Interview: Graham puts his trust in giving young people hope

Sitting behind his impressive desk, a shiny Rolls Royce (one of many high end cars in his possession) parked outside, this multi-millionaire entrepreneur and former Huddersfield Town FC chairman is now a business adviser to the Tory Party and helping to get the area's young

unemployed in to work.

"I never set out with a plan, it just happened," says the 63 year- old with a smile. And he has plenty to smile about. Eighteen months ago, he sold his company Galpharm International, (the GAL in Galpharm being his initials)for 44m.

He has just been appointed the Prince's Trust's first regional ambassador donating 100,000 of his own money to help change the lives of young people.

But few would have bet on him making such a success of his life.

Graham was born in Essex to Glaswegian parents and had a very happy and caring childhood with his older sister and younger brother. The family moved to Middlesbrough when he was five and he recalls cycling around the streets wearing his kilt and being taunted by the local children, something which he says added to his future confidence.

His parents were both religious and principled people and instilled the work ethic in Graham.

His father's job as a probation officer opened a young Graham's eyes to a different world of struggle and hardship. "He was passionate about what was right and fair and it helped give me the ability to overcome anything."

But it was Graham's mother who truly inspired him. As matriarch, she was a believer in women's rights and equality and worked as PA to the chairman of ICI, while running the family home.

This belief in equality led Graham in 1989 to allow women into the boardroom at Huddersfield Town FC for the first time. "It wasn't a popular move, but I felt that it was so hypocritical."

Back in Middlesbrough it became clear that Graham was different to his siblings. Where they were succeeding at school, he was struggling. When he was in his 30s, Graham was diagnosed as dyslexic, but at the time, he says his teachers thought him lazy and his parents gave up on him.

"Years later when I told my parents that I was dyslexic they broke down and cried, but at the time no one knew any better."

Graham failed his 11+ and went to secondary modern where he excelled at sport but little else.

"I wasn't happy. I was caned for not being able to read properly and I couldn't wait to leave."

This treatment goes a long way to explain why he feels it is so important to support young people today and why he now lectures on how to overcome difficulties.

"I had no encouragement and that's why I am so passionate about giving young people time."

At 14, he left school with no qualifications, in contrast to his sister who became a history professor in her 20s and his brother who graduated from the Royal Academy of Music.

He decided that he wanted to be a dress designer but his dream was short-lived when a course tutor told him that he lacked a critical skill in the ability to draw, so he became a hairdresser.

By 18 he had become an expert in wig making and was teaching this skill to a group of 36 young women in a local college, a challenge for a dyslexic who used to have a stutter.

He became a British Champion in hairdressing, but by 20 he realised that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life cutting hair. However, his plans were scuppered when his girlfriend Sandra announced she was pregnant and Graham agreed to do the "decent thing".

The couple moved to be close to Sandra's family in North Notts and then to Huddersfield when Craig was born. "It was a bit of shock," admits Graham. "I was 21 with a young baby. It wasn't really what I had planned."

They ran a hairdressing salon in Rotherham and then Graham got a job working for Schwarzkopf who introduced him to the world of sales and marketing.

"My parents thought salesmen were the lowest of the low. My mum said that I wouldn't be a success."

He worked for them for eight years and then found himself out of a job. For four months in 1971 Graham was on the dole and attended 30 job interviews. At the 31st interview he was offered a position with Winthorp Pharmaceuticals which introduced him to the opportunity of forming Galpharm International in 1982.

"I realised that there was no way that the Government could afford to pay for all the non-prescription drugs at the price they were being charged."

Graham had the idea of lifting the stranglehold on non-prescription drugs and selling them to pharmacies and groceries at a fraction of the cost.

"It was more of an ethical thing, although I could see that there was a great commercial opportunity, too."

When he put the idea to his bosses they weren't interested, so he set up his own business running it at weekends from his home in Huddersfield before eventually concentrating on his business with son Craig full time.

Galpharm began life in a shed on Firth Street in Huddersfield in 1982 and rapidly expanded, relocating first to Brighouse and then to purpose-built premises in Dodworth on the outskirts of Barnsley. Even at its height though, Graham says he never felt stressed like many businessmen.

He seems to embrace life with a joke and a smile, although behind the smile you know there is a very keen businessman. He estimates that Galpharm has saved the NHS several hundreds of millions of pounds.

In 1989, he was elected to the board of Huddersfield Town football club at a time when rugby league and football were in decline in the town.

In 1991, he was elected the founder Chairman of the Kirklees Stadium Development Company, and helped create the world's first green-field 25,000 seat stadium for football and rugby. Known as the Galpharm Stadium it employs over 130 full time staff.

Selling Galpharm last year was a hard decision, but Graham is not sitting back on his laurels.

He has since gone on with his son Alex, from his second marriage, to develop Babyway International Limited producing innovative mother and baby accessories for all major multiple stores and in his spare-time mentors business students at the University of Huddersfield. He also has two daughters from each of his marriages, both of which failed. Something he regrets. "My parents had such an amazing marriage that it is difficult to deal with the fact that mine failed. Accepting that twice is really hard."

During the past 18 months Graham has bought and created five new companies, generating 18m in sales and dedicates time and money to charity.

He is founder and creator of the "Ball of Balls" charity for prostate and testicular cancer research via the Orchid Trust and is a supporter of many organisations and charities including the Prince's Trust.

Graham said: "The Prince's Trust helps young people who face issues that I myself have faced. Fortunately, I have had people throughout my life who have believed in me and given me the chance to fulfil my potential. Now I want to give other people that chance. That's really what the Prince's Trust is all about – giving young people chances. It's also giving me a chance to make a difference."

Prince's charity support in region

The Prince's Trust helped 3,500 young people in Yorkshire and the Humber last year, with eight in 10 going into work, education or training. The youth charity supports 14- to 30-year-olds who have struggled at school, been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law. Graham Leslie's donation will help change the lives of many young people across the region by giving them the chance to take part in a Prince's Trust programme.

Graham said: "Young people are the future of Yorkshire and unless we give them the right opportunities and support as a region we are going to be left behind.

"The benefits to successful businesses in becoming a patron of The Prince's Trust are immense. It is a chance to take a positive and active role in being socially responsible for our community."

Graham's appointment comes at a time when the number of under-25s claiming job seekers allowance in the region is at a 14-year high.

Calls to The Prince's Trust helpline – 0800 842 842 – have also increased by 50 per cent since the recession started.