Ask a business owner who inspires them and you’d probably expect a list of billionaires and household names. Some of those names do come up. But the real story is far more everyday.
The survey for this year's shortlist of The Allica Bank Great British Entrepreneur Awards asked Britain’s business owners who they look up to. Established businesses are at the heart of everything we do, so we were keen to share what it found.
The most frequently named public figures were Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Steven Bartlett, and James Dyson – but none of them dominated. Branson was admired for taking calculated risks, Jobs for his focus on design and customer experience, and Dyson for refusing to accept that an established product can’t be improved.
Inspiration starts at home
More business owners named someone in their own family than any single famous entrepreneur. One described their father who built a business, lost everything, then started again from scratch. Another paid tribute to their father who grew a local transport firm into an employer of thousands, without losing touch with the people who worked for him.
Disruption and overnight growth grab the headlines, but Britain's entrepreneurs are moved by the less glamorous stories closer to home. Ones of discipline, dedication, and the desire to build something on and with purpose.
Quiet beats loud
Plenty of business owners pushed back on the idea that the most admirable entrepreneur has to be famous. They chose mentors, former employers and local business owners whose success would never make a rich list, because they’d seen how those people behaved when things went wrong.
Sophie Hossack, Head of Partnerships at Allica Bank, says:
“In my role, I see this pattern again and again: founders steadily building something remarkable through consistency rather than big bursts. What strikes me is how rarely they talk about disruption for its own sake – they talk about the problem they solved and the discipline it took to keep solving it, day after day.”
The qualities that keep coming up
These idols come from all walks of life, but the qualities they display are remarkably consistent:
- Around a third of business owners mentioned values, integrity or authenticity
- More than a quarter mentioned purpose, impact or community
- Around one in four spoke about resilience and persistence
As one business owner said of a female entrepreneur they admire, it’s “not because of the billions, but because of how she built it.”
Ambition hasn’t gone anywhere. These business owners still want to grow and create real value, but scale alone isn’t enough. They admire people who solve real problems, treat others fairly, and stick to their principles.
Success matters, but for this generation of business owners, how they get there matters just as much. It’s the same thing we look for in the established businesses we support every day.
Note: This blog brings together insights from the Great British Entrepreneur Awards’ 2026 shortlist survey. At Allica, we’re proud to be the awards’ headline sponsor for the fourth year running, celebrating the people, ideas and ambition behind Britain’s brilliant businesses.
