THE ADVENTUROUS TYPE

AFTER a stint in the army, Tristram Mayhew began climbing the corporate ladder, first with Coca-Cola Schweppes, then with GE. But while on holiday in France with his wife, Rebecca, in 2001, Mayhew found a leaflet for a forest adventure course. Something clicked.

“We had this fab job offer to go to Barcelona, with a penthouse and a pool. So we sent out an e-mail to friends asking if we should take the penthouse or swing through the trees. Half said, ‘If you don’t take the Barcelona job we’ll never talk to you again.’ Half said, ‘We won’t talk to you if you do.’ ”

Mayhew, now 38, turned down the job offer and started Go Ape!, running a series of adventure obstacle courses at sites across Britain. Based at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, the business has expanded from one site with 15,500 visitors to seven sites drawing half a million people — and an annual turnover of £3.5m. Five new sites are opening this year.

“I’d learnt a lot from my corporate life, but it seemed that ultimately the only motivation

for a large multinational was to make a dollar, and that wasn’t the single most important thing for either Rebecca or myself. I didn’t want to be a weekend dad,” says Mayhew, whose children are now aged five, four and one. “I wanted to be successful but success for me isn’t all about money.”

He adds: “A lot of people say it’s fear of failure that drives them. That’s not me. It’s fear of not trying. My epitaph should read, “At least he tried.’ ”

BUSINESS MODELS PAY OFF

Michelle Mone left school early, with no qualifications, because of family illness. Now aged 35, she is the founder of MJM International, a Glasgow-based lingerie empire valued at more than £42m.

“I’m exceptionally determined, I’m very focused and I love business,” says the mother of three and former model. “I just absolutely love the challenge. If someone says you can’t do it, it just makes me want to do it even more. I’ve always been like that. You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror and see if you’re willing to do it 100 per cent. I’ve put my house on the line three times.”

Not long after being made redundant from her job in sales and marketing at Labatt Breweries, Mone attended a dinner-dance with her husband. Her bra was ill-fitting, so she decided to invent a better one. The following month, in 1996, MJM International was born.

Three years of research later, the Ultimo went on the market. “I’ve invented the gel-filled bra and five other products, from the backless to the frontless bra. You name it, I’ve invented it when it comes to bras,” says Mone, who now has offices in both Scotland and Hong Kong, and three factories in China.