Wolseley chief 'fired up by football'

"Hot fire makes good steel" is Mr Banks's mantra

Charlie Banks became the chief executive of the building materials firm Wolseley in 2001, having worked for the firm since 1967 when he joined the group's North American Ferguson unit in 1967.

Mr Banks was made president of Ferguson after 22 years.

What was your first car?

In late 1956 I bought my first car, a 1950 Chevrolet.

I used savings from my summer job and my parents paid for the other half as a 16th Birthday present.

What I really had my eye on was 1955 Chevrolet Impala but that was much too expensive.

What was your first job - and how much were you paid?

My first job was working in a stock room in a retail store for my father when I was about 13 or 14 years old.

It was a part time job stocking the shelves and sweeping the floor a few hours a week.

Then when I was 16 I had a summer job as a lifeguard at a country club on Long Island, New York.

I don't remember the pay for either of these jobs except that working in the stock room was extremely low paid since my father was really trying to keep me.

My first full time job was as an ensign in the US Navy Reserve on active duty when I graduated from University. My pay was $125 per month.

What was the first house you owned and how much did it cost?

In 1964, when I came off active duty in the Navy, my wife and I bought a small two bedroom, one bath cottage for $12,500.

We were house poor, technically bankrupt with more debt from college loans and the mortgage than we had assets and we have incredibly fond memories of working through those financial challenges and building a career and a family together.

Who is your biggest inspiration?

As a very young boy it was probably my father's mother and my mother's father.

They were both very strong willed people with high standards, but two people I enjoyed being with very much.

As I got older, my mother was probably my biggest inspiration because of her strong will and high ethical standards.

My father worked an enormous amount of time and most of the discipline, mentoring and direction came from my mother.

What's the best bit of business advice you've had?

I had a football coach when I was a schoolboy who told us one time when we were complaining about a hard practice that "hot fire makes good steel".

For some reason I have never forgotten that and there is no question that a hot fire can melt you, but it can also make you better if you survive.

Another sage piece of advice was not to be afraid to surround myself with people as good or possibly better than I was because smart people make smart decisions and a good team can generally outperform one person.

What was the proudest moment of your career?

There are four moments in my career that stand out and it's hard to distinguish the most important.

The first was in 1970 when I was asked to take over the smallest company in the Ferguson conglomerate before I was 30 years old and almost two years before I was expected to have that opportunity.

The second time was in 1989 when I became president of Ferguson Enterprises after 22 years of moving from trainee to sales to subsidiary president to regional vice president, executive vice president and finally president of the company that I truly loved and enjoyed.

The third was a standing ovation I received from my management colleagues in Ferguson at an annual meeting.

I had worked with these managers, many of whom I hired and mentored, and the response after my presentation was very rewarding and heart warming.

The most recent proudest moment was December 2002 when I received an Honorary Doctorate from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia for accomplishments in my career and community service.

It was a tremendous honour to receive in front of my family and colleagues from a university president that I know, like and respect.

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Wolseley is the world's largest building materials firm and listed on the London and New York stock exchanges.

The group employs around 47,000 people in branches across Europe and North America.

The company is worth £4.8bn and has only seen its profits drop once in the last 21 years.