My Interviews as a Magazine Editor

One summer, that seems like a few weeks ago, but was actually a decade and a half ago, I was taken on at the marketing company Ahh! Ingenious to work as the editor of a new magazine, the intended readership of which were members of a local business forum.

With the first issue little more than a few scribbled notes, my boss, Jacqui, and I attended an informal business gathering in the nearby town of Ashington one evening (we attended several of these after-hours functions, which we called swish dishing). I'd taken along my trusty mini cassette recorder on the off chance we might grab a few words of wisdom from some business doyen or other. What we ended up with hugely exceeded our expectations, for, present at the event was the most famous businessman in the entire region, Sir John Hall.

Sir John was born in Ashington in 1933. After leaving Bedlington Grammar School, he worked in mining as a surveyor. His company, Cameron Hall Developments, brought us the MetroCentre shopping complex, the first phase of which opened in 1986, and which expanded to become the second-largest shopping centre in the UK. Sir John also spent several years as the owner of my beloved Newcastle United Football Club. More of them later.

Bigwig of business

Jacqui and I figured it would be quite a scoop if we could snatch an interview with such a high-profile business figure for our first issue. After Sir John had delivered a speech about his business life, we cornered this captain of commerce; this epitome of enterprise; this bigwig of business. And, with me recording, Jacqui reeled off a series of impromptu questions, which Sir John answered in detail. It was like manna from heaven for a brand-new business magazine.

Back at the office the following day, we messaged Sir John's press office to request images, and they responded promptly, so we had our first cover story.

We had chosen to call the magazine Advance, that word being suggestive of moving forward and growing. We harboured a hope to feature a well-known figure on the cover of each issue. As luck would have it, Jacqui received an invitation to meet multiple Olympic gold medal winner, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, and so cover story number two was in the bag.

Next, I approached Bob Moncur, former captain of Newcastle United who had moved into the world of business, and whose company had plans for a development that would transform a huge local social club, much of which was disused, into offices. When he arrived for the interview, we shook hands, and I said to him, "When I was a small boy, you opened the fete at the local Remploy factory, and I joined a long queue to get your autograph. I'd never have thought that all these decades later, this is still the last hand to have raised a trophy for Newcastle United." And it remains so to this day.

Bob's proposed development didn't materialise, as the building was demolished to make way for an extension of the local Morrisons supermarket.

Misplaced apostrophe

As we moved on to issue 4, we had a new graphic designer, and the cover of the magazine was given a facelift. I got in touch with Rachel Elnaugh, one of the original dragons on Dragons' Den, who had recently left the show. We conducted an interview over the phone, which I recorded, typed up, and sent for approval from the founder of Red Letter Days, an experience-based gift company. After correcting my misplaced apostrophe in the show's title (a fundamental error so naive I felt embarrassed), we went to press with the appropriate headline, given Rachel's recent exit from the show, I'm Out.

For what would be the final issue of Advance, I got in touch with the inventor Trevor Baylis CBE, who achieved worldwide fame when he devised the wind-up radio. Trevor had seen a news report about the rampant spread of AIDS in African countries, during which it was stated that a lack of education about the disease was fuelling its spread. This was compounded because for many people living in poverty, radio batteries were prohibitively expensive, so they remained unaware of the risk. Trevor stepped up to the plate.

I had a long and enjoyable chat over the phone with this amiable gent, who was resident boffin on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast. He told me of his childhood, collecting shrapnel from bomb sites, his stints as a stunt man, and an underwater escapologist in a Berlin circus, and his swimming achievements. Sadly, Trevor died in 2018, aged 80. I still have, and cherish, the mini cassette containing our interview.

During my time at Ahh! Ingenious, I learned that approaching well-known figures to interview is not too daunting. Press offices are extremely helpful, and they can provide high-quality images. Although I haven't tried it yet, I'd say that posting interviews on writing platforms such as this would be a worthwhile venture. A back-and-forth with a prominent figure, embellished with high-resolution photos of the subject would, I suspect, garner a lot of reads. It might be worth giving it a try.