4 Tim Martin

non-executive chairman, JD Wetherspoon (4)

Why he's on the list:

A case could easily be made for placing Martin in the number-one slot bearing in mind our list reflects long-term influence on the industry.

His slightly lower position reflects his non-executive status and his increased reluctance to campaign on behalf of the industry since the higher profile days of his campaigns against licensing reform and joining the Euro. But no other operator in our top ten began with a single pub and expanded organically.

His company has re-shaped the notion of what a pub can offer. Its success was instrumental in making a host of traditional players such as Whitbread and Greenalls decide they could not compete on the high street. JD Wetherspoon now runs 660 pubs, each taking around £30,000 per week. It sells an estimated quarter of a billion pounds worth of food each year, making it the sector's most successful high-street retailer.

What the past year has held:

Martin's company has been seeing strong sales growth, helped by improved wine, bottled beer, draught beer, coffee, tea and breakfast offers.

Martin himself has been using some of his legal training to oversee an action for damages against former property consultant Van de Berg: it was taking up around 70% of his time at one stage last year. Martin spends just one day a week at Wetherspoon's Watford headquarters. The majority of his time is still spent in a one-man quest to monitor retail standards. He still visits 80% of the estate every year. One of his latest crusades relates to improving the quality of cask ale dispense.

Challenges ahead:

Winning his action against Van de Berg. Otherwise, retail is detail. And the issues include: making sure every pint of cask ale is as good as it should be; and getting staff to clear tables more regularly - something he called the biggest issue exercising minds at the company.