Chief executive, Poundland

The no-nonsense former Sainsbury’s man, who made his name selling his business T&S Stores to Tesco, has made the most of the downturn in his new role running the private equity-backed single price retailer. The company revealed a 47 per cent jump in profits earlier this month as it capitalised on the collapse of Woolworths and the flight to value. McCarthy plans to grow Poundland’s store estate significantly.