From sales rep to managing director, Vas Agridhiotis rose quickly through the ranks at ntl. Mike Parker met the man taking cable to Teesside.

EVEN for a man whose business is built around television, Vas Agridhiotis' TV is big. The monster beams out a constant stream of NTL's cable feed in glorious technicolour, dominating an entire wall of his office.

He is at ease, and his manner puts others at ease. And he has every right to be. For the past eight years he has hauled himself up the ladder, starting as a sales rep, before moving to customer services and eventually becoming managing director of one of ntl's most important regions.

Teesside has taken ntl to its collective heart. Six out of ten homes capable of taking cable have ntl and the region makes up a large proportion of the group's 2.75 million customers nationwide.

"Teesside is quite a unique place in terms of the people that live here, in terms of a community," he said.

"It is a lot closer than other areas and lots of families remain in Teesside. It is less transient.

"If you give a Teessider a great deal it will spread like wildfire, it has a snowball effect."

Born and brought up on Teesside of Greek parentage, Vas bought into the ntl dream from the start.

"I always thought it would be a great success. The sense I got was that people were just asking you into their houses. They were so relieved there was an alternative to BT - BT couldn't do what they wanted."

And it was visiting people in their homes that helped him learn about the company, experience he now brings to bear in his role on the ntl board. All five regional managing directors travel to company HQ in Hook, Hampshire, for a monthly board meeting.

"I don't think I am your average MD," he said. "I started in this company as a front-line person, particularly my roles within the company as a sales guy and I was in customer relations for a couple of years.

"I have been in more customers' houses than anyone else who has had this job before.

"What I would like to bring from a customer perspective is that I really understand what people want, whether they are actual customers or potential customers."

"My biggest focus is on customer service and the fault side of it. If you have a fault, sort it out straight away."

That focus lies undisguised in the location of his office. The door is open, looking out on to the airy, open-plan heart of the Stockton operation.

From behind his desk, he can see a vidi-board that displays how many customers are waiting to have their calls answered by one of the customer services team at any given time and, perhaps more importantly, how long they have been kept waiting.

"It would be quite easy to sit upstairs somewhere. Right outside here is customer services. There is nothing better than hearing what is going on rather than people telling me," he said.

"It is not me to sit in an office with no one around me. If you see where I come from, people just drop in. There is no issue. It is probably nave to say anyone can approach me, but there is no kind of hierarchy. I am not into all that."

While his open door policy might make those sitting nearest his door feel slightly under the nose of the boss, the 37-year-old hopes he instils a good work/life balance in his staff.

A self-confessed workaholic, it took the arrival of his first child to bring a sense of balance to his life.

Mr Agridhiotis is married to Julie, a former air stewardess, and the couple have a two-year-old boy Theo and a second child due in February.

"Theo takes all my time. He's a good, calming influence.

"Theo came along when I was 34. It was a reality check.

"When you think you have got issues or you start thinking about work when you are at home, he just wants to play with building bricks with you.

"He has been good for me."

Describing his life before Theo's arrival, he said: "It was work, work, work, work, work. We were one of those couples who could go a week without seeing one another.

"Not now. Commitment to ntl is total, but there is a line. If you get the line right, it is good, but there wasn't a line before.

"I think you are more productive at work if your home life is healthy."

His enthusiasm for the job drives that productivity, a drive he believes is emulated throughout the company.

He says: "I love what I do. I don't consider it work really. You have good days and bad days, but we have a good vibrant company here with good people.

"The people around you are so important."