Ranjit Boparan, ceo, Boparan Holdings

Ranjit Boparan's meteoric rise from humble beginnings in Birmingham culminated earlier this year in a £342m cash bid for the own-label specialist Northern Foods, which he snatched out of the hands of Greencore.

His acquisitions have included the Harry Ramsden's chain and, together, form an empire with sales of around £2bn. While his plans for Northern Foods have yet to emerge, if he follows 2 Sisters' customer-centric focus, the shrewd businessman is likely to find favour among the multiples.

Boparan, who is said to be undemonstrative of his £100M personal wealth, is well known by members of his senior management team for being very demanding. He keeps a close eye on the grass-roots businesses and stays in touch with his team at evenings and weekends to ensure that his all-important retailer customers' orders are not being shorted.

Boparan also cannily recognised the growing importance of sustainability throughout the food and drink sector and has worked very closely with the likes of Marks & Spencers (M&S) to establish 2 Sisters' Flixton site in Suffolk as a model supplier, ticking all the retailer's ‘Plan A' boxes. Similar plans are known to be in the pipeline at other sites.