Issue 53 | Page 7

1 : WHAT DO YOU DO ?

A :

I ’ m a solicitor and the managing partner of Jacksons Law Firm .

2 : WHO HAVE YOU WORKED FOR IN THE PAST ?

A :

I ’ ve been with Jacksons since I graduated from university , so my previous job was as a restaurant pot washer and general dogsbody 35 years ago , while I was a student .

3 : BEST PART OF YOUR JOB ?

A :

The people that I work with and the satisfaction of seeing a difficult job for a client progressed through to a successful conclusion .

4 : IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR JOB THAT YOU REALLY DON ’ T LIKE ?

A :

The amount of administration required to deal with all of the compliance and regulatory obligations to which the legal profession is subject . I appreciate that it ’ s there for good reason , but it ’ s such a time-consuming chore .

5 : FAVOURITE THING ABOUT WORKING IN OUR REGION ?

A : The amazing countryside that ’ s right on our doorstep . I enjoy doing a bit of MAMIL cycling and the cycling country around here is awesome .

6 : WHO ’ S YOUR FAVOURITE TWEETER ?

A :

Tweety Pie ( a very poor attempt at a joke that will be totally lost on anyone not brought up on 1970s Looney Tunes cartoons ). Serious answer , I don ’ t really follow any Tweeters . There are a few podcasters that I follow , mostly sporting , such as “ That Peter Crouch Podcast ” and “ Boro Breakdown ”.

7 : FOUR FAMOUS PEOPLE YOU ’ D LOVE TO HAVE ROUND FOR DINNER AND WHY ?

A : A dinner party should be fun , so I ’ d have Peter Kay , John Bishop , Sarah Millican and the incomparable Bob Mortimer : then I ’ d just sit back and listen .

8 : IF YOU COULD DO SOMETHING ELSE IN BUSINESS , WHAT WOULD IT BE ?

A :

Football ’ s a business , isn ’ t it ? In which case I ’ d be Middlesbrough and England ’ s first quinquagenarian centre forward ( I had to Google the word for a person in his 50s ).

9 : HAVE YOU EVER DONE ANYTHING REALLY DARING ?

A :

I was once shadowed by a terrifyingly big tiger shark while scuba diving off the coast of Australia . I was told afterwards that it was simply being curious , but to my mind the only thing that would stoke the curiosity of a shark is something that it thinks that it can eat .

10 : WHAT ’ S THE BEST PIECE OF BUSINESS ADVICE YOU ’ VE BEEN GIVEN ?

A :

Communicate . If people know what ’ s happening and understand the reasons why , they ’ re much more likely to pull with you than push against you .

11 : IF MONEY WAS NO OBJECT , WHAT WOULD BE YOUR IDEAL CAR ?

A :

James Bond ’ s Aston Martin DB5 . I ’ d use the machine guns on all of those drivers who think that it ’ s OK to cut in right at the front of a long traffic queue .

13 : DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE BAND OR TYPE OF MUSIC ?

A :

I listen to all sorts of music from my era , which is the late 70s through to the early naughties . After that all music started to sound the same to me ( and to think how exasperated I used to get when my dad used to say the same thing me ).

14 : WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT ?

A :

Raising my three children to be the wonderful , considerate young adults that they now are ; although , to be fair , that ’ s far more their achievement than mine .

15 : HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FOUR WORDS ?

A :

“ Handsome , charismatic , revered , genius ”: I was also going to add “ fantasist ”, but I ’ d used up all of my allocated words .

16 : WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS ?

A :

Hopefully where I am now . I ’ ve had the very good fortune to spend 35 very happy and fulfilling years working with Jacksons , but there ’ s still so much left for us to do and so much more that we can achieve .

17 : WHO ’ S THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON YOU ’ VE EVER MET ?

A :

It would probably be Tony Blair , but I was far more star struck when I met George Friend ( iconic Middlesbrough full back , for those who don ’ t know ).

18 : DO YOU HAVE ANY GUILTY PLEASURES ?

A :

There ’ s a Greggs just around the corner from our office . I have to forcefully ration myself to one visit per week ( my Friday treat ).

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 7