Pete

"Pete and I thought of the people we wanted to run these new business areas as “10 out of 10s.” We had both been judging talent long enough to know a 10 when we saw one. Eights just do the stuff you tell them. Nines are great at executing and developing good strategies. You can build a winning firm with 9s. But people who are 10s sense problems, design solutions, and take the business in new directions without being told to do so. Tens always make it rain."

"My son Pete often jokes that the secret to my success is that I always sell too early, and in a way he’s exactly right. You never go broke taking a profit."

"Everyone is empowered to be creative and knowledgeable Or at least to feel that creative contributions are encouraged. In practice, of course, most ideas come from within whichever depart- ment they are supposed to come from, but not always. The idea of putting our helpline number on the handle of the machine - we are the only company to do this - came from Jackie on the service desk. And, when we were having trouble getting the motor seal to seal properly every time, someone else from the service department, a chap called Pete, discovered that if you did up the screws in cylinder head manner (in a prescribed order) that they would be 100 per cent effective."