Profile - Michael Woodhead: The man who's happy to put his money where his mouth is

He agreed to become chairman of Robertson Baxter Financial Services because he thought the two men behind it were "very bright". He has since lived up to his word by putting his own money into their hands.

Cynics might decry it as a good PR move but on meeting Mr Woodhead it becomes clear that it's more about backing his own judgment. That talent for decision-making has made him a wealthy man – as well as benefitting several Yorkshire charities – and it's not something he wants to give-up, despite the fact he is swiftly approaching 60.

Mr Woodhead has been investing in, building and helping to run businesses since he started out as a stockbroker's clerk more than three decades ago.

It's a career that has taken in spells at several plcs, such as house-builder Tay Homes (later bought by rival Redrow), and extra work like being chairman of the Prince's Trust in Yorkshire.

He is best known, however, for all the years spent at BWD, later Rensburg, which he helped turn into one of the North's major stockbrokers, before eventually running down his shareholding.

Now he is back in financial services, as a director of Greg Robertson and Stephen Baxter's wealth management firm, and also one of their customers, in his native Huddersfield.

"I wanted somebody to look after my money that I built up – more for when I passed on so they could look after my wife rather than anybody else. They are looking after my investments, so it is good enough for me."

It's easy to talk about trust in post-crash world but, again, Mr Woodhead demonstrated his belief in the two men by working for free for the first year. Since then, the firm has built turnover to nearly 500,000, after three years of trading, with a business model of outsourcing investment management to so-called discretionary fund managers, who have the authority to take quick decisions for clients.

Robertson Baxter has grown on the back of work for entrepreneurs, owner-managers, managing directors and the bosses of family firms, as well as retired people and young directors in West Yorkshire and Harrogate, with 100,000 upwards to invest. It has about 110 clients with 50m of funds under management and is on course to increase turnover from 320,000 last year to 475,000 for 2009-10.

Mr Woodhead is not an adviser on individual investments but is there for the strategic decisions which – given the recession, David Cameron's warning that the cuts could change Britain's identity and the expected reform of financial services – one presumes have come very quickly. It's also preferable to the alternative – retirement.

"My children are grown up and we have grandchildren, so I am not needed at home. I can't see myself pruning the dahlias and cutting the grass for the rest of my life.

"I love business. It's a good balance between a bit of golf, charity things I get involved in, and the business hones the mind to keep me occupied.

"At Robertson Baxter, I enjoy the challenge of how you are going to improve the company and the excitement of working with two young guys at the later end of my career."

Mr Woodhead is active in several other areas, however. His charitable trust has handed out between 300,000 and 400,000 on projects, mainly in Huddersfield, like funding for a patient transport ambulance, and he is also a lay council member of Huddersfield University.

He also used his negotiating skills to bring Prince Charles to Leeds. He made a royal visit one of the conditions for taking on a role with the Prince's Trust in Yorkshire and was subsequently rewarded for his efforts with an invitation to a party at Highgrove.

Keeping such lofty company must surely have exceeded the expectations when he left school at 16, "just wanting to get into work".

After a spell as a stockbroker's clerk, he went on to buy a post office in the early 1970s, having borrowed all but 500 of the 7,500 needed. He later went back into stockbroking, although he kept on the other business, and it was now things really started to take off.

Mr Woodhead owned half of BWD Securities before it floated in 1989. It meant long hours and not seeing much of his family but the strain took its toll and he stepped down from running the firm that year because of a suspected heart attack. When he says his wife "did not want to be left a widow", it's clear he is not joking.

Over the course of a long period, he gradually reduced is shareholding in BWD, which bought Rensburg in 1990 and went on to become Rensburg Sheppards.

Earlier this year, the firm agreed its sale to Anglo-South African investment bank Investec, a move which would end more than 170 years of independence, in a deal valuing it at 412m.

It might sound like the end of an era but that is inevitably the way life goes for entrepreneurs who are involved in several ventures over the course of a career. However much affection they have for a firm, there comes a point when you have to distance yourself.

"Generally, all businesses are the same," Mr Woodhead said. "You have to sell something, you have some expenses and you have to turn a profit."

MICHAEL WOODHEAD

Title: chairman, Robertson Baxter Financial Services

Date of birth: 21.10.50

School: Kayes College, Huddersfield

First job: stockbroker's clerk, A Dawson & Co, Huddersfield

Last book read: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis

Favourite holiday destination: Barbados

Car driven: black Audi A5

Favourite film: Forrest Gump directed by Robert Zemeckis

Most proud of: my family, including sons aged 31 and 33, and a daughter aged 23, and five grandchildren