Peter Cakebread, managing director, Marshall Leasing

What is your biggest achievement in your current role?
Building a company with great staff, delivering superb customer service.

Who has had the biggest influence on your career?
So many people, especially those I first worked with at Herondrive.

What’s your dream holiday?
Travelling around the Far East.

Who was the last person you received a text message from?
My wife.

What is your favourite sitcom and why?
Blackadder. Simply chock full of great lines.

What is your favourite film and why?
LA Confidential. I love the way it draws you in and it has great performances.

You are on a desert island – what three things do you take with you?
A great hi-fi (plus all the music of course), a library full of books, and a wine cellar.

When was the last time you took public transport and where were you going?
I took the bus when going to see Singing in the Rain on Saturday.

What is the first thing you would do if you were made Prime Minister for the day?
Reduce unnecessary bureaucracy. It’s tying business in knots.

If you won the Lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?
A holiday travelling around the Far East (in suitable luxury, naturally).

What was your biggest mistake in business and what did you learn from it?
I wrote a deal thinking it would involve 50 cars, and it ended up being 1,500. Always expect the unexpected.

What is your best childhood memory?
Holidays on the beach on the south coast.

What is your favourite restaurant dish?
King prawns with chilli.

How would you describe your leadership style?
Open and inclusive, always happy to hear an alternative viewpoint.

What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
Relax more, and trust your judgment.

What is your favourite book?
Catch-22.

What would you say is your guilty pleasure?
French chocolates, especially salted caramel truffles.

Who was your childhood hero?
Bobby Moore. A great footballer and a real gentleman.

What one object couldn’t you live without?
Sadly, it’s my Blackberry.

If you could work in another profession what would it be?
Wine merchant, but I doubt it would be good for me.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever been given?
I remember being very excited with an Aston Martin DB5 007 model car.

What is your dream car?
Got to be a Ferrari, in red of course.

What has been the pivotal moment in your life?
When I left university I joined a graduate trainee programme at the Heron Corporation. It placed me at Heron Fleets, a contract hire subsidiary, for a few months and then forgot about me and left me there. All these years later I’m still in the industry. I’ve never looked back.

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