IT comes as no surprise to hear that his family is the most important thing in Javed Majid’s life. The property developer who made his name in the North-East as the impresario behind the Tall Trees Hotel, in Yarm, has seven children.

“The greatest thing for me is that I have no regrets,” he says.

“I don’t pine for the times when I would be recognised all over the region for my clubs. I take things with a pinch of salt.

My greatest achievement is the happiness and togetherness for my family. Every one of them is doing well. My youngest daughter is one of the main buyers for Top Shop, another is a journalist (in Dubai).”

His career in entertainment started as a promotions manager for Bailey Entertainments.

He rose rapidly through the company and in 1977 he took charge of the group’s operations in Stockton.

His decision to set up his own company, Maher Entertainments Limited, led to the purchase of the Tall Tees Hotel which he converted into a major entertainment and leisure complex.

His ability to inject new life into flagging sites was later seen when he bought the derelict former Odeon Cinema in Stockton and turned it into the acclaimed venue The Mall.

“I enjoyed going to nightclubs, As a place of work it became like a second home to me where I felt comfortable. Seeing people happy and having a good time made me happy. I am an extrovert and that helps in the entertainment industry.

You need also to be firm. I introduced strictness about who could come into my clubs. As a boss, I am a fair man but strict.

I don’t suffer fools gladly.

“I placed adverts in The Northern Echo at the time that said, ‘We don’t need customers we need nice people’.

“I became very good at judging what sort of person was turning up at the clubs. I could spot those who looked capable of making other people’s life a misery.

“I am grateful to my God for giving me what I’ve had,” says Javed, who was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in 1950 before his family moved to Doncaster where he attended school. The Majids later moved to Sheffield where Javed’s father worked for Batchelor Foods.

“Having my family close to me now is very important. My mother-in-law has lived in a cottage next to us for the past 12 years.”

The care of old people is his latest passion. He recently submitted a planning application to build a 350-home retirement village at Mount Leven Farm, in Yarm, which is backed by investors in Dubai who hope to build up to 20 similar sites across the UK.

The scheme has faced opposition from many local residents and the original plan for 450 properties was scaled down after concerns were voiced during a public consultation in June.

“When I was young I was really good at running nightclubs.

It suited me as a young man to be in that business.

Now I am a bit older I have spent the past five years researching retirement villages.

I’ve looked at them in the US, France, all over, and I think that I can produce something really fantastic.

“We have an ageing population.

I worry that too many people, even those with savings, become locked up in some retirement homes that are like prisons. I’m not saying all are like that because there are some good ones. But, it makes me very sad to think of people living out their final years in places where they are not happy.

“If we get planning permission, the people living there will have everything they need right on their doorsteps, such as a swimming pool, a concert room, places to meet one another and enjoy their lives, coach trips to the coast, a doctor’s surgery – you name it.

“We want to create a new type of community that looks after older people. If a person has a house in Ingleby Barwick, they might want to sell it and come and buy a bungalow in our community.

“When we get good ideas in this country we should grab it and just get on with it. I have seen this in Dubai. They built the (man-made archipelago) Palm in seven years. In the UK it would have taken 70 years. I understand that you have to take into account other people’s opinions, but too often we focus on what can’t be done rather than what can and backing innovators to the hilt.”