Chocolate entrepreneur makes a mint
By Rebecca Burn-Callander
When Simon Coyle launched luxury chocolate firm Kshocolat in 2003, he was the only player in the premium market. Now, he’s one of many, but this Scottish confectioner still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Student entrepreneur's marketing wisdom
By Kate Pritchard
When James Eder set up studentbeans.com in June 2005, he brushed up on his marketing skills by reading Marketing Judo: Building Your Business Using Brains Not Budget by John Barnes and Richard Richardson – the pair who turned the Harry Ramsden’s fish and chip restaurant into an international brand.

The power of a rebrand
By Alistair Turner*
Maybe one day we’ll all learn to love the controversial London 2012 logo. But in the meantime, it’s still a great reminder of the cynicism that often surrounds branding, even in today’s socially-networked, media-savvy, design-conscious world.

Roasted by Dragons but BBQ King is red-hot
By Catherine Woods
BarbeSkew managing director Ed Wray has done the BBQ equivalent of selling ice to Eskimos: he’s flogging his brand of BBQs to Australians and Cypriots.

Diversity protects tech firm from credit crunch
By Catherine Woods
In times of economic strife, the phrase ‘diversify or die’ gets bandied around a lot. But that’s what BIW Technologies did after the bottom fell out of the London property market following the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001, and the strategy is paying off.

Lord Bilimoria plans to sell stake in Cobra Beer

By Kate Pritchard
Asian entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria is reportedly considering selling a 30 per cent stake of his Cobra Beer business to the world’s biggest alcoholic drinks firm – Diageo.

Aviation entrepreneur targets the high flyers
By Catherine Woods
Ocean Sky Aviation is flying high on the back of more technically advanced aircraft, a greater awareness of private jet aviation and an increase in the number of nouveau riche in the Middle East and Russia.

Getting Viagra isn’t hard in the City
By Kate Pritchard
When Mitesh Soma, founder of internet pharmacy Chemist Direct, launched a new service enabling customers to order prescription medicines more cheaply online, he knew it would be all about the hard sell.

Online chemist branches out into babycare
By Rebecca Burn-Callander
Mitesh Soma was our “one to watch” in the May edition of Real Business. And it looks like we were spot on. Just eight months after launch, Chemist Direct is already the UK’s leading online pharmacy with a brand new baby offering.

Hotel Chocolat: the brainstroming behind the brand
By Kate Pritchard
Entrepreneur Angus Thirlwell runs a £40m-turnover chocolate store and café. So why on earth did he name his business “Hotel Chocolat”?