RESULTS FOR 2009
Ranking: 657=
Worth: £85m
New entry
Source of wealth: Industry

Born in Great Yarmouth, Vince, 47, got a taste for the alternative way of life at music festivals and, at 19, turned to new-age travelling. Ten years later he "had a little wind turbine to charge batteries and even run a computer. I was completely off the grid". He built a 30-metre mast for a turbine near his Stroud base but was rebuffed by electricity companies until, after years of planning appeals, they finally connected a turbine to the national grid for £20,000. Dutch ethical bank Triodos agreed to lend him the money after he failed to interest the high-street giants and a small German company, Enercon, supplied the first turbine in 1996. And so the world's first green electricity company, Ecotricity, was born. In 2007 alone, it invested £25m in wind energy. In 2007-08 it made a £1.9m profit on £28m sales. It has £37.8m net assets and has been valued in excess of £100m. Cautiously, we value Vince at £85m.

RESULTS FOR 2008
New entry