Married, (to Margaret), with one grown up daughter, he is a fan of a wide range of sometimes obscure and unusual music as well as an armchair fan of both rugby codes. One of his other passions is North Mallorca.
What is your nickname?
I’m sure some of our supplier partners have called me a lot of names but I have been known to refer to myself as the ‘beardy weirdy’
Why did you get into printing?
I was working in marketing at Bradford & Bingley and in the course of my duties, I had to visit many of our printers. I was bitten by the bug. When the opportunity arose to become a buyer I leapt at the chance
Who would play you in a movie about your life?
Kris Kristofferson or, if he’s not available, Ricky Tomlinson
What is your dream bit of kit?
It would have to be the ‘Okikoki 5000 (with extra functions)’. Since the 1980s this has been my generic name for any new or exciting machine. The phrase comes from a radio ad for Philips audio which was written and performed by the late Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones
What is your favourite film?
Educating Rita starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine
Who or what do you hate the most?
I was never a fan of Margaret Thatcher
Who do you admire most in print?
Marina and David Wyvill of Platinum Print. In just over 25 years they and the team around them have built – from scratch – one of the most well thought out and successful print companies in the country. We have been very lucky at OneFamily to have them within 15 minutes’ drive of our Harrogate office
What is your favourite saying?
There are three kinds of print job: good, quick and cheap, but you can choose just two of them
What is your favourite album?
It’s difficult to pick a favourite. Over the years, it’s probably Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. Catch me at another time and it could just as easily be something by a weird drum band from Ibiza
What is your favourite book?
A few years ago, I started reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels and found them absolutely hilarious. There’s even a clever reference to one of our industry’s founding fathers – a newspaper editor called Mr de Worde!
What is your greatest luxury in life?
Mallorcan red wine
What is the strangest job you’ve Had?
When I was 17, I did what would now be called a gap year working in a hospital for geriatrics in Hamburg. That was an eye-opener (both the hospital and Hamburg!)
What piece of kit would you like to see invented?
The Okikoki 5000 (with extra functions) obviously!
What’s your worst fashion disaster?
I am told that I am a full-time walking fashion disaster
How would you like to be remembered?
Kim Naylor of APS told me once that she was asked about me by a colleague. She said that I was “an old hippy who knows his stuff and who is a really nice bloke”. That will do
What was your childhood obsession?
I was mad about aircraft and aviation. At one point I wanted to be a pilot but my mum said I wouldn’t make it because pilots have to have excellent colour vision. How ironic that I ended up in print!
