Alexander Amosu, founder, Amosu Luxury Ltd Alexander Amosu made his first million at the age of 25 by selling mobile phone ringtones from his mother's front room at £1 a time, before going on to become the UK's number one provider of mobile phone graphics and ringtones. He's now expanded into luxury phones (with diamond encrusted handsets going for £20,000) and has even sold a £45,000 gem encrusted Blackberry to P Diddy.
Alexei Janssen, founder and director, Aquascientific Ltd Driving past a stationary wind turbine, Alexei Janssen put his hand out of the car like a plane wing and had a eureka moment that led to the design of what he believes could be the world's most efficient turbine. His company, Aquascientific, has been listed as one of the UK's top 30 clean technology companies, and he has an award for innovation from the Royal Society.
Avi Lasarow, founder and managing director, Trimega Laboratories Ltd Avi Lasarow's alcohol testing kits have become the tool of choice for medical professionals, the legal sector, social services, and are accepted as evidence in UK courts. They work by analysing strands of hair, can detect drugs and alcohol consumed months earlier, and have been used in court to prove abstinence in liver transplant cases, which Lasarow believes has saved lives.
David Clubb, project director, Rural Development Initiatives A passionate advocate for green power, David Clubb has devoted his career to the development and promotion of renewable energy in the UK. His not-for-profit project management company, Rural Development Initiatives, was founded in 2005 and saw turnover double in both the first and second years of business. Its projects now have a value of more than £4m.
Dr Jon Copley, deep sea biologist, University of Southampton Dr Jon Copley is the only UK scientist under 40 leading a project to explore the deep ocean. Over the next three years his team will visit the world's deepest undersea volcanoes, where he hopes to find new species. As a science writer he has had over 100 articles published, and his work has featured in documentaries by the BBC and Discovery Channel.
Dr Matt Prescott, director, Energy Saving Day Ltd Dr Matt Prescott is the founder of Energy Saving Day (E-Day), which uses films, live events and online resources to highlight practical ways of saving energy to cut bills and tackle climate change. E-Day's achievements in 2008 were persuading five of the big six UK energy companies to simplify their free insulation offers, and getting Tesco to expand energy efficiency labelling.
James Brown & Amanda Jones, founding directors, Red Button Design Every year 2.2 million people die from diseases caused by contaminated water, but that number could soon be less thanks to Red Button's unique purification technology. The Reverse Osmosis Sanitation is a water transport, sanitation and storage device attracting interest from the UN. Brown hopes it will soon be widely employed by aid agencies worldwide.
Martin Orton, managing director, Bold Creative Martin Orton believes young people deserve the best start in life, and so he founded Bold Creative, a specialist agency that champions young people and supports social change. Among many successful projects, Bold Creative won a BAFTA for Dillon's Story, a film about child poverty, and created Tagmap TV, software that enables young people to become citizen journalists and encourages community engagement.
Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, founder, Patients Know Best Mohammad Al-Ubaydli is a medical professional who gave up a six-figure salary to create software that allows patients to understand their health, and then act on that understanding. Patients Know Best is an opensource programme that provides annotation of medical records, so individuals can understand their medical notes, as well as updates of relevant medical literature to ensure their doctor is up-to-date with the latest research.
