The founder of booming Bookham Technology, Dr Andrew Rickman, is to sell nearly 50m of his 1.15bn share of the company, writes Maggie Hartford.

Dr Rickman, 40, who was this week named Britain's Entrepreneur of the Year, will still own more than a fifth of the company, valued by the stock market at almost 5bn.

Bookham shares fell seven per cent after the announcement. The company is issuing three million new shares to raise funds for expansion.