FEATURE
COMING UP
ROSES
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURES : TOM BANKS
Why proud Teessider Bob never forgets his garden dream
Strides – Bob Cuffe has come a long way for a young Redcar lad who only wanted a house with a garden .
He managed the newspaper he loved and has banged the drum for Teesside in boardrooms across Britain – but Bob Cuffe never forgets the kid who wanted a house with a garden .
With his 65th birthday approaching , Bob – a familiar face for decades on the Teesside business scene – has announced he ’ ll soon be stepping down from most of his work commitments , including his non-executive director role with Tees Business .
But as he reflects on his working life , he admits that for the first time , he ’ s not pushing against anyone who says he ’ s had a good career – because he made his childhood dream a reality .
He explained : “ My one ambition was to have a house with a garden . We lived in a terraced house – I loved my parents but they had absolutely no ambition . I ’ d ask , ‘ Why don ’ t we move to a house with a garden ?’ and my mam said , ‘ This is where we belong ’.
“ I loved her but I knew she was wrong – you can be the same person living in a house with a garden . I know lots of people who ’ ve done relatively well in business and they carry misery with them – a sense of gloom and frustration because they didn ’ t get the gaffer ’ s job .”
Raised in Redcar , with mum Olive a cleaner and dad George a plumber , young Robert attended the town ’ s Sir William Turner ’ s Grammar School .
He studied politics and history at Manchester University , fuelling a lifelong passion for current affairs that sometimes rears its quirky head on social media .
And when it came to his career , an ad rep ’ s job at the Evening Gazette appealed much more than the factory .
68 | Tees Business