JB & The Doubters

About the Book

His happy childhood disrupted by the War, our author was evacuated from a potential invasion area to an Oxfordshire farm. At the age of eight, he came to terms with not seeing his parents for three months at a time, and the realities of rationing. But while he learned discipline and responsibility here, he found friendship and hospitality among the US military personnel. The lessons and impressions of these years remained with him throughout his career.

For a time an Army chef, National Service was followed by spells of training at the renowned Lausanne School, and the learning process continued through the hotels and restaurants in England and Europe - Switzerland, Austria, Spain.

A key achievement came at the age of 28. Joining The Skyway, London's first airport hotel, as general manager, he achieved a remarkable 98.6% occupancy rate; and was responsible for winning the catering and duty free liquor contract for the new terminal building, No 3, London Airport.

Time - aged 34 - to jump onto the corporate ladder. As MD of a major brewery company's loss-making subsidiary, within four years the business evolved into a highly profitable and award-winning concern.

With no scope for advancement and the challenge of running his own business to come, self-employment beckoned. Brian's first two ventures foundered due to circumstances beyond his control but, with little finance, he then started a third company. JB Sandwich Packaging became a resounding success, at its peak selling 250 million wraps annually, worldwide. Then there was farming…

About the Author

Brian's account of his early years during the War shows us how the man was made. Through the various stages of training - including leaving private schooling without academic qualifications - his talents are groomed, his ambitions grow.

Always enthusiastic and enterprising, he proves his worth in prestigious hotels in England and abroad, The Doubters encountered only fuelling his progress.

At corporate level, we see a man able to direct and guide, always seeking new opportunities. As he documents his rising career path, we have an insight into a changing world; the emergence of theme pubs and restaurants blend with the industrial disputes of England on the move.

Brian's sense of humour is apparent as the tale, liberally sprinkled with entertaining anecdotes, weaves through his colourful working years, as he realises his ambitions - and more. We follow him as he travels the world through countries and cultures, importing and exporting and encountering people from all walks of life - swindlers, celebrities, captains of industry, ordinary folk, he met them all.

As a self-employed businessman and farmer, he reveals the misery of failure and the adrenaline rush of success.

Hobbies: stamp collecting and - earlier - cross-country running, tennis and golf. His particular passion was sailing - around the European coastline, crossing the Atlantic.

Now in his Seventies, his children grown, he enjoys living on and wandering around the Continent.

A good man can never be put down - and neither can his book!