MARK SIMPKIN

At 33, television presenter Mark Simpkin is MD of the successful Simply Group. Married to Heartbeat actress Tricia Penrose, Mark was well aware of the potential for acting and presenting work to dry up so decided to go into business – and so the Simply Group was born.

The Simply Group consists of a number of companies, including Simply Lockers, supplying standard metal lockers to commercial businesses, and Simply Tables and Chairs, selling furniture to the commercial and contract market, as well as Simply Homes Abroad and Simply Country Homes. They are a sales organisation rather than manufacturers and because they buy products in high volume they can normally beat the prices of high street retailers. The company has been a huge success over the last few years and Mark aims to be the market leader within the next two years.