Philathropist Graham Leslie opens up about his early days – including cutting a young Chris Rea’s hair
Graham Leslie has penned a book about growing up in Middlesbrough including cutting the late Chris Rea’s hair when he was a child
From renting out copies of Lady Chatterley’s Lover to his school friends Graham Leslie went on to use his business brain to launch one of the UK’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. Now the entrepreneur and philanthropist has penned a book about his memories including growing up on Teesside and his first job as a stylist, cutting a young Chris Rea’s hair.
The autobiography reveals how Graham completely disrupted both the pharmaceutical industry and the way football stadiums are designed. From growing up with his family in Middlesbrough, Graham went on to found one of the UK’s most successful pharmaceutical companies, Galpharm International Ltd, which he later sold for millions of pounds and has since dedicated his life to helping other businesses and charities.
Entrepreneur Graham Leslie rented books to his friends at Whinney Banks Primary School(Image: UGC)
He was Huddersfield Town chairman in the early 1990s and had the vision and determination for Huddersfield to have the first all-seater football and rugby stadium in Europe – one which would be a trailblazer for the rest to follow.
Graham’s book, called Ahead Of The Curve, reveals that his dad, Hugh, was the principal probation officer in Middlesbrough in the 1950s and Graham attended Whinney Banks School from 1951 for 10 years.
Graham, 79, has dyslexia which was undiagnosed back then and so struggled through his schooldays, often bunking off and being caught by the ‘school bobby’ whose job it was to find the truants and drag them back to school.
Graham and his younger brother Hugh with their mum, Anne(Image: UGC)
The young Graham’s first attempt at being an entrepreneur was when he got hold of copies of DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover – a notorious book at the time with the publishers prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act in 1960 – and rented them out to other pupils at Whinney Banks and nearby schools.
Graham said: “I left school with no recognised qualifications after an academic life blighted by dyslexia and came from a financially poor middle-class family. But I was so lucky I had strong values instilled in me by such wonderful parents who had endured poverty, trauma and hardship and those qualities gave me the confidence, determination and never-say-die spirit to persevere no matter what odds were stacked against me.”
Graham Leslie (back, third right) in the football team at Whinney Banks Preliminary School In Middlesbrough(Image: UGC)
After leaving school Graham became a hairdresser with Benny Lloyd who ran one of the top hairdressing salons in the North East and they were pioneers by taking their services out to people’s homes. One was with the Rea family who had two brothers living next door to one another.
Graham said: “One of the Rea sons was called Chris who would be 12 or 13 then. Little did we know as we snipped away at his hair that he’d become one of the world’s best known singers.”
Graham also played in a group called The Defenders to try to earn some more money. He was lead singer doing impersonations of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard, Adam Faith and even Eartha Kitt.
He recalls: “We did a ‘tour’ of three working men’s clubs plus Kirklevington Country Club near Yarm where we asked back twice … not to play but to be there in case the band they’d actually booked for those nights didn’t turn up.
“I think they also held my Eartha Kitt impression in reserve too in case they wanted to clear the place at the end of the night and go home early themselves.”
Graham and his younger brother Hugh being pushed down a Middlesbrough street the 1950s by their sister Annette(Image: UGC)
Graham moved to Huddersfield in 1971 and became the football club’s chairman in the early 1990s where he made the decision for the club to have the UK’s first all-seater stadium and its innovative design set the standard for all other stadiums to follow, including the new Wembley. The stadium was known as the Galpharm Stadium for 10 years and is now the Accu Stadium.
Graham, who received the CBE in 2017 for services to entrepreneurship, has constantly been a disruptor, often thinking and doing things differently to everyone else. He changed the way medicines such as ibuprofen could be sold in the UK, massively bringing down the cost and saving the NHS between an estimated £400m to £500m a year.
He’s still disrupting today and in his autobiography gives vital business tips such as how companies can double their profits in a year. Graham, who left school with no recognised qualifications, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Huddersfield and later became Resident Professor of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship there.
He tells his amazing life story with frankness and humour. It’s packed with great anecdotes and reveals how Graham has sometimes been lucky to survive both physically and financially, often against all odds.
Graham is a natural philanthropist so all proceeds from the book are going to the charity Making Waves in Huddersfield which supports the Waves day care centre for people aged 18 and over with learning and/or physical difficulties from across Huddersfield and beyond. It’s one of the most innovative day care centres in the UK.
The book costs £10.99 and is available online here
For the latest Teesside news direct to your inbox every day, sign up to our free newsletter
Join Teesside Live’s WhatsApp community for top stories and breaking news sent directly to your phone
Teesside Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.
Through the app, we’ll send you the latest breaking news, top stories, exclusives and much more straight to your phone.
To join our community group, you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Teesside Live team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Click here to join our WhatsApp community.