Christopher Mackenzie, Partner and head of European operations, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

A well-trodden path leads from Eton College through Oxford University to the City of London. Christopher Mackenzie followed it, adding McKinsey, JP Morgan and Schroders. That conjures up a picture of institutional orthodoxy, but Mackenzie says he has always felt somewhat outside the formidable British establishment.

"I'm half-German and half-British," he says. "That made it pretty unpleasant being at school in the late 1960s and early 1970s when people would reinforce upon you the fact that you were different. It becomes something that you start to believe, and so you look for ways of achieving your objectives on a very individual basis, rather than relying on the establishment."

In June he joined private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CDR) as a partner and head of European operations. "I have the opportunity to do everything I enjoy doing," he says. "Identify acquisitions, close deals, work with management to bring about change...