The Entrepreneurs

After leaving the world of finance, Henry Cookson became a record-setting polar explorer, and has since built a multi-million-dollar business, Cookson Adventures, specialising in bespoke journeys for clients. Many of the trips are considered “world-first” experiences, including the first commercial submersible dive in Antarctica.

Torontonians Charles Birchall and Brad Taylor first met in the city of Le Locle at Switzerland’s most storied watchmaking school. The pair eventually returned home and in 2017, armed with the best training, launched Toronto’s most exciting new watch brand.

Fokke de Jong founded menswear label Suitsupply from the boot of a car in the Netherlands in 2000 after a chance encounter threw him into the world of Italian textiles. We discover how the affordable tailoring firm has found the right marriage between online and bricks-and-mortar retail as it prepares to open its 100th shop.

David Spencer-Percival is a serial entrepreneur with an award-winning record for co-founding and growing recruitment firms Huntress and Spencer Ogden into success stories worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Pair business know-how with an obsession with rosemary’s health benefits and you have his latest venture: all-natural drinks sold by London’s top retailers and food halls.

David Spencer-Percival is a serial entrepreneur with an award-winning record for co-founding and growing recruitment firms Huntress and Spencer Ogden into success stories worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Pair business know-how with an obsession with rosemary’s health benefits and you have his latest venture: all-natural drinks sold by London’s top retailers and food halls.

Amastan is reshaping the idea of a hotel stay in the City of Light. It is the vision of self-starter Zied Sanhaji who, armed with his family’s entrepreneurial spirit and his own know-how from a range of hospitality jobs, opened the doors a few years back. The boutique property encourages creativity and connection, with all the charm and top service you’d expect from a venue with just 24 rooms.

Serial entrepreneur Katrina Larkin is on a mission to create beautifully designed workplaces for collaboration and engagement. She’s the co-founder of Fora, a rapidly growing network of so-called premium “pro-working” spaces in London. Over the past two years Fora has opened four locations and has plans to open additional spaces in the 13 buildings the company owns across central London.

Cal Henderson is CTO and co-founder of Slack, a communication and collaboration platform with more than eight million daily users in over 100 countries. With 1,200 employees across nine cities, Slack was valued earlier this year at more than $7bn after its latest round of funding.

A group of friends from the Dublin area are reviving the heritage of craft distilling in Ireland. They’ve set up The Glendalough Distillery in the scenic mountain surroundings of Co Wicklow, and have been making standout Irish whiskey and gin. But it’s in crafting the traditional Irish spirit poitín, called the ancestor of all distilled drinks, where the friends are really making their mark.

Lee Thompson and Radha Vyas are the co-founders of Flash Pack, a company for adventurous solo travellers in their thirties and forties looking to meet like-minded people while seeing the world in style and comfort. Using just £8,000 of their own money, the pair – who are also husband and wife – have turned Flash Pack into a £10m business.