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He may have all the trappings of a millionaire, but Risking It All's latest recruit also has scruples aplenty
At 40, Martin Webb, Brighton business guru and entrepreneur extraordinaire, is a self-made millionaire about to extend his career into the glamorous world of TV presenting with Channel 4's new series Risking It All. This is the man who graduated from Brighton University Business School and within eight years built up and sold one of Brighton's most profitable entertainment ventures, C-Side, for £15 million. Not bad going.
"You only get one stab at life; there were other things I wanted to tick off my list," says Martin about the sale. There's something comfortably reassuring about a business mogul arriving for an interview in a worn in T-shirt and shorts. Not a hard nose in sight, and only a flurry of "Hello Martin"s from regulars in the Robin Hood - Martin's flagship not-for-profit charity pub - gave away who he was.
He is nothing like the overly-styled, Gresham Blake-suit-wearing picture on his biog. Martin recalls a 'run-in' with Risking It All's producers Ricochet about his attire. They asked him to 'be a bit more flash'. "They gave me a stylist," he says. "It's almost insulting - what's wrong with the way I dress?"
It's fair to say his fairly humble origins involved a strict authoritarian upbringing and probably provided a source of inspiration for his ferocious appetite for business success. "It was a good grounding for everything I've done in my life," he says. "Perhaps my sense of ambition comes from the fact my dad's Austin never really cut it in comparison to all his rich clients' E-types outside our house. But being successful in business doesn't just have to be about owning a Ferrari. Having money - well, it's nice, obviously, but it's not the raison d'être for doing it."
So what is? "At the moment, it's a lovely sunny day," he says, laughing.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Martin seems most animated when talking about turning an idea into an outcome. "There's a huge mental and physical leap of faith involved," he says. "You've just got to stay focused and work hard."
Martin's business ventures vary from Shoreditch and Islington's Medicine Bars to Dekorart, a web-based fine art digital printing company/art gallery in Brighton. His latest pet project is a 500-acre recreational-cum-educational holiday retreat in France, with courses in cookery, creative writing and yoga.
Yet, despite his clearly philanthropic nature, Martin is not without the customary trappings of wealth. He may live in a modest mews house just off Holland Road, but he also owns a chateau in France, is an accomplished sailor and is now pursuing a pilot's licence. Fair enough, you've got to spend your money somehow.
The opportunity to present Risking It All was, he says, "too good to turn down". So, could it be a spring board to celebrity status? "It's been a totally revitalising life experience that most people only dream of, and I've really enjoyed it," he says. "But I'm not a schmoozer - I don't mix in celebrity circles."
Expect a few heated exchanges as Martin dispenses his words of wisdom to the businesses he'll be helping turn around in the Channel 4 series - although it's pre-watershed, so, if it's Ramsey-esque effing and blinding you're after, you might be disappointed! Zoë Adjonyoh
copyright The Insight
2005
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