RAY Ingleby hasn't done badly for someone who couldn't read and write until the age of nine, scraped through school and was asked to leave his first job. He bounced back to become a millionaire at the age of 21 and having spent more than £1million on shares in Burnley FC is now vice-chairman of the club. PETE OLIVER spent a day in London with the enigma of Turf Moor to discover who is the REAL Ray Ingleby . . .

AS Ray Ingleby prepared to leave school he wasn't keen on going into the family's soft furnishings business.

Diagnosed as dyslexic, Ingleby had earlier surprised everyone at home in St Anne's when he passed his 11-plus to go to Kirkham Grammar School.

Only an appetite for athletics, rugby and economics helped him through his early years and it wasn't certain he would stay on long enough to pass his 'A' levels.

Having done so, however, he took a year out and started work selling advertising space for a local company producing hotel magazines.

He never made it to university after being made head of sales at the age of 19 but his business education was kick-started when the firm was bought out by a public listed company in 1983.

Ingleby was fascinated by the workings of the plc and put in some groundwork for the future by picking the brains of his chairman into how to go about acquiring companies.

The learning curve was rudely interrupted when he was shown the door in a cost-cutting exercise but the move proved to be a blessing in disguise. "It was the best thing that could have happened to me, although it was one of the low points of my business life. If it hadn't we wouldn't be sitting here," said Ray.

His response was to start his own company in a 50-50 partnership, selling advertising space and renting out display cabinets in hotel foyers. In 1983, the Ingleby Group went public at a valuation of £1million and the young entrepreneur set about acquiring further advertising companies.

In 1986, he moved into corporate development for the first time having bought Rose Publicity and then in 1988 when he sold up, his 25 per cent share of the company netted him £13million.

Having signed a non-competitive agreement for Britain and Europe with the purchasers, Ingleby moved to the United States to embark on the next chapter of his life.

Ingleby Communications, funded by Ingleby, family and friends, started buying up companies that staged large corporate meetings and events.

In 1989, the company had a revenue of $4million but the big breakthrough came in 1992 when Ingleby Communications bought Caribiner and took on the name.

Ingleby's planned three-year stay in America became a nine-year stint as Caribiner expanded its interests in trade show design, web-site development, training programmes for sales firms and became the biggest audio/visual equipment rental business in the world. The next step was to take Caribiner public and going into this year the company had a revenue of $750million. However, for Ingleby it was time for another change of direction.

"I decided at the start of this year that Caribiner needed somebody different. I had taken it as far as I could.

"We appointed a new chief executive in New York in January and I resigned as chairman in May."

He remains a non-executive vice-chairman with a six per cent holding in the company, but it has not all been plain-sailing.

"From 1996 to 1998 we acquired a lot of companies and the integration did not go perfectly well. That caused us to miss our Wall Street profits forecast and sent the shares reeling," he admitted.

As a result, Ingleby and Caribiner are both currently fighting 'class action shareholder' law suits.

The suit claims Caribiner didn't disclose details of reduced profits early enough, or details of Ingleby's share dealings.

However, Ingleby dismisses the claims and says that as well as selling shares, he also added to his stock. The case is being contested and Ingleby insisted: "The same day they filed the law suit against Caribiner the same law firm filed nine others.

"I resigned as CO (chief executive) in January and the law suit was in February or March. I believe we will be vindicated."

Ingleby stills owns an office equipment firm on the Fylde and is involved with a number of advertising and internet companies in Blackpool while he plots his next moves.

"My next big challenge would be two things, one, to somehow replicate the success I had in the US by doing something similar and two, to get Burnley into a financial position where it is making money." Splitting his time between America, London and Ireland, football and Burnley in particular now genuinely appear to be a major passion for 36-year-old Ingleby, who split from his wife of eight years earlier this year.

A Sunday League player in his youth, Ingleby grew up a Chelsea fan thanks to their 1970 FA Cup success and the fact that they wore his favourite colour.

His loyalties have changed dramatically since he first expressed an interest in Burnley and his passion for the club appears to be far from phoney.

He is devoting more time than ever before to Burnley and his role in generating revenue for the club.

The goalposts have now apparently moved since Ingleby says he doesn't plan to sell his shares and make money on the back of the club's future success.

But he still hopes to deliver the goods at Turf Moor.

"I really believe in being open with the fans like never before. There are only two important things - the fans and the players.

"They can always write letters to me at the club with ideas of how to best run the club.

"I can't promise that we'll agree with all of them but ideas will be needed," said the man who has never been short of ideas himself when it comes to making money.

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