Icons: Generation y: work

Anita Roddick began selling smelly ethnic gloop in little plastic bottles in Brighton in 1976, and is now the millionaire force behind the Body Shop empire, with more than 1,000 franchised shops worldwide. Having survived a barrage of negative pub licity, a generation of copycat cosmetics and a silly American Express ad, she remains a heroine for today's youth, for her ecologically sound practice, commitment to social change, and brilliantly packaged products. Isabel Grimshaw, 17, attributes Roddi ck's success to "making people think about issues while you're getting on with your everyday life".

Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, is a moral super hero to British youth, coming second only to Mother Teresa and the Pope in a 1994 Mori survey of 1,200 15- to 35-year-olds. What makes this tycoon special (apart from his beard) is a blend of Tory entrepreneurial brilliance and Nineties social conscience: he launched Mates condoms to promote Aids awareness. He has a keen sense of adventure, and has made record-breaking crossings of the Atlantic and Pacific by hot-air balloon.Alex Thomson, an 18-year-old student, says: "He's out to win, and he does, setting standards for every aspiring entrepreneur."