He started life as a motorbike racer, but Mark Henderson is now at the helm of the UK’s fifth largest social housing association. He tells Ruth Lognonne why he traded in his leather jacket for public lettings.

The Questionnaire

What car do you drive?
Audi A3 and a sunday car

Who or what makes you laugh?
Viz magazine

What’s your favourite book?
Gordon Cullen “Townscape” (it’s about what cities should look like)

What’s your ideal job, other than the one you’ve got?
MotoGP Team Principal (on the basis that I’m too old and fat to ride the bike)

If you had a talking parrot, what’s the first thing you would teach it to say?
“Have you tidied your room Kate” (my daughter)

What’s your greatest fear?
Nothing to be honest

What’s the best piece of business advice you have ever received?
The most important rule is to break all the rules

And the worst?
“It’s been like that since 1926, there’s no need to change it now”

What’s your poison?
Ice-cold Stella

What newspapers do you read, other than The Journal?
The Times

How much was your first pay packet and what was it for?
£26 a week as a planning technician, the B&B was £30

How do you keep fit?
Running between trains, planes, tubes and meetings

What’s your most irritating habit?
As a new tweeter, a rather childish competition with a colleague for new followers – @markghenderson!

What’s your biggest extravagance?
Watching Newcastle United

Which historical or fictional character do you most identify with or admire?
Rosa Parks

Which four famous people would you most like to dine with?
Madeleine Peyroux, Voltaire, pictured, Nelson Mandela, Barry Sheene, pictured

How would you like to be remembered?
He got a bit better at golf towards the end.