3 Mar 2008

Each week we ask a member of the business community to host an imaginary power lunch, inviting them to select the eight fantasy guests - alive or dead - most likely to entertain, stimulate conversation or reveal their tricks of the trade.

Peter Jones

He has been successful in so many different areas and I want to know how he keeps his focus. I watch him on Dragons' Den and I agree with him that if someone wants to borrow money off you the least they can do is put on a shirt and tie.

Clive Woodward

He was really brave in terms of trying new things, and I try to do that. He has been very successful in business as well as rugby, and I would like to find out what he wants to do that he hasn't managed yet.

Richard Reid (co-founder of Innocent Drinks)

He started off on a market stall giving smoothies out for free and asking people whether he should set up a business, and he got enough ‘yeses', so he did. I thought that was a very brave thing to do.

Jeremy Clarkson

He wouldn't stand for any fools around the table. I think he has got a great sense of humour and I really like his slant on the world. Nobody would be able to get too big for their boots at the table.

Philip Green (Billionaire BHS owner)

I have met him briefly and asked if he had a business tip and he said ‘get up early and go to bed late'. I loved that advice and I would like to ask him for more.

Peter Kay

I wouldn't want all business people around the table, and he would make sure it wasn't too serious. I have read his autobiography and he has come from the bottom by working hard.

Charles Darwin

He had the courage to cut across the common way of thinking and came up with something totally different - that the world revolves around nature, and the survival of the fittest.

Jamie Oliver

He has proven that he can take something he really believes in and make a business out of it. I have also been impressed that he is prepared to stand up for what he believes in.

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