Lester by name, but Leicester by nature, the chairman/CEO of JEM Music Group has made a habit of upsetting the odds in the music business Premier League.

A born and bred Londoner, his real name is Colin Lester Balsam, but he switched to his middle name while pursuing a career as a guitarist with glam rock band The Eyes, when Don Arden – head of The Eyes’ label Jet Records – told him he didn’t sound enough like a pop ...