Alan Bowes

chairman, London & Edinburgh Inns (27)

2005 is expected to be another year of major expansion for London & Edinburgh Inns, which has emerged as one of the UK's largest independently owned pub operators ­ not bad for a company that was founded by Bowes nine years ago with a single temporary tenancy.

Alan Bowes has set a target of buying at least 150 sites this year to expand its estate to around the 1,000 pub mark. The firm hiredPWA Group as its property agent to find pubs to add to its tenanted division, and things got off to a flying start in February when the company bought nine pubs from Bolton-based Convivial Inns for around £4m. Further pubs were added last month when L&E snapped up 56 pubs from the Yorkshire-based Publico Pub Company for £20m.

L&E has not limited its expansion plans to tenanted pubs, though, and is willing to venture into the managed pub and hotel sector if a good deal comes along. It recently bought three four-star hotels from Marston's for around £18m.

L&E is completing work on creating the longest golf course in Europe, at Farley Court in Croydon.

Bowes worked in marketing for Belhaven during the 1980s, and has a background in banking; he worked for NatWest for 10 years.