CV: MARK LEATHAM, AGED 42

Mark Leatham is co-founder of fine food distributor Leathams, a company he started from the boot of a car and which now has an annual turnover of pounds 25m.

You have got to have a passion and mine was shooting. I loved school but did no work so I didn't go to university. I ended up in the army and was sent to Northern Ireland. It was very frustrating because the day I left was 1st August - the start of the game shooting season. I had grown up with either a fishing rod or a gun in my hand and there I was in Northern Ireland missing the entire season.

When I eventually got home to Buckinghamshire I took my vigour and frustrations out on the local pigeon population, I shot so much I filled all the local pubs and restaurants. Eventually they said: "look we're sorry but we just can't sell anymore".

My father was worried I was getting too bogged down with shooting and thought I should get a "proper job". I ended up working for estate agents Knight Frank & Rutley. Frankly it was dull and left me disillusioned. I was paid the pitiful sum of pounds 2,000 a year and after I'd paid my rent all I could afford to eat was sandwiches, which was depressing because I had always loved my food.

I decided to stick it out until the end of the year and waited for the game season. I went to shoots at the weekend, bought up all the game I could and in my lunch hour at the estate agents I would sell it to restaurants over the phone. When I told them I was going out to view a flat I was actually using the company car to deliver the game.

My income trebled so I knew that I could leave the estate agency and go back to what I loved doing - I can't do anything well that I don't like. I joined up with my brother Oliver and he helped out by driving the van. I put the gun away and he did the figures - together we formed Leatham's Larder, which is now called Leathams.

There are low points and we've had hard times. In 1992 I was in a trough of the recession with no sign of getting out. I fought it in the first year with great gung-ho and I had a conviction that we would survive. It was so bad we had to get rid of our London production site for game. We had built things up over 13 years and the very soul of our business had gone away and with it went my own soul. Now we have a purpose-built pounds 2m distribution depot in London and a turnover nearing pounds 25m a year but the recession was a very low point.

My advice to graduates, especially if they want to go into food sales, is that they must be prepared for a big shock. Many graduates discover they are very green. Unless you are a complete natural there is a lot to learn. Selling is a skill and your personality needs to be allowed to develop so you can take the knock without taking it personally.

I still like to keep in touch with how things were in the old days when we started out. We learnt a lot. You have got to keep a tight ship and have a good team on your side. I don't get the chance to go out shooting now which is upsetting, but now I've got two children and I take them fishing. We went last weekend and didn't catch a thing but it didn't matter.

Interview by Michael Greenwood