Full Name: Andrew TC Stewart

Position: MD of DDL Equipment

Main Activity of the Company: DDL Equipment specialises in the marketing, consulting, assembly, installation and servicing of docking equipment and industrial doors

Date and Place of Birth: Louis Trichardt, Limpopo province

Education: King Edward’s School; three-year materials handling qualification, Ryerson Polytechnic Institute (part of the mechanical engineering department of Toronto University)

First Job: Hunt Leuchards & Hepburn’s mining timber division, Johannesburg

Size of First Pay Packet: £27 a month
Value of the Assets under Your Control: R20-million to 30-million in a R90-million market (70% of our manufacturing is outsourced)

Number of People under Your Leadership: 30

Management Style: Open-door policy. I am driven by passion in whatever I do and align myself, wherever possible, with positive people

Personal Best Achievement: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and leading a party of nine to the top

Professional Best Achievement: Being part of a six-person team that brought containerisation to South Africa and hosting the first containerisation seminar in the country – in 1969

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Gordon Richie – on my return after seven years overseas, he welcomed the new international knowledge I had acquired and encouraged me. With others, we brought an awareness of materials handling into South Africa, cofounding the Institute of Materials Handling and the Materials Handling Association

Person You Would Most Like to Have Met: Andrew Carnegie, who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late nineteenth century

Person Who Has Impressed You Most: Andrew Carnegie and Gordon Richie

Philosophy of life: Health before wealth and fit for fun

Biggest Ever Opportunity: Moving from timber handling to materials handling

Biggest Ever Disappointment: That the Institute of Materials Handling and the Materials Handling Association are no longer active and effective

Hope for the Future: Good health and prosperity for my family, my employees, my friends, my colleagues, my associates and me

Favourite Reading: Jared Diamond

Favourite TV Programme: Sport, news, wildlife and National Geographic

Favourite Food/Drink: Fish

Favourite Music: 1950s, 1960s and 1970s

Favourite Sport: Snow skiing

Hobbies: Squash, tennis and golf

Cars: Mercedez-Benz and Land Rover Discovery

Pets: I prefer wild animals in nature reserves

Dislikes: Impatience and laziness

Married: Single

Children: Leighanne and her husband Guy Imbert, and grandchildren Imogen, 12, and Blake, 9

Clubs: Old Edwardians, Houghton Golf Club and World of Golf