TOP 32 business influencers

With the rise of social media in recent years, the influence of business leaders is no longer limited to boardrooms, the industry they operate in or the consumers they serve. There’s a whole new world available to be influenced: the online one. So, for our latest top 32 list, we’ve looked at the top business influencers.

HOW HAVE THE TOP 32 BEEN CHOSEN?

Each entrepreneur is based in the UK and has already made their name in the business world prior to becoming an influencer on social media. They are also popular in the online world due to their expertise on a particular subject or range of topics.

However, if you think that someone is missing from our list, please send an email to editor@businessleader.co.uk and they will be added to the digital version on businessleader.co.uk

This list is in no particular order.

Brendan Beeken Moni Talks

Brendan Beeken has a successful background in financial services, marketing and motorsport. He is the former CEO of MSL Motorsport Consultancy, the Founding Director and Chairman of cryptocurrency exchange and social platform Moni Talks, as well as an investor, mentor and strategist.

The Isle of Man-based entrepreneur also treats his 5,000+ LinkedIn followers to regular insights into the worlds of crypto and fintech, providing them with a wide range of business tips that have been formulated over a 25+ year career.

Lucy Marcus

Marcus Venture Consulting

Lucy Martin founded Marcus Venture Consulting in 1998 and still serves as the company’s CEO today. In addition, she is the Chair of the Board of Directors at regional theatre Oxford Playhouse and a Professor of Leadership and Governance at IE Business School.

With just shy of 1.1 million followers on LinkedIn, she’s also one of the UK’s top voices on LinkedIn. In addition to posting stories that she finds moving or amusing on the platform, she regularly offers her opinion on news, ethics, economics and corporate governance.

Steven Bartlett

Thirdweb

Originally making his name as the co-founder of Social Chain, a social media marketing company with revenues of around £532m, Steven Bartlett is the youngest-ever investor to be named on Dragons’ Den and a Sunday Times best-selling author. Bartlett is also known for running Europe’s most downloaded business podcast, The Diary of a CEO, which has featured a wealth of high-profile guests, such as Sir Richard Branson and comedian Stephen Fry. With just shy of a million followers on LinkedIn and 2.2 million followers on Instagram, Bartlett also shares his unique business insights with a huge social media audience.

Peju Adebajo

Wolseley

A former leader of several blue-chip companies and high-growth start-ups, including Nigeria’s largest mattress/bedding company, Mouka, Peju Adebajo is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director at Wolseley UK, the plumbing, heating, and cooling trade merchant. Although, she also works in a variety of other nonexecutive roles.

Named one of the Top 10 Green Voices in the UK in 2021 on LinkedIn, Adebajo is passionate about environmental, social and corporate governance, and regularly shares her expertise on these topics with a following of more than 10,000.

Brad Burton

Motivational Speaker

Before becoming a well-known business influencer, Brad Burton founded 4Networking Ltd, a business networking platform that hosted 68,000 events before Burton decided to sell all his business networking interests in 2022.

Burton has also been a motivational business speaker since 2008 and has the honour of being the highest-rated motivational business author on Amazon. He also regularly shares stories of his fascinating life and what he’s learnt from it to help motivate his sizable social media following.

Leyla Acaroglu

The Unschool Of Disruptive Design

Leyla Acaroglu is an award-winning designer and founder of The UnSchool of Disruptive Design, an experimental knowledge lab for creative rebels and change agents, which she has led since its inception in 2014.

With her expertise in education, sustainability, the circular economy and social innovation, not only is she one of the top influencers in these topics on LinkedIn, but she even teaches them via LinkedIn Learning

John Amaechi Obe

Aps Intelligence

Ranked one of the Top Voices 2020: UK Influencers on LinkedIn, highly respected organisational psychologist and best-selling author John Amaechi OBE discusses a wide berth of topics on the platform, ranging from leadership tips and entrepreneurial advice to why he made the decision to come out publicly.

But before establishing himself as a leading LinkedIn influencer, the former professional basketball player founded APS Intelligence, a multifaceted strategic consultancy solution in 2007. He also serves as NED of a FTSE 250 company, was a 10-year director of the UK’s largest healthcare organisation and a board adviser for several FTSE 100 organisations.