British techie rewarded for bringing people together

The founder of cult website Friends Reunited has emerged as one of the top creative thinkers within the British internet community, at least according to a poll out today.

While this is testament to the viral success former techie Steve Pankhurst has conjured up with his venture - in what can only be described as difficult times - it puts to shame other bosses in the IT and internet industries.

While a few 'new meeja types' would make most top 50 polls, the recent collapse of the dot-com bubble economy means figures from the worlds of advertising, broadcasting, publishing, film and even retail are more likely to dominate such a list.

Pankhurst came in at number ten in the 'FT Creative Business 50', only behind such luminaries as film director Ridley Scott (9), WPP's Martin Sorrell (6), the BBC's DG Greg Dyke (5) and fashion designer and entrepreneur Paul Smith (1).

The website http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk now has over two million users looking for classmates from school and college days. The site is ranked alongside top ISPs and e-tail shop fronts by internet research companies in terms of monthly page impressions.

Pankhurst is said to run the operation with just two staff working from home.

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