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Essex and the City!
People Behind The City: In the latest of our series introducing key players of the regional business scene, we meet Andrew Palmer who recently became regional director of the CBI, based in Leeds
Tell us about your formative years.
I am an Essexman! I grew up in Hutton which is close to Shenfield, although my father's side of the family originated from near Holt, in Norfolk, not far from Cromer.
Many summer holidays were spent on the east coast, which was great fun.
In Essex, I used to go out with my father and gamekeepers shooting and rabbiting – usually getting cold and wet.
My father, who spent some time in the special forces, was great to be with as he could identify any bird not only by plumage but by their distinguishing calls and, in addition, recognise fungi and trees.
He also had a job where he was often called upon to give talks on insects and to illustrate these he would bring some live creepy-crawlies home. I remember stroking hissing Madagascan cockroaches but hated the spiders!
I joined the local church choir which, in a way, became my first job as we got paid – and quite a bit for weddings.
I soon took up the organ and ended up playing for weddings which was certainly the more lucrative option.
Playing the clarinet introduced me to jazz as I teamed up with friends who played the piano and double bass.
Being in a local orchestra, as well, gave me an eclectic love of music: classical, opera, jazz, pop.
That's why being a governor at Leeds College of Music is a fantastic position to have.
It's a must for anyone who has not been to a concert there, in the city's cultural sector, as one of the college's strengths is that it caters for all tastes and has an excellent jazz department.
It really puts the city on the map for music and we should all be proud that we have its distinctive brand and music offering. Leeds would be the poorer without it.
As to sport, nearly everyone in Essex supported West Ham – I still do and what's amazing is how many business folk in Yorkshire support the Hammers too.
Although I will never probably go back to Essex, as God's own country is wonderful, it does have one of the best county signs, the three scimitars, so I'm proud to be an Essex boy.
I landed my first job after talking to the vicar's wife (Mary] at the church where I was organist. She suggested I contacted the principal scientist at the Blood Transfusion Centre, based in Brentwood, for whom she worked.
It wasn't long before I had applied and I eventually joined as a junior scientist working my way up to a senior position and eventually gaining my Fellowship to the Institute of Bio-Medical Scientists.
I am amazed at how much I still know about the numerous blood groups there are. It's not just the four main ones – A, B, O, AB – there's lots more.
Tell us about the CBI and how you came to the organisation.
The CBI is a business lobbying organisation whose purpose is to create a better economic environment for British business.
We work with the UK Government, international legislators and policymakers, to help UK businesses to compete effectively.
Our members benefit from our influence, a wealth of expertise and business events.
I joined the Yorkshire Post as a business journalist (after retraining on leaving the Transfusion Service) and whilst there I got to know the CBI well. When Penny Hemming said she had a deputy post vacant in 1999, and encouraged me to apply, I did so and was successful, which takes me up to the present.
Explain your business philosophy.
To be a good listener, not take yourself too seriously, to enthuse and run with ideas.
Also to recognise genuine effort and honesty.
I would like people I work with to know what drives me, what I stand for and what I am passionate about. I like the attitude, if things go wrong, to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start all over again.
In essence, to get the balance right between hard work and having fun.
If you weren't doing the job you are doing now, where might you be – or where might you like to have been?
Conductor of a major orchestra or organist of Westminster Abbey. I think I must be a control freak! The power of controlling people's emotions through the mighty sound of an organ or brass section of an orchestra is a great feeling.
What do you feel are the major business issues which affect Leeds and the country in general?
At the moment it is credit and access to finance. Without urgent intervention from the Government, the credit crunch hitting companies will get even worse over the next three months.
We have urged the Government to move as quickly as possible to set out when the various support packages to tackle the credit crunch will come into effect, and to implement them quickly.
Day by day, constrained credit is damaging our economy. A lack of clarity creates a "fear the worst" mentality and could be costing people their jobs.
The cost of finance has increased sharply for many businesses, particularly for new lines of credit.
Problems with trade credit insurance continue. This threatens companies' ability to secure contracts and supply customers.
Of course, there are other areas, too, such as underfunded infrastructure, climate change and sustainability.
If you had the power to tackle the issues listed above, how would you go about it?
We at the CBI are calling on the Government to put forward a clear timetable showing when different measures aimed at repairing credit flows will come into effect.
This would increase business and consumer confidence, and help companies plan for the future, instead of firms simply cutting activity because they fear the worst and are not clear when the situation may improve.
On trade credit insurance, CBI is recommending a "top-up" scheme, along the lines of the French model, which we believe would be the most appropriate form of intervention.
We need to see joined-up policy-making to have a stronger economy alongside social progress and a better environment and to help business contribute more effectively to those goals.
The challenge is to get the right balance between market frameworks and tax and regulation. So, for example, if there are to be green taxes, then it has to be because they are the best tool to change behaviour, not simply as a means to raise revenue.
Who in the world most impresses you a) in business and b) in life generally?
No one person in either category stands out, but people who inspire others and follow their dreams, such as cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, for his sheer determination, or Dee Caffari, the first woman to sail solo non-stop around the world against the prevailing winds and currents, come to mind.
Anyone who shows, grit, true diplomacy, leadership and enthusiasm.
Also people who soldier on, like my mum, without complaint but who have suffered one of life's terrible blows such as multiple sclerosis.
Away from the office, where are we most likely to find you?
I love running and have had my arm twisted by the new Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Tourist Board, Gary Verity, to run the New York Marathon for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
I will enjoy getting back to the training, especially running the many different routes I have devised around Ripon, where I live. I have different courses starting with six miles going up to 22 miles but all end at Fountains Abbey.
There is nothing greater than running down Heartbreak Hill, the long drive from Fountains Abbey to Studley Roger, where halfway along a gatehouse perfectly frames Ripon Cathedral. There is nothing else to see, just the cathedral a couple of miles away.
The view always inspires me for the last mile and a half.
I am a great Germanophile and have many German friends who I visit regularly and particularly love Hamburg and Munich, although I love Paris, too, and like to explore a Greek island once a year to catch up on reading.
You're hosting a dinner party and can invite one extra person from history – either living or dead. Who would you invite... and why?
JS Bach, who was not only a genius, composer and teacher but an entrepreneur, too. He apparently found 36-hour days in which to fulfil his unending tasks.
He is a man who composed music which is good for all moods and all types of emotion and transcends all ages.
I would also ask him how to tackle one of his many fugues for organ which can be fiendishly difficult.
MY CV
ANDREW PALMER
Date of birth: 25.10.65.
Education: Sheffield University.
Career: Senior scientist, National Blood Authority; Journalist, Yorkshire Post; CBI Assistant Regional Director; CBI Regional Director.
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