Sir Michael Bibby

If Liverpool still had a Liverpool Shipowners Association then Sir Michael Bibby, chief executive of Bibby Line Group, would probably be president, just like several of his forbears who managed the fortunes of the UK's oldest surviving shipping company for more than 200 years. However, there are no other shipowners left in Liverpool, and Sir Michael, who took over the family business in 2000, has overseen its rapid diversification into less cyclical areas such as financial services, logistics, supermarkets and burial sites. Sir Michael, an accountant who was educated, like his father, at Rugby and Trinity College, Oxford, is a throwback to an older generation of Liverpool families, which channelled part of their wealth into local charities, such as the Birkenhead Boys Club.