mentioned Martha Lane Fox. So i will. Phwoarr!

[cojak]

Inspired by the survey (sticky: national freelancers day), I'm interested in the panel's view on their favourite UK businessmen/women, and why.

I found this one quite hard to answer. One choice was Richard Branson - purely because he's a plucky, winsome chap. The other would be James Dyson, for the grassroots beginnings and engineer's determination, but the third crown is either for the head of the Co-op, or the John Lewis Partnership, for their ethical leadership in UK industry.

Thoughts?

I put down Martha Lane Fox...

[cojak]

Surpised nobody's mentioned Martha Lane Fox. So i will. Phwoarr!

..and I hadn't read wurzel's post either...

[Clippy]

Interesting question.

Not my choices as I would have to give it some more thought but how about:

Suralan Sugar - not a fan of his but have to admire where he has got to through hard graft

Gordon Ramsey - as above

James Caan - bit of a tw@t sometimes but again, made it through hard graft

[TimberWolf]

Donald Trump, chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, is on American Apprentice, BBC1 currently. Not that I am voting for him or that he is even British. Do they have to be born British or does buying chunks of Scotland count? What successful businessman has allegiance with a country these days?

[Board Game Geek]

In 99.999999% of cases 'successful' businessmen are not personality types that an ordinary decent person would want to aspire to.

Spot On Mr Wolf !

[MrMark]

I think it's just typical anti-chain mentality. Spoons tend to be clean and well-furnished, unlike a traditional local with beer-soaked carpets and seats that are falling part.

If you like a cosy traditional pub they can seem a bit soulless but they do much better than other chains - open fires, sofas, etc.

Yes, given the choice (and a full wallet) I'd probably chose a traditional pub. Having said that I'm glad Wetherspoons exist - a good place to have breakfast or just a coffee if you're not drinking anything alcoholic. They normally have a good choice of continental beers and wines too. They expose just how much the major breweries/pubcos were ripping us off.

[TheFaQQer]

I would have had James Dyson down were he not a greedy tulip-house that made 800 people redundant when he offshored production.

The Dyson Jobless-800: it really sucks!