the PeoPle - OPERC - Off-highway Plant and Equipment Research ...

SPECIAL REPORT
Interview with
Richard Shore
Early days
Richard grew up in the traditional mining
village of Maltby, South Yorkshire and
went to the local Maltby Comprehensive
School. Richard’s grandfathers had both
been coal miners but his parents were
teachers. At his prime, Richard’s dad
was actually a heavyweight boxer and
sparred with the British Heavyweight
Champion of the time, Bruce Woodcock,
but he went on to become a PE
instructor teaching boxing and later
technical drawing. Richard’s mum was
an infant school teacher. Both parents
22
August 2010
encouraged Richard at school and
advised him to take his O levels and A
levels, which he did - Richard remembers
his mother saying “Once you’ve got it
they can’t take it away.”
On leaving school in 1974, Richard
was keen to work and earn a wage,
but unlike most of his friends who went
to British Steel or the National Coal
Board, he wanted something different,
although, what that something different
was he was not too sure. After some
“everyone’s talking about it!”
In each issue of
PEP we seek out
interviews with
leading figures
within our industry
to provide an
opportunity to
document and
learn from their
experiences and
knowledge. In this
interview, we speak
to a highly respected
and successful
professional Mr
Richard Shore,
MD, Mentor who
incidentally was also
one of the founding
members of OPERC.
As his story unfolds,
the traits of good
business management
emerge as helpful
reminders to us all.
discussions with his father, Richard
completed his UCCA (University) forms,
applying for estate management degree
courses, and subsequently accepted a
place at Leicester Polytechnic (now De
Montfort University). He studied there
for three years and graduated with a
degree which gave full exemption from
examinations to join the Royal Institute
of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and
become an Associate member (ARICS).
Richard decided, however, that a job