Entrepreneurs have rarely enjoyed a more prominent position in the British popular imagination. Not that long ago, the ruling classes looked down on the self-made man (or woman). Today, successful entrepreneurs are feted in the media and the fruits of their efforts documented in newspaper “rich lists”.

Television shows such as The Apprentice have dramatised the cut and thrust of corporate life while making household names of Donald Trump and Alan Sugar. Other programmes, such as the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, fuel the notion that almost anyone can have a go at setting up their own business.