How Greek man raised in Sudan made it big in East Lancashire (From Lancashire Telegraph)

How Greek man raised in Sudan made it big in East Lancashire

11:10am Sunday 7th March 2010

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BORN to Greek parents and raised for most of his childhood in the Sudan, Dennis Mendoros is the man who made it big in East Lancashire.

His multi-million pound Pendle aerospace firm Euravia is one of the most successful and inspirational companies in the north-west.

Now he's been given the chair of the area's prestigious regeneration body.

As part of the Lancashire Telegraph's We're Backing Business campaign, highlighting local success stories, he talks to us.

ONLY the shrewdest of business brains would have seen the opportunity.

From his executive office in Greece Dennis Mendoros hatched his plot to finally make it on his own, and he chose a comparatively low-profile area of the north of England to launch his venture. He chose Pendle.

“I did some research and realised that there was a huge concentration of aerospace companies between Colne and Preston,” he says.

“So there was a great supply chain and some great exporters.”

Good transport links and a brilliant workforce added to the mix, and the rest as they say is history.

Today, he is the owner of multi-million pound company Euravia , and is renowned as a champion of enterprise and the face of countless business bodies, making him one of the most well-connected bosses in the North West.

It is a background that clearly caught the eye of East Lancashire’s council and regeneration chiefs.

Mr Mendoros, 55, has just been named the inaugural chair of Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, the body charged with dragging Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, the Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale into the 21st century through better housing, improved transport and stronger infrastructure for businesses.

Taxpayers will pay £20,000 a year for Mr Mendoros to lead Regenerate Pennine Lancashire’s board, which will wield a budget of around £200million.

His appointment comes on the back of one of the most unusual, but inspiring, Pennine Lancashire business success stories.

Born to Greek parents in the Sudan, he lived in the former British colony until the age of 14.

“My father went to the Sudan as a young teenager to work for a family friend who promised, in return, to pay for his education,” he said.

“He was the managing director of a shipping company when I was born.

"The Port Sudan, where we used to live, was a mixture of many different nationalities who lived together in peace.

"As a young person I spent most of my time with friends, from many different nations, fishing and going for long excursions across the Red Sea coast.”

After completing his schooling in the Athens area of Greece, he moved to the Scottish city of Perth to study aeronautical engineering.

“The air training course I did there was considered, internationally, to be one of the best aeronautical engineering schools and a first class pilot’s training centre.

"Then I did my first solo flight at Dundee air field.

"Most of my friends from then are now senior executives in the aerospace business and we make a point of having small reunions after international air shows, where we exchange news, ideas and compete on achievements.”

However, Scotland was, he admits, a bit of a culture shock for a man more accustomed to sweltering heat than bitter Scottish winters.

“It was an interesting change for me, that’s for sure, and I had some trouble getting used to the broad accent.

"But I loved Scotland and still do. You learn to fly properly up there too, because the weather conditions are just so challenging.”

After completing his degree in Britain, Mr Mendoros moved back to Greece to join the national air force, before taking a job as an engineer at the Greek arm of US firm General Electric in 1979.

Shortly afterwards, he switched to Greece’s national aerospace firm and spent successful years earning overseas contracts and turning it into a $68million-turnover corporate giant. Then in 1987, after years of working for others, Mr Mendoros decided to set up on his own.

Although he started Euravia in Altrincham, he soon switched it to Kelbrook. The company found a niche slot in repairing gas turbines for aircraft, cutting costs for aerospace firms. It remains one of only three ‘overhaul’ companies in Britain, according to Mr Mendoros. Meanwhile, as the firm found its feet, Mr Mendoros discovered he loved life in East Lancashire.

“Starting a new business is not easy anywhere but I found the people brilliant to work with,” he said. “There was an issue of culture, but it was a positive change and not a negative one. I found people were different but they were helping the business because they were so skilled. And I loved the people, the sense of humour - and even the food.

