Name: James Lohan

Age: 41

Company: Luxury and boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith. 

Turnover: £24m

First job: Packing videos in a warehouse for six weeks over the school holidays. It was a terrible experience but it taught me to work hard and focus – I didn’t want to have to work in a warehouse ever again.

Dream job: Professional tennis player (if you can call that a “job”).

Car: Something classic with great-smelling leather, an exhaust that sounds wonderful, and a wooden steering wheel.

Economy, business or first-class: It depends how far I’m going and how tough the schedule is on arrival. Never first-class though. I’m afraid I’d never be happy behind the curtain again, and I can’t afford it.

Most extravagant purchase: A vintage Rolex watch. I’m not telling how much.

Most played song on iPod: “What’s the Story in Balamory?” My four-year old son insisted on it daily for two years, and now my younger daughter has taken over. It’s driving me nuts.

Best business book: Delivering Happiness by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh for its clear-eyed emphasis on the importance of customer service.

Worst business moment: Being turned down by every publisher we approached with our first Mr & Mrs Smith hotel guide.

Proudest business moment: Publishing it ourselves.

Business mentor: No-one specific – just great business partners and a brilliant advisory board. 

Next big thing: Recommendation-driven social commerce. Every web user will have the opportunity to make money from their personal networks.

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