Edward Stobart owns the largest independent haulage firm in Britain. A stammering farm child who hated school and left without paper qualifications, he worked all hours to set up his company, spending the weekends obsessively cleaning his lorries. A typical Saturday night out would be to somewhere 'like Beattock, eating egg and chips in a transport caff, having tipped a load at Motherwell'. Stobart hovers in the mid-forties on the Sunday Times Rich List (somewhere near Rod Stewart), isn't keen on going abroad, 'has no hobbies, doesn't collect things and has no interest in sport of any form, despite sponsoring Carlisle United FC'. He has a Ferrari he doesn't drive and a yacht he doesn't sail. He relaxes on a mechanical digger. Hunter Davies calls him the 'greatest living Cumbrian'.

LRB 4 April 2002 | PDF Download