Branson 'best of British' business leaders

Cross-channel motorist and eccentric head of the Virgin business empire Richard Branson has been voted the number one business leader in the UK.

Branson, who has turned his leadership skills to businesses as diverse as his Virgin Mobile unit and the Virgin.net ISP to his Virgin Atlantic airline and Virgin Wines ecommerce venture, was handed the accolade by a group of his peers surveyed at the International Leadership Summit in London.

In total almost 1,000 senior executives were surveyed and 37 per cent of respondents picked out Branson as being the UK's best business leader.

Second on the list was Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy, with another honoured boss and first female, Dame Anita Roddick, in third.

Carphone Warehouse boss Charles Dunstone made it into ninth place - a ringing endorsement of his mobile phone business.

Another highly regarded boss who's fully embraced technology to further his business and cement his place on the list is Stelios Haji-Ioannou - in at number four with 9.7 per cent of the vote.

The full top 10 looks like this:

1. Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group: 37 per cent
2. Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco: 18.7 per cent
3. Dame Anita Roddick, The Body Shop: 11.7 per cent
4. Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyGroup: 9.7 per cent
5. Julian Richer, Richer Sounds: 5.8 per cent
6. Philip Green, BHS/Arcadia Group: 5.3 per cent
7. James Dyson, Dyson: 5.1 per cent
8. Barbara Cassani, London 2012: 4.9 per cent
9. Charles Dunstone, Carphone Warehouse: 4.7 per cent
10. Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP: 2.6 per cent

Respondents identified qualities such as the ability to inspire, vision and communication as being key skills in the 'great leader's' arsenal.