A FORMER floor cleaner salesman from Southampton, who started a hit online music magazine, has been named one of the UK's top entrepreneurs.

Uninspired by his day job, James Suddaby, 30, pictured, sold his Chandler's Ford home to create ilikemusic.com in 2001.

From humble beginnings with just 200 visitors, it is today one of the top five online music magazines with more than 350,000 unique users a month.

His success has been recognised by telecoms giant BT, which named him as one of the winners of its Essence of the Entrepreneur competition.

Run from humble offices in Millbrook's Solent Business Centre and with a staff of two, ilikemusic.com relies on the efforts of a large band of enthusiasts.

The site - home to interviews with big stars like 50 Cent, Alicia Keys and Nelly Furtado as well as music content - has a strict no criticism' policy.

"I don't see the point in it," said James. "It's just one person's opinion. It got on my nerves reading cover stories on other magazine about how rubbish a band is."

It's this kind of passion for music that prompted him to quit a dull job and gamble everything on a dream.

"I was a salesman selling floor cleaning equipment. It was uninspiriing and I wanted to do something I loved. So, I wrote a list of things I liked and started the list with I like music and there it was, right in front of me.

"I somehow got by designing websites and juggling money. I was conscious of keeping down costs as much as possible while drumming up content.

"That was the plan for the first five years. I didn't want to put it under too much financial pressure. I sold my house so I could live for five years and start the website."

After several lean years, ilikemusic.com is now officially a hit, allowing James to bolt on lucrative moneyspinners like ticket sales and advertising. He has ambitious plans for the future.

"We are opening new doors, such as a mobile phone version of the site and we're looking at more news, we're working with CNN. I'm looking to get another 100,000 users a month."