Charles Dunstone

It has been a landmark year for Dunstone, who completed the demerger of Carphone Warehouse and fixed-line business Talk Talk, stepping up to take the chairman role at both companies, while at the same time launching Best Buy’s first European stores through a joint venture in which Carphone Warehouse has a 50% stake.

While he may have stepped upstairs to the chairmanship, Dunstone remains a driving force in the UK communications market and has shaped first the phones market and subsequently the electronics market, too. His vision of the “connected world” is at the heart of both Carphone Warehouse’s stores and the new Best Buy megastores, which are set to have a transformational effect on electricals retailing in the UK.

Arguably the most successful retail entrepreneur of his generation, Dunstone is a fanatical sailor. He is an understated character and refreshingly grounded, but he does know how to enjoy himself. His wedding last year to retail PR Celia Gordon-Shute was one of the social events of the year, with close friend Sir Stuart Rose (8) among the many big names from retail present at the ceremony. Meanwhile, the stag party, involving helicopters, boats and motorbikes, was the stuff of legend.