RICHARD Hurst grew up not to be an actor, as he wanted during his teenage years, but a successful businessman who has also worked to make Bolton stronger.

He is from one of the town’s oldest families and the company of which he is still chairman, the Richard Threlfall Group, was founded 184 years ago as textile engineers by his great, great grandfather.

Richard, now 72, was born in Bolton, the eldest of five children of Barbara and Richard (Dickie) Hurst OBE.

He attended Mount St Joseph’s School, which then took boys up to the age of seven, then St Edmund’s Primary School, later St Thomas of Canterbury. Then he went to Stonyhurst College where his strongest subjects were science and physics “but I really wanted to be an actor and joined Bolton Little Theatre where I was a member for several years,” he said.

Engineering rather than the stage called to him after college and he studied production engineering at London’s Brunel University.

He was sponsored there by engineering company Dowty Group Inc. and so had work placements at its Cheltenham base. After graduation and spending an extra year at university at president of the students’ union, he worked for Dowty initially as a graduate trainee in the early ‘70s and later as assistant works manager.

He then took up a post as manager for an engineering factory in Malta for Dowty where he stayed for three years before returning to the UK and becoming production manager at Spirax Sarco Ltd.

In the meantime, he had met his wife and the couple had the first of their three children. In 1980, the then production director of Richard Threlfall’s was retiring and his father suggested to Richard that he join the family firm.

Today, the group consists of three small companies – Silteq Ltd which is a global manufacturer of silicone compounds, Orseal Ltd manufacturing pipeline valves for the navy and off-shore oil as well as general industry and RT Estates Ltd which owns industrial and commercial property.

Richard had come from a modern engineering industry to join Threlfall’s “and at first I was horrified by how old-fashioned the manufacturing technologies were,” he recalled.

So, he set about introducing computerised machinery and modernising as works director, then joint managing director, managing director and finally as chairman.

Richard’s parents had both been strong supporters of the local community. Mrs Barbara Hurst was a former Mayor of Bolton and Honorary Alderman and Richard has always been actively involved in various areas of local life. “Yes, I suppose I did have good positive role models at home,” he added.

He was a governor of Bolton College, a director of Bolton and Bury Training and Enterprise Council, president of Bolton and Bury Chamber of Commerce, chairman of Bolton and Bury CCTE and a member of the Bolton Millennium Commissions Awards committee. He also chaired Bolton Vision Group from 2000 to 2006 and was a council member of Greater Manchester Learning and Skills Council.

Richard has been a board member of what is now the USN Bolton Arena since 2001 and is its current Chair. He was also a trustee of BWFC Free School until last year.

He has always enjoyed playing and watching sports including tennis, golf, rugby and cricket. “I’ve been no good at any of them,” he laughed, “but I’ve loved them all!” He is also a lifelong fan of Bolton Wanderers FC ever since his grandfather took him to Burnden as a small boy.

Richard is a firm believer in getting involved with organisations he is in and thinks that “you get out of it more than you put in.”

He added: “The best things in life are getting involved with other people and learning from them.”