I was born in Lytham in 1961. My family has lived and operated our family business in Lytham since 1871 originally growing tomatoes but more recently as a garden centre and landscaping business. I am the fourth generation of my family to be involved in the business.
I come from a BIG family with 7 brothers, of whom I am the youngest and one sister (poor Helen!) who is even younger. I went to St Peters RC Primary School in Lytham and later to the Catholic College in Preston.
After leaving school I completed an engineering cadetship in the Merchant Navy. During my 4 years in the Navy I visited places as far a field as Canada, Australia and even transported frozen lamb from New Zealand to Iran!
After leaving the Navy I studied Mechanical Engineering at Leeds University where I gained a Honours degree. While I was visiting home I met my future wife, Sarah in the famous Talbot pub which is currently being changed into a coffee shop and jewellers – and so perhaps will not be the same place for the young people of Lytham to meet their future spouses!
The day after I got the result for my degree I married Sarah, went on honeymoon and was starting work (inevitably in the family business) within a fortnight. Sarah and I have three children Adam, Chloe and Jacob and a cat called Sadie.
Both Sarah and I are keen walkers and at the moment we are working our way around the County – why bother going to the lakes when there are plenty of beautiful places to visit within our own county?.
I have always had an interest in politics but it was only relatively recently that this was brought into focus when I became increasingly frustrated by a derelict house on Dock Road which was being used to sell drugs and had a number of rats in residence. At the time my family and I also lived in Dock Road and despite many requests the Council did not seem to take any action. As a result I decided that I would stand as a local Councillor and see if I could sort out this problem myself, and also perhaps help other people who found themselves in similar circumstances.
I was elected to Fylde Borough Council in May 1991 where I was mainly involved in the areas of tourism, leisure and the environment. I enjoyed my time as a Borough Councillor and looking back have a number of developments I am proud of, not least helping to establish the Lytham YMCA. I am also Chairman of Friends of Green Drive and serve on the Committee that looks after Lytham in Bloom, both of which play an important part in helping make Lytham a better place.
My time as a Borough Councillor only made me more enthusiastic about local government and helping other people – so much so that in May 2005 I stood as a candidate in the County Council elections for Lytham and won!
I am proud to serve the people of Lytham and look forward to working with representatives from both the Borough Council and County Council so that hopefully we can be more efficient and continue to improve the quality of life for the people of Lytham and Lancashire.
