James Murray Wells has been named the top entrepreneur of 2005 in Startups.co.uk’s run-down of the best business leaders of the year.
The Glasses Direct founder, who has revolutionised the optical industry by selling glasses at a fraction of the price of the major retailers, pipped Extreme Group chief Al Gosling to first place in the top 50 list.
Innocent Drink creators Adam Balon, Richard Reed and Jon Wright were third, while Michael Murphy, chief executive of Friends Reunited, and Peter Jones, the Phones International boss made famous by the Dragons’ Den series, completed the top five.
The list contains a clutch of high-profile entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson, Sahar Hashemi and Stelios Haji-Ioannou, alongside newcomers who have taken the business world by storm over the previous 12 months.
James Dyson’s impressive venture into the American vacuum cleaner market sees him ranked number 22 on the list, while Alex Tew, creator of the much-hyped Million Dollar Homepage, is eleventh.
Elsewhere, Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller’s $188 million sale of his 19 Entertainment business sees him chart at number 23, with Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman, David Soskin of Cheapflights.com and Dragons’ Den stars Duncan Bannatyne and Doug Richard also featuring in the list.
The top entrepreneur accolade caps a sensational year for Murray Wells, who has sold over 22,000 pairs of spectacles via Glasses Direct in 2005. It’s rumoured that he is very close to raising the £5 million needed to take the business forward, with investors extremely keen to get involved with the company.
The entrepreneur, who is just 22 years old, has won numerous awards this year, with Glasses Direct named Business of the Year at the Startups Awards.
Oliver Milman, editor of Startups.co.uk, said that Murray Wells’ achievements stood out from every other entrepreneur in 2005.
“To come from nowhere, like he has, and destroy the grip the big opticians had on the glasses market in such a short space of time is astonishing,” he said. “The fact that he is just 22 years old makes his progress especially impressive.
“Murray Wells has demonstrated that your age and the size of the competition you face can be irrelevant if you have a solid, well-researched idea that can be transformed into a dynamic business.”
You can see the full top 50 list by clicking here
