Interviewing the interviewer

By Nick Servini
BBC News

Terry Matthews wants people to take pride in their surroundings

When I went to interview Sir Terry Matthews in the plush surroundings of the Celtic Manor 2010 Ryder Cup clubhouse, I wasn't expecting to be cross-examined myself.

But that's exactly what happened on his pet subject: litter.

How Wales will appear to the millions of people that will watch the Ryder Cup is a subject he says he's "all over, all of the time."

He said: "If you want to do business with people round the world then they

must be impressed with what they see otherwise they won't be back.

"There's lots of places you can go, you don't have to come here."

And on one level he's not a happy man at the moment because he feels people in Wales should be doing more to make sure their patch is in good shape.

He asked me whether I'd been into Cardiff recently, and what I made of the litter there.

When I said I didn't think it was any worse than anywhere else in the UK, he let me know in no uncertain terms that I was wrong: "There are places that are better because they care.

"Would there be more litter in Cardiff than there is in Karachi, Pakistan? There's less litter in Karachi."

Nick Servini wasn't expecting to be challenged about his views on litter

After his attack on litter levels, Sir Terry relaxed a bit and outlined some of the secrets to his success. Of the 80 companies he's started, only two have failed.

And ever since he started his company Mitel in Canada in the early 70s developing push button telephones, he's stuck by a number of principles: "I develop relationships which are long term. I am not an overnight success.

"If someone came along and said well overnight you can be rich, I'm not your guy. I'm a persistent individual. And if there's one item which perhaps results in more success for people than anything else it's the word persistence."

And as he's 65 this year I asked him whether he was thinking of retirement: "How can you slow down if it's your hobby? Retirement for me would be what I'm doing. I've been retired since I was fifteen years old."

Sir Terry Matthews is interviewed on Wales@Work on BBC Radio Wales on Tuesday at 1830 BST.