Serving the Teesside Business Community | 21
Smile – “I’ve never had a bad day at
work,” says Teesside’s Mr Positive.
freely gives of his time to mentor a host of
emerging businesses.
“There’s a brilliant business community
on Teesside,” he says. “We’re very close-
knit and we help each other. Tees Valley
Business Club has 160 people attending
every month and if you don’t sign up, you
miss out. I don’t need to go because we
generally don’t have any clients in Teesside,
but I love giving back.
“I think Teesside first – if I can do it
locally, I will – and then it’s the wider North-
East, the North, England, Scotland – it
ripples out.”
His enthusiasm is infectious and it’s easy
to see why he is so highly regarded among
fellow business leaders – and why people
love working with him.
“I’ve been running this company for 25
years and I can count on one hand the
number of people who’ve left by choice,” he
says proudly.
“I treat everybody with respect – the
workforce, the storemen, the foremen, the
accounts clerks, the receptionist, our PA,
everybody – and I never lose my temper,
shout or bang the table.
“My whole ethos is that people don’t
come to work for me, they come to work
with me. I’ve never been called boss – I’m
just one of the team.”
Recognition - Bill Scott (left) chats to Paul Griffiths, a
fellow recipient of a Queen’s New Year’s Honour.
Having cut the workforce from around
400 to around 20 when the oil price
plummeted, there are now something like
200 on the payroll and he has big plans for
the future, including investing in a number
of exciting new ventures.
“We’ve got lots planned and it’s been a
long journey, but we’ll get back up to where
we were,” he says.
And he’s absolutely positive about that.