British-born Brian Blake, 71, was an early pioneer of high street insurance and served as shareholder and managing director of Swinton Insurance until its sale to Sun Alliance in 1988. He then founded Financial Options which was sold to Mysis in 1992 for over £40 million. A successful entrepreneur, he has also launched profitable businesses in travel, retail and hospitality. He currently resides in Vanuatu where he built a boutique hotel which he sold in 2008. He is also has a home in Spain which is where the iProperty company was started up and where its technical centre is currently located.