Name: Tony English Position: MD Purcon Consultants Ltd, Repton Place, Amersham Born: January 24, 1959 - London Education: Harrow County Grammar and Kingsfield Grammar, Bristol; BA Business Studies, Wolverhampton Polytechnic; Post-graduate course in Operations Research at North London Polytechnic Lives: Monks Risborough, married with two children I left home at 17 when my parents moved back to London and I decided to stay on in Bristol.

I was one of five kids and the house was getting a bit crowded. I stayed in Bristol and got a job in a garage, both selling cars and going to auctions - poorly, I hasten to add. It was not top of the range car sales but it was good fun.

Then I decided I needed to continue my education and went to do my degree, majoring in marketing.

After college it was very important to get one year of work experience and I secured a position as a marketing assistant with a company which made hydraulic lifts.

There was very little training and I realised that the more emphasis you put on the people, the more successful a company will be. You only achieve through the staff and the people at that company were not a happy bunch.

Having completed my one year sentence, a friend and I decided to travel around the USA and Canada for three months. We covered Canada and 24 states in the US by car jockeying, and doing the odd job.

When I returned I was offered two jobs - one as regional manager with William Hill and one at Matchbox Toys. I decided to go to Matchbox Toys as sales and marketing analyst at the age of 23.

At the time it was the largest 'car producer in the world' which was incredibly exciting. It was very fast moving and customer focused. It was great fun if you were young at heart.

I learned about customer service. When you are dealing with high street chains if you do not get your product there in time, someone else will. It was my first professional exposure to the supply chain business.

As a business we had factories across the UK, in the Far East and California - the challenge was getting the product to market through three time zones. We were managing somewhere in the region of 15,000 products in six languages and you have to learn patience when dealing with different cultures. It was the days before e-mail and fax.

I was with the company for about seven years in total and was promoted several times. My final position was being in charge of worldwide production, planning and inventory control and I managed a staff of seven in the UK.

The most important lesson I learned was that you can't force people to do things. You have to encourage and motivate them. I also became closely involved with the financial aspects of budgeting and cost control, especially when times were tough.

While at Matchbox, I took time out for two months to go to Bordeaux to stay with a family of fishermen who lived on trading eels. I used to go out fishing with the grandmother for lamprey eels on the Dordogne.

I learned that it is very important to have interests outside work to get a proper perspective on things. Work is not the be all and end all.

I joined the Purcon register and database to see what was on offer in the marketplace and after six months or so, the then MD of Purcon approached me to discuss whether I would be interested in joining them as a recruitment consultant in 1988.

At the time, there were three directors and myself. I was thrown in at the deep end and it was sink or swim.

It reinforced my view that you have to invest in people if you want to be successful.

I found my niche in terms of developing customer relationships, and forging those relationships with both candidates and clients.

The company's core business then was recruitment, specialising in the purchasing and supply chain, from raw materials to delivery, and that was what I was brought in to do.

In 1995 I became a director, after being promoted several times. The following year, fellow director Lyn Futter and I led a management buy-out.

We both recognised the future potential of the business. We understood we had a powerful brand - we were the largest specialist recruitment company in our field and we had a very loyal and enthusiastic staff.

The business remains first and foremost a people business and has grown from the original 12 when I joined to 43 staff. We have offices in the Midlands, Yorkshire, Paris and Antwerp.

We have expanded the brand name and developed our training and consultancy services. We have also expanded our Internet and e-procurement and e-business generally.

I think you have to recognise that success comes through the people you employ and the recognition of the innovation and enthusiasm they bring. It is contagious.