‘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.”

FIVE MINUTES WITH...IAN MALCOLM

Favourite North-East building and why?

Durham Cathedral because I commuted by train between Cardiff and Durham every weekend for two years before moving to the North-East to get married. The sight of the cathedral always meant I had arrived home.

What was your first job and how much did you get paid?

I was a butcher’s assistant for the supermarket chain William Low and was paid 45p per hour.

What is the worst job you’ve had?

When I first came to Elring Klinger as financial controller.

I was supposed to take over from the then incumbent who was retiring. A year on, he was still there and I made the ultimatum to the MD, him or me, and the rest as they say is history.

What would you cook for me if I came around for dinner?

Starter would be sweet potato and chorizo soup, main would be a curry made from scratch and we would finish off with a steamed chocolate pudding.

What would your superpower be?

In terms of military powers I would be neither the US nor Russia. In terms of economic superpowers, I think I would be India, a country with such diversity and yet such huge potential.

Name four people, dead or alive, who would be at your perfect dinner party Ewan McGregor. I would chat to him in detail about his 20,000-mile motorbike ride from New York to London; Martin Luther King. I would have loved to have met the man who was such an inspiration; Princess Diana. A mystery to most people, in honesty I would just like to know what really went on in her life; Ellen MacArthur, the British sailor.

She spent so many months alone that I would be really interested to talk to her about how she got through it, mentally and physically.

Most expensive thing you’ve bought – other than car or house – and how much?

Our one and only piece of art, an abstract landscape painted by a local Teesdale artist, Paul Denham, which cost about £1,200.

Favourite book?

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

When did you last cry?

Apart from the odd moment in films, the last time I probably had a real cry was at my grandmother’s funeral.

What is your greatest achievement?

Completing a bungee jump at the home of bungee jumping, in New Zealand, because I don’t like heights. But that is only to date, there is plenty of time for more.

What’s the best piece of advice in business you’ve ever been given?

Believe in what you are doing and do it to the best of your ability. If that is not good enough then the rest is out of your control.

Favourite animal and why?

Dogs generally, but in particular a rough collie, as the owners of the first hotel I worked in had one and they are so friendly and loyal.

Most famous person on your mobile phone?

My mum, or at least she should be, having devoted more than 65 years to Girl Guiding in the UK. I think she deserves at least a royal honour.

What was the last band you saw live?

Last solo artist was Chris de Burgh at the Sage, last band was probably Runrig.

Describe your perfect night in.

Having friends round for dinner for some nice wine and a good old chinwag, by the end of which all the problems of the world would be sorted.

In another life I would be...

An engineer, which is strange given I am managing an engineering firm, but I come from a financial background and would love to be more practical.

Who would play you in a film of your life?

Colin Firth or Ewan McGregor.

What irritates you?

Three things in particular – people who don’t respond when you ask for information or help (even if it was to say sorry I don’t know or can’t help); people not doing what they say they are going to do; and people being late.

What’s your secret talent?

Should modesty prevent me from quoting two? I sing, and some people say I am good at that. I was also a national schools champion playing bridge.