‘I WENT through three financial controllers in my first five years in charge, and these were people I had recruited,” reveals Ian Malcolm, a chartered accountant who’s been head of car parts firm Elring Klinger (GB) for more than ten years.

“They just weren’t living up to my expectations. I employ people who should be better at their jobs than I would ever be.

“I can guide, direct, coach and encourage but, in the end, they are paid for their expertise in a given role. The one I can truly stand my ground with is my financial controller, which is probably why we’ve been through a few.

“My present one is a far better accountant than I ever was so that’s encouraging.”

Mr Malcolm, who hails from Inverness, first came into contact with his current employers when he did accountancy work for them in the early 1990s. After a frustrating spell with the NHS as deputy director of finance for Darlington Community Trust, he felt the pull of the private sector.

“In the health service, I got to the end of my tether after a couple of years. You can be working in one direction for six or seven months and suddenly without any justification are told to go completely the opposite way.

“I became fed up and wanted to get into industry. Out of the blue I got a call from the managing director at Elring Klinger and started as financial controller in 1995. I’ve been here ever since.

“The first year here was the worst I’ve had in any job. The incumbent had been supposed to move on but was still here so I spent too much time twiddling my thumbs.

“One day I went into our managing director and said ‘one of us is going – him or me’.” I stayed.

But by 2001 Ian had again grown frustrated by the absence of a clear progression path.

“I told the MD I was going to look for another job and that I was going to tell the bosses at our German parent offices that’s what I planned.

“I don’t like my staff to put a resignation letter on my desk without any word of warning and that’s the way I work too.

“I chatted to our people in Germany and the following day the chairman called me into his office and asked – what about becoming managing director of the business?

That was a curveball that I hadn’t even contemplated.

But it was very flattering.”

Since he took charge at the beginning of 2002, the company has been through some very tough times. A drop in orders during the recession saw staff numbers plummet from 280 when Ian joined to only 80 by 2009.

But, under his stewardship it has rallied strongly in recent years. It now counts bluechip names such as BMW Mini, Jaguar Land Rover, General Motors, Lotus, Caterpillar, Ford and Bentley among its customers and it has recently worked with McLaren and Aston Martin.

Renowned for its speciality gaskets, the manufacturer has invested in the development of new heat shielding products, which protect perishable components and retain heat in parts of the engine where it is needed.

The company, which marks 50 years on Teesside in 2014, now employs 135 staff and intends to create about 60 jobs, including apprentices and graduate trainees, and double its turnover to £26m in the next five years.

It also investing about £6m in new assembly lines and presses.

“That is why I am still here.

This is a really exciting place to be. We have been through the pain. It’s now all about making this place absolutely sing.”