“Welcoming smiles with solid handshakes were offered in every instance. Without doubt, I can honestly say that Lancashire folk are the most friendly and welcoming people I have come across in all my travels. Lancashire is now my home and where my business is still flourishing.”

As Euravia turned from a one-man band into a growing business, he snapped up workers in and around Kelbrook who had lost their jobs when Rolls-Royce switched its research and development arm from Barnoldswick to its Derby HQ.

Exploiting East Lancashire’s rich aerospace heritage, and sticking to his principles (including never borrowing), Euravia grew into the booming business it is today, still run by Mr Mendoros. Even his 27-year-old son Alex works for the firm.

Now, after 21 high-pressure years, the company has a multi-million pound turnover and continues to grow. It is a success story that was even rewarded with an OBE in 2001 for services to industry, an accolade a proud Mr Mendoros describes as a 'total surprise'.

But when it’s suggested that, at 55, the genial entrepreneur may soon be tempted to sell up and enjoy a gold-plated early retirement, he laughs it off.

“Why would I want to do that? Why would I sell a business that is still growing? I run the company because I enjoy running it and I have put everything into it. To sell it would be completely the wrong decision.”

However, with Mr Mendoros clearly not interested in watching others run Euravia while he basks in his success from a Mediterranean villa , many will wonder what attracted the man used to success to his new part-time job leading the area's regeneration body.

With huge sums of public cash involved, Regenerate Pennine Lancashire is a magnet for criticism, as some readers’ comments on the Lancashire Telegraph’s website will attest.

And so the question arises: what would tempt a successful businessman like Mr Mendoros to put his hard-fought reputation on the line to join councillors and town hall chiefs in the eye of the storm?

“You have two options in situations like this,” he says. “You can sit on the fence and complain about things not happening or you can jump in the ring and start being the guy who does something about it. It is the first time we have had the six borough councils plus Lancashire County Council joining together to do something for Pennine Lancashire and I want to turn it into a success.

"I am comfortable with that.”

It is clear the dad-of-two, who lives with wife Karen, a Lancastrian, in Foulridge, is not likely to be fazed by the challenge after 20 years of running his own firm. Mr Mendoros says he avoids stress by also yachting and diving as reward for gruelling 12-hour days. In his own words, “I work hard, but I play hard too”. And he is set to work hard to make a success out of his latest venture.

SIDE PIECE Formed last year as Pennine Lancashire Development Company (PLDC), the organisation was set up by seven councils (Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale and Lancashire county) as part of a multi-area agreement. Bosses said the new PLDC would be better able to act together across East Lancashire and be better placed to lobby for public cash.

They said the securing last year of £200million of North West Development Agency money was only made possible by the seven authorities acting together.

The organisation, dominated by town hall officers and councillors, advertised for a private sector chair last year, a job Mr Mendoros was awarded in December.

He is no stranger to development positions.

In the past 12 years he has been on the following organisations: board member of the North West Development Agency; chairman of the North West Aerospace Alliance; chairman of the Pendle Strategic Partnership; member of the Bank of England North West Economic Panel; director of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce.

He said: “I think at the moment people don’t really understand Regenerate Pennine Lancashire because we have not told them what we are doing.

“We have not yet published our business plan or agreed what we will spend the money on, and most people probably don’t understand what value we can add.

“My job is to make sure that Pennine Lancashire will communicate clearly with the public and get more support and more consensus on it.”

These are familiar words from someone armed with millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, but refreshingly, Mr Mendoros is happy to provide details on how he wants to support the region.

He highlights three key priorities: business support, jobs and training.

“The first thing I would like to see is a more substantial business support package to be rolled out.

"In return this will create jobs and secure existing ones, and we can attract more investment and better people to our businesses.

"In time that will also have an impact on the quality of life in East Lancashire, with better health, and that will bring people to the area too.

"Nobody wants to be in an area that’s deprived and so we need better options for people.

"It is a tall order, I realise that, but with seven councils working together I think it is possible.”

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