Profile - Doug Liversidge: Man of many roles who's forged in the image of his home city

He was born in the city in 1936, and 73 years later he has moved all the way down the road to the Peak District.

In fact, I defy anyone to hold a conversation with Liversidge without the word Sheffield popping up in the first few minutes.

When we meet, Liversidge is in a state of football fever. But forget about this summer's World Cup, Liversidge is far more excited about leading Sheffield's 2018 World Cup bid following its nomination as a host city.

"We're very confident we'll get the bid," he says, beaming. "Sheffield is the home of football, it's where the rules were written in the 1860s."

He claims that Sheffield has to be one of the top contenders as it has two "first-class" grounds, excellent transport connections to both road and rail, and the Peak District National Park on its doorstep.

"Our strap-line for the bid is 'Every game is a home game'. There are 128 languages spoken in schools in Sheffield, so when players from other countries come here they will find lots of people who speak their language," he says.

Liversidge's role promoting Sheffield's 2018 bid is one of just seven jobs that he is holding down at the moment.

Another one that is very close to his heart is his role as chairman of the board of governors at Longley Park Sixth Form College.

"It was our view that the north-east of Sheffield needed better education facilities," he explains. "With the help of many others, particularly Sheffield MP David Blunkett, we managed to raise 15m from the Government to build a state-of-the-art college on the grounds of my old school, Firth Park Grammar School, which burned down years ago."

Liversidge, who left school at 15 with five O-levels to his

name, says Longley Park is giving the area's teenagers the chance to achieve their true potential.

"Being able to bring education to people in that area is very special to me," he says. "I come from that part of the city."

Since the school opened, in 2004, more than 600 pupils have gone on to study at university, a fact that makes Liversidge beam with pride.

He had far fewer opportunities and at the age of 16, he went to work at The English Steel Corporation as a laboratory assistant.

At the age of 20, he had managed to gain a scholarship to university – Sheffield, naturally – where he studied metallurgy, studying the properties of metals and their alloys.

He then joined the Army where he rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant.

"I was serving out in Libya as head of desert navigation," he says. "It was fantastic. It changed my life. I had gone from a council estate in Sheffield to serving as an Army officer in Libya. Military service was excellent for me."

When he left the Army he joined British Steel, working in various roles, while living in Todwick on the east side of Sheffield.

In his thirties, he took on several different jobs in local forging, steel and tool companies and then, in his early 40s, he met someone who

would change his life for ever, his wife Pam.

It's not often you find two Master Cutlers in the same household, but while Liversidge was Master Cutler in 1998, his wife will take on the role next year as Sheffield's first female Master Cutler.

But 30 years ago, the relationship between Liversidge and his wife-to-be was rather less cordial.

"I met Pam on April 1, 1979. When I started work at Thornton Precision Engineering in Sheffield. She was already a production engineer there. I thought she was young and naive," he admits.

In fact, Liversidge admits that he wanted her off the team.

But, fortunately, she saw through his brashness and by the time he finally got round to asking her out, she asked him why it had taken him

so long.

The Liversidge family's impact on the Sheffield community doesn't end with Pam. Liversidge's daughter, Suzanne, has won the title of Businesswoman of the Year in the city's Business Awards for two consecutive years.

Next year she will become the first female President of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce.

Aside from his philanthropic work, Liversidge is also well known in the region as chairman of both keyhole surgery specialist Surgical Innovations and Sheffield University spin-off Fusion IP.

Surgical Innovations, which won a Queens Award for Enterprise last week, is poised to launch its groundbreaking LogiFlex device in the US, the world's biggest market for surgery on obese patients.

The Leeds-based group will launch LogiFlex as soon as it receives regulatory approval. The device uses pioneering technology to help surgeons fit gastric bands on obese patients.

Liversidge believes that the key market for LogiFlex is the US, where obesity affects more than 60 million citizens and is the second largest cause of preventable death.

"It is estimated that there are 250,000 annual bariatric procedures in the US where the LogiFlex device can be used," he said.

"As a consequence, we have submitted a request for FDA approval and anticipate this will be received in the second quarter of 2010."

The company moved into the vet market earlier this year with its first keyhole operation on a reindeer at Edinburgh Zoo.

Earlier this month, Fusion IP, the Sheffield-based company that turns university research into business, said it had made its first profit.

The company, previously called Biofusion, was established by Liversidge in 2002 to commercialise university-generated intellectual

property.

Liversidge's other roles include being chairman of Quest Investments, a company he owns with his wife, which invests in engineering companies.

He is also senior adviser to the vice-chancellor of Sheffield University and he remains chairman of Tool and Steel Products, a company that he recently sold to his son.

Not content with his seven roles, Liversidge has also found the time to write a book called Revenge, which he is now editing.

He describes it as a modern thriller about a female mathematician who uses her skills to forecast hurricanes. But she turns against the US when American solders kill her mother and father in Libya.

It's a far cry from growing up on a council estate in Sheffield, but Liversidge is living proof that with a little determination you can achieve a great deal.

DOUG LIVERSIDGE

Date of Birth: 11.08.36.

Car driven: Lexus Hybrid 4x4.

Favourite film: The Big Country.

Last book read: Pelican Brief by John Grisham.

Favourite holiday destination: "I live in Florida three months of the year."

Favourite music: Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.