Two big themes have run through my life – music and travel. I love the former and came, eventually, to hate the latter.
Ever since singing in my local choir from the age of seven, I've been passionate about music. I play a number of instruments including guitar, mandolin, drums, piano and penny whistle. I'm also lead singer in a band called Cactus Jack.
I'm keen on all sorts of music from folk to country to the stuff I play solo in working men's clubs and golf clubs – everything from Elvis Presley through Bryan Ferry and Neil Diamond to Mumford and Sons.
I've always loved performing and I particularly like interacting with the audience. When I first joined a band, the lead guitarist would change his instrument regularly and that meant I had to talk to the audience to fill in time. At first, that terrified me but, now, I regard it as one of the best aspects of performing.
Mind you, the audiences do vary a lot. I remember turning up at one venue to find a single spectator. But he was a great audience, clapping enthusiastically after every song.
As for travel, work has taken me around the world, from the USA in the west, right across Europe and eastwards to China. Nevertheless, I've always returned to the vicinity of my birthplace – Jarrow on the banks of the River Tyne in north-east England. My current home is just a couple of miles away in Hebburn.
Happiest days of my working life
I missed out on grammar school. To be honest, I probably didn't work as hard as I might have and, although I was disappointed, I believe this gave me the drive to do my best from then on.
I studied mechanical and electrical engineering before working in the Jarrow ship repair yards as an apprentice fitter. The four years of my apprenticeship were among the happiest of my working life. That transition into the adult world, constantly learning new things and working with some great characters in the shipyard – nothing could beat it.
However, in the early 1980s the Tyne shipping industry was in its death throes and I needed a change so I got a job at the Royal Ordnance factory in Birtley making anti-tank weaponry. I liked it there, but it gradually dawned on me that I was involved in the manufacture of stuff that killed people and my conscience eventually got the better of me, so I went to work for Fisher-Price Toys. It was a relief to move from making armaments designed to see people out of this world to manufacturing toys for babies coming into it.
After stints at Philips Components and Black & Decker, I went to Thorn Lighting in 2003. After a couple of years I was asked to open a factory in Romania. I had to live there for around six months, but tolerated it because my wife and son were able to visit regularly.
In 2008, Thorn moved into a purpose-built factory in Spennymoor. I was subsequently promoted and found myself responsible for three sites – in Spennymoor, France and Sweden. That was when overseas travel really began to dominate my life.
Here's a lighthearted summary of my experience with the French. After being treated abominably in hotels, at airports and so on, I concluded that the way they thought about customer service was: 'I have something you want. You must want it because you're willing to pay for it. Therefore, I'm doing you a favour by letting you have it.'
Once I understood this mindset, I was able to change my style accordingly. I also got a cultural education with the Swedes. They tend to be consensus-based so you have to take time to involve people and get the buy-in.
One of Thorn's biggest achievements during this period was winning the Best Factory Award for the Spennymoor site in 2009. That was a career highlight for me because the process is exceptionally rigorous and Cranfield [which provides the judges] is highly respected in the manufacturing world. It gave us a lot of credibility.
It was around this time that travel again became a big part of my life as I was promoted and given responsibility for factories in New Zealand, Australia and two in China – seven in all. Some months, I would be travelling for eight out of 20 working days. It was gruelling and was one of the reasons I felt it was time to leave Thorn (in February this year).
Now I am benefitting from the best of both worlds – more time for my music because my travelling days are over at last.
