37. Chemist Direct

Founder: Mitesh Soma
Website: www.chemistdirect.co.uk

Mitesh launched his online chemists in November 2007 with a lot of help from his pharmacist wife Krishna. She had run a high street pharmacy herself, but Mitesh saw the potential of an online version that could buy stock in bulk, sell nationally, and dramatically increase margins.

As well as offering products at discounted rates, the site allows customers to call up and talk to registered pharmacists who check over every order and prescription. Turnover is already topping £200,000 per month and Mitesh says the site is on course for £10m by the end of its first year of trading.