When we all finish for Christmas, sit down with a well-earned glass of wine in hand and look back at the past 12 months, it may be accompanied by a very deep breath. This year has been a pivotal one – from the revolutions in north Africa and the Middle East uprisings to the Occupy Wall Street protest and the euro crisis, 2011 will deserve quite a few pages in the history books.
For this issue, we planned a celebratory feature focusing on UK business leaders who "made" Christmas. We wanted to reflect on their year and lessons they had learnt in 2011, and hear about their hopes for 2012. But as we talked, what emerged were tales of resilience, lateral thinking and entrepreneurial spirit. Read the 18 inspirational stories here – leaders include Jeremy Parsons, Berry Bros & Rudd CEO, whose company has expanded into China, to beauty business Berkeley Square Cosmetics, which is targeting a new audience, to jeweller Dinny Hall, who now is collaborating with John Lewis.
Doing business differently is a theme running through this issue. Cover star, Innocent co-founder Richard Reed, talks about "the perfect storm" in 2008 that forced the golden company of the Noughties to seek funding and sell a majority share to Coca-Cola. But rather than being swallowed up, Innocent has kept control and its core values intact. Click here to read how.
Jean Oelwang, chief executive of Virgin Unite (Sir Richard Branson's not-for-profit organisation), discusses the trend she sees of consumers calling for business to put people and planet at their core, and in turn, businesses wanting to transform themselves. Branson dedicates his new book, Screw Business as Usual, to this shift. It's a fantastic read (all profits go to his foundation) and I wholly recommend it as a holiday treat.
Finally, all that remains is for me to wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.