Meet the entrepreneur who missed out on a football career but made it in business

“Half a Lettuce – the Life and Times of an Entrepreneur” charts Paul Sewell’s upbringing in and around Cottingham, East Yorkshire, from mingling with the barrow boys in Hull fruit market to becoming chairman of Hull-based Sewell Group and a key figure behind the Yorkshire International Business Convention and Humber Business Week.

Mr Sewell was supported in the project by his friend and colleague Alan Johnson, the former MP for Hull West and Hessle who held a number of senior roles in Government and Opposition and is now an acclaimed author.

Mr Johnson said: “From its vivid description of Hull’s fruit market in the 1950s to the way it illustrates the rise of the Sewell Group to be one of the Sunday Times top companies in Britain, this is a fascinating story, beautifully told.

“It shows how a secondary modern boy from a tough East Riding family overcame every setback to become an inspiring leader determined to nurture success in others.”

The book explores Mr Sewell’s personal and professional past, combining social history and commentary, poignant anecdotes and business insights.

He covers the lessons learned from success and failure in transforming a small building firm into a group operating in construction, Public Private Partnership, development, facilities management and petrol retail.

Sewell Group today employs around 500 people and has a turnover of £100m.

Self-published using the services of Whitefox, “Half a Lettuce” is limited to a print run of 1,000.

Copies are being distributed initially to private contacts and business associates and can be ordered from Sewell Group.

The book doesn’t have a cover price but donations are being encouraged in aid of the Hull Animal Welfare Trust, the organisation formed by Mr Sewell’s wife Sue in 1982 and established as a charity in 1992.

Mr Sewell said: “The book is in no way a commercial venture and all donations will go to my wife’s charity the Hull Animal Welfare Trust.

“They say everybody has a book in them and that’s true for we all have a story to tell.”