Simon Showman, 34

Chief executive

Ultimate Products

Greatest professional achievement: Building a workforce that helped his company grow into a £50m-plus sales organisation.

Current business goal: Building a global organisation through expansion into new markets and developing relationships with blue chip customers in existing ones.

Showman co-founded Oldham-based import firm Ultimate Products alongside Barry Franks at the age of 23. The business which licenses and then imports a range of electrical and home goods which it sells under “celebrity” and kitchenware brands such as Anthony Worral-Thompson, John-Christophe Novelli and Linda Barker, among others. It sources and tailors products directly for retailers and, since a £25m management buy-out backed by venture capital firm LDC in 2005, he has been the largest single shareholder in a business that makes a profit of £300,000 on sales of £53.3m.

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