Quest to recapture greatness of city

Apr 27 2009 By Christopher Knox, The Journal

Companies in Newcastle city centre have voted to establish the busiest and one of the most ambitious Business Improvement Districts in the country. Christopher Knox meets the man behind it, Sean Bullick.

The Questionnaire

What car do you drive?
I don’t, I ride a Ducati Monster.

What’s your favourite restaurant?
Inopia; fantastic tapas in Barcelona.

Who or what makes you laugh?
My children.

What’s your favourite book?
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene.

What’s your favourite film?
Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources.

What was the last album you bought?
Pink Moon - Nick Drake.

What’s your ideal job, other than your current one?
Running the Louvre.

If you had a talking parrot, what’s the first thing you’d teach it to say?
"You’re not the Messiah, you’re a very naughty boy."

What’s your greatest fear?
Drowning.

What’s the best piece of business advice you have ever received?
Have a plan.

Worst business advice?
Buy RBS shares.

What’s your poison?
A bottle of Rivet Catcher followed by a good Loire Valley red.

What newspaper do you read, other than The Journal?
Le Monde.

How much was your first pay packet and what was it for?
I can’t remember, but it was as a waiter in Pizza Hut and the rate was £1.37 an hour.

How do you keep fit?
I swim.

What’s your most irritating habit?
Tuneless humming must be up there.

Which historical or fictional character do you most admire?
Martin Luther King.

And which four famous people would you most like to dine with?
Celebrity doesn’t really do it for me; I’d rather dine with family and friends.

How would you like to be remembered?
As someone who didn’t give up.