FEATURE
Business leader – Bob with 2023 InspiraTees winner Catherine Devereux .
Part of the team – Bob Cuffe ( second right ) with Tees Business colleagues before hosting the 2024 Tees Tech Awards ( from left ): Dave Allan , Martin Walker , Millie Smith , Dave Robson and Chris Garbutt .
Remember what your goals were – there ’ s a purity about what you wanted as a youngster compared to , say , what you wanted when you were 30 .
He said : “ When I was young , the only man in my world who didn ’ t wear overalls was the man from the Pru and he seemed to be doing a job far more like I wanted to do . I knew I wasn ’ t up for overalls , PPE , British Steel and ICI .”
He lists three main career highlights :
1 . Being made Gazette MD . “ Nothing matched it , not even when I was regional MD . When I got my first Gazette job as an ad rep , Mam and Dad were so proud , they took my offer letter into the Redcar Workingmen ’ s Club – including my starting salary of £ 4,500 .”
2 . Being made vice-chairman of Darlington Building Society . “ It ’ s a wonderful organisation that genuinely matters , with a really talented board , so for them to select me as vicechair , in a regulated industry , felt a huge validation by people I had utter respect for .”
3 . Being awarded the MBE in 2018 for services to business and economic development on Teesside .
There ’ ve been bumps in the road , of course , including two Gazette redundancies : “ The first one hurt , the second didn ’ t ,” he says .
But underpinning it all has been the family he dotes on : wife Linda and sons Christopher , 34 , who works in the NHS , Liam , 32 , who ’ s looked after by the North- East Autism Society – a group Bob ’ s proud to be a patron of – and Kieran , 28 , who has learning disabilities and autism .
They ’ re all off for a “ long and glorious ” Florida holiday next May and June to mark his and Linda ’ s 65th birthdays .
And as he reflects on his time involved with Teesside businesses , Bob says his local heroes are the entrepreneurs – those who dared to give it a go .
He says : “ I ’ m the first to lead applause for successful entrepreneurs because it wasn ’ t something I ever proved myself capable of doing .
“ Credit to Dave and Martin at Tees Business for what they ’ ve done , for example – how they ’ ve built a business and how hard they ’ ve worked to be the flag waver for business on Teesside .”
Reflecting on his six years as nonexecutive director of Tees Business owner Resolution Media and Publishing , he remembers how , during the Covid pandemic , a then mainly print-based business “ morphed into a true multimedia organisation ”.
“ I recall how many business leaders thanked them for keeping the business
flame alive – and helping them keep connected to others facing the same unimaginable challenges .”
He adds : “ I leave them genuinely excited about the launch of the Tees Skills magazine . For more than 20 years I ’ ve been in boardrooms discussing the challenge of linking young people with future employment opportunities .
“ Resolution has started to answer the challenge – and I ’ m pleased that most of the big players in the area supported the first product .
“ I know Dave and Martin plan to develop Tees Skills into much more next year and I ’ d ask for 100 % commitment from the key partners in this .”
Bob ’ s own priorities now will be “ family , friends and health ”. And his message to those ruthlessly chasing the dream ?
“ Remember what your goals were – there ’ s a purity about what you wanted as a youngster compared to , say , what you wanted when you were 30 .
“ I genuinely sit here now feeling pleased I ’ ve had a good career both with the day job of local media and as a non-exec , while still being true to the values of that little lad – work hard , be on time , that sort of thing .
“ Remember yourself as a kid and if you can ’ t , spend five minutes to think . The purity of those thoughts is really helpful .
“ I know people who have a lot of material things yet have a sense of frustration , but I remember the lad who just wanted a house with a garden .”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 69