27 Mar 2024
We ask a different figure from the local community to choose 10 questions to answer from a list of 50. This week: Local business owner, entrepreneur and founder of The Herts Business Growth Show Peter Barker.
Were you well behaved at school?
Well, I wasn’t a bad kid but I definitely had a cheeky, naughty streak! Being an identical twin meant that me and my brother David were often causing mischief somewhere at school!
If you could have a conversation with someone who had died who would that be?
Without a doubt, my dad. There isn’t a day goes by when I don’t think about him, not just as an amazing dad, but as a successful business owner himself. His wise words and encouragement as I started out on my own entrepreneurial journey were what kept me on track.
What items do you always carry with you?
My iPhone! It’s literally my lifeline to family and work too. I still remember back in the late 1970s watching Blue Peter when John Noakes and Peter Purves demonstrated a ‘mobile’ phone – I remember thinking that it would never catch on let alone run my life! If you are a child of the 1970s you can watch the episode here – it still fascinates me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMcChLsGKWc
Are things getting better or worse?
Well, I’m an eternal optimist with a ‘glass half full’ approach to life and business so it has to be better! As an optimist you recognise that your own actions shape your destiny and that we create our own luck in this world through how we think and by what we do.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Taller! 🙂 Being a twin, I always joked that my brother David ‘nicked’ half my height! My grandmother always used to tell me that what I lack in height I make up for in personality and that ‘good things always come in small packages’ so that always made me smile!
Have you ever had a nickname?
My wife Kath has a strange nickname for me – Smedro! It’s a bit odd I know but (apparently) it’s because it rhymes with Pedro (Spanish for Peter) and we love spending time out in Southern Spain at our place in Nerja. Bit strange, I know and I don’t quite understand it, but happy wife, happy life!
What’s your most missed St Albans shop?
I’ll be amazed if anyone remembers this but it was a joke shop, just on the left hand side as you head down London Road from the town. We loved going in there as kids in the early 1980s to buy jokes – everything from false dog turds to itching powder and pepper sweets! The old man who ran the shop was a legend and always seemed to be wearing fingerless gloves.
Do you ever Google yourself?
I hadn’t until you asked me this question but was pleasantly surprised that my LinkedIn profile made the first page! However, I was outranked by Peter Barkers who are fine art experts, professional golfers, squash players and by Google asking me if I’d actually meant to search for ‘Peter Parker’ aka Spider-Man!
What was your first job?
A car washing round with my brother and a friend when we were in our early teens! That was the start of my entrepreneurial journey!
Who was your favourite cartoon character when you were a kid?
Hong Kong Phooey – super hero or ‘mild mannered janitor’?
