Photograph of Neil Davies, Close LeasingName: Neil
Davies

Current job:
Managing Director, Close Leasing Limited

Location:
Manchester and London.

What was your first ever
job?
A computer operator for an assurance
company.

Where’s the best place
to go if you want to find out what’s really going on in the
office?
Anywhere within 10 metres of sales support, they
hear all the current rumours.

What time do you usually
leave the office?
If I’m in Manchester then I’m normally
out by around 6 o’clock, but two or three days a week I’m in London
or elsewhere.

How well do you really know your competitors?

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What do you do at
weekends?
I keep a flock of rare breed sheep and spend
some time making sure that they are OK. I also like to go out,
watch Welsh international rugby, Man City, cut grass, clean cars
and relax.

What’s your favourite
restaurant?
I recently went to the opening of Ramsey’s
Bread Street Kitchen and thought it was very good. My old favourite
is still Langan’s; they still have some of the same dishes on the
menu from when I first went there more than 20 years
ago.

If you weren’t in your
current job, what would you be doing?
Before setting up
Close Leasing with Paul Bartley and Tom Dramby I was a broker, I
think there’s some great business to be done in the waste-to-energy
market and I would probably go into that.

Who is your mentor or
role model?
I have learned from a number of people over
the years, people like Philip Derby at ING and others in the
leasing sector, but also from being on the board of a seed capital
company where the MD Paul Barraclough was a big
influence.

What is the best thing
about your job?
The best thing at the moment is that at
Close Bros we have money to lend, and we can lend it partly on
green projects.

What was your biggest
career mistake?
The biggest financial error was opening a
restaurant in the 1980s. We had a fantastic time, but it lost money
very consistently all the time I owned it.

What car do you
drive?
During the week I tend to drive a Mini, but at the
weekends I have a Land Rover, Porsche and an Aston, depending on
the weather.

What
books/blogs/periodicals are you currently reading?
Other
than Leasing Life, I subscribe to Octane and
Motor Boat Monthly, and a number of trade blogs for
leasing and green
energy.

What is on your CD
player or MP3 player at the moment?
I’m more of a Radio 5
live person.