Chief executive, Shop Direct Group

Reconfiguring a catalogue business for the realities of how people shop today is no easy job. Newton-Jones has made some tough decisions in the past year, closing call centres and outsourcing staff. At the same time, he has made high-profile celebrity signings, including Fearne Cotton and Denise Van Outen, to back his newest brand, Very, which replaced Littlewoods Direct, and has continued to rebuild Woolworths online.