Rising star Adam Webb
What's so special He's chief executive of IT support firm Littlefish, which offers "better support at a better price"

Adam Webb is happy to be a middleman, sitting pretty between corporate giants such as BT and what he describes as the small IT support companies that "can't cover the whole globe like we can".

Of Littlefish, his 300-employee company, he says: "We're busier than ever. Our price point in the marketplace is very good. We offer a higher level of support than most companies, at a better price than probably all of them."

Webb reckons a well established management structure and organic growth have helped Littlefish to earn 10th slot in industry watchdog MSPmentor's rankings. He includes Vodafone and the government among his clients, and is looking to expand to the US, Spain and Germany.

He's thankful for a strong relationship with his alma mater, Nottingham Trent University, at a time when "the labour market is the strangest I've ever known it—the quality is as low as it's ever been".

NTU undergraduates are placed with Littlefish on their sandwich year, and many become employees. Webb says he gets the pick of the crop—"and it's a good job that we do because if we didn't it would be dire".

He explains: "Universities are woefully behind in technology [software]." His next move "will be going into the retail side, heavily doing what BT does". Littlefish, big plans.