In 1995 Simon Jordan and Andrew Briggs set up their own mobile phone retail company called the Pocket Phone Shop. They started with £30,000 and a 3,500 sq ft unit in Slough and after forming an agreement with service provider Astec the business flourished.

By 2000 the Pocket Phone Shop had 167 outlets nationwide, employed 660 staff and was forecasting a turnover of £52m for the 1999/00 financial year. Pocket Phone Shop was seen as one of the main rivals in its sector to leader Carphone Warehouse - the organisation that Jordan and Briggs both worked for before launching their own venture.

Simon Jordan and Andrew Briggs left Pocket Phone Shop in 2000 after selling the company to One2One for £73m.

Simon followed his amazing success with Pocket Phone Shop by buying Crystal Palace Football club in the summer of 2000.

The club was in administration after previous Chairman Mark Goldberg overspent on players' wages and transfer fees. The club was taken into administration in 1998 and was even threatened with expulsion from the Football League if a deal was not struck before the 2000/2001 season.

Simon bought the club from the administrators and struck a deal that meant the club would be able to continue playing at Selhurst Park for 10 years.

Simon said of his purchase of Palace: "I have achieved exactly what I set out to do, and that is to be Chairman of Crystal Palace. I have been prepared to put my money into something I truly believe in, and my first job is to turn the fortunes of this club around."

Since becoming Chairman Simon has created a solid financial footing for the club. In 2003/04 he appointed Iain Dowie as manager at a crucial period of the campaign and his judgement was spot on as Palace won promotion to the Premiership. In his years as Chairman, Simon has truly turned the club around.