Tees Life Tees Life issue 3 | Page 27

TEESLIFE QUIZ Raj’s answers are in bold Transporter Bridge or Newport Bridge? North Yorkshire coast or North York Moors? Saltburn or Redcar? The past or the future? Live to work or work to live? Teesside or Tees Valley? Beer or wine? Working early or working late? Buying or selling? Parmo or a lemon top? Captain Cook or Steve Gibson? Twitter or Facebook? Neither. Brains or beauty? Talking or listening? PEOPLE IN LIFE The people I most like to spend time with are…my family. I’ve got two boys and two girls. I love having meals out with them. The biggest influence on my career was…well, the late ex-Boro chairman Colin Henderson was certainly one of them. He used to drink in Redcar Cricket Club when I was an up-and-coming young buck. He’d done well in life, through his time at ICI where he was chief executive and at the time he was running four or five petrol stations. I got to know him really well, learning from him over a drink. He was always helpful and I used to love to pick his brains. The person no longer with us who I’d most like to spend another hour with is…my grandfather. He was a headmaster back in India. He was an educated guy who people looked up to and took advice from. He came over here from Punjab in the early 1950s before my father. He died in 1975 when I was still young. Unlike him, I’m not educated but people who knew him sometimes compare me to him. He never got to see anything of my own success so it would be nice to have an hour with him. The person who makes me laugh…is Stuart Stamp, the father of WORKING LIFE former Middlesbrough footballer Phil Stamp. He is hilarious – a Chubby Brown-type character. He lived close to my first shop in Redcar and later had the Market Tavern pub in North Ormesby. You could go in there depressed and come out laughing your head off. He was so, so funny. The people who inspire me…are those who work their way up from the bottom to the top, rather than being born with a silver spoon in their mouth - people like Colin Henderson and Sir John Hall. One of my proudest moments was when I was in charge at Darlington Football Club and Sir John came along to Wembley as my guest for the FA Trophy final. As we shared a hug when we scored, and won the trophy I remember thinking how I couldn’t have imagined sharing a moment like that with such a successful man. The people who make me angry are…those who are always blaming other people or their circumstances for the fact they haven’t been successful in life. My greatest achievement has been…hopefully my overall business life but the first care home I invested in on Longlands Road in Middlesbrough back in 1994 was a big step up at the time. It could have gone one way or the other, but fortunately it went the right way. I got out of the shop I had and sold all the houses I had to put everything into that care home. If it hadn’t worked out, who knows where I would be now. Thankfully, it was a success and I’ve now got care homes across Teesside, with more in the pipeline. My biggest disappointment…has got to be my time as chairman of Darlington Football Club. We set off with a vision and a dream but, for one reason or another, it didn’t happen. I had cut my losses and get out, so it ended in tears. Given the right circumstances, I’d be prepared to go back again because I do have a sense of unfinished business. My greatest regret…I don’t really have regrets. I’ve always just gone for it. It hasn’t always worked out but I’ve not regretted trying. My business mantra is…look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves. Also that you have to lead from the front. If you’re willing to do anything and everything yourself then your team will follow. The alternative career I might have had was…football if I’d been good enough. I was only 20 when I damaged my cruciate playing football. The truth is that I’d have made it before then if I’d been good enough, of course, but – like we all do – I like to think I had it! I played Sunday league football, mainly as a forward or in midfield, for the likes of Red Barns. I also remember playing kick-abouts for Whinney Banks Under-18s with (the late Middlesbrough FC radio commentator) Ali Brownlee. 27