Why did you get into printing?
I just desperately needed any job with a company car as the old Fiesta was on its last legs. The first offer I got was in print sales. Funny how it works out…
What would be your dream job?
I quite fancy Charlie Whiting’s role at the FIA
Who would play you in a movie about your life?
Gérard Depardieu? The guys at work suggested Pinocchio as my nickname and I don’t lie so you can imagine…
Who or what do you hate the most?
People who drop litter, don’t say thank you when you open a door for them or let them out in traffic, people who want to talk about themselves all day - the list is endless!
What is your favourite phrase or saying?
‘The harder you work the luckier you get’
What book are you reading at the moment?
I’m reading Vulcan 607 for the second time. It’s an epic true story that should be a Hollywood movie. The actual aircraft still lives at RAF Waddington near my home and whenever I drive past it I get goosebumps
What is the strangest job you’ve ever done?
I always wanted to join the Royal Navy and did so when I was 16. I trained as an aircraft handler (that’s the chaps on flight decks with the table tennis bats). Shame I never liked it, I only managed four months, I’m a bit of a homebird
Who would you like to be stuck on a desert island with?
Guy Gibson or John Frost, they don’t make them like that anymore!
What is your greatest ambition?
I always wanted to own my own business and I’ve managed that
What is the worst kind of print?
While there is an argument for print management companies, they treat all print like buying nuts and bolts. I strongly believe that the quality and service required producing a job, such as a job with a huge photographic budget for instance, needs care and attention throughout the production process, not just some stranger in an office miles away forwarding e-mails as instructions to whoever is the cheapest price
What was the best business deal that you’ve pulled off?
We produced a lot of marketing material for Rothmans back in the days when they sponsored the Williams F1 team. Luckily for me no one at the creative agency was a big fan so I used to get all sorts of passes, which led to some amazing experiences that money can’t buy – and I never wasted one. Unfortunately I have to pay these days!
