David Armitage is the founder and chairman of the York Handmade Brick Company, the largest independent brickmaker in the north of England and based at Alne.

What job would you like to have other than your own ?

I would like to be involved in either sports commentating or journalism. I have always enjoyed a range of sports but in particular cricket, rugby, football and golf. So there is plenty of scope in all these sports for writing and commentating. In that career you would get to travel the world, meet some fascinating people and I think it would give you a great deal of job satisfaction.

Greatest achievement?

I am very proud of the fact that I bought York Handmade Brick as a run-down company in 1988. At that stage it rather resembled a battle field in the Iran/Iraq war which was going on around that time. My ambition was to develop a successful local business, employing persons from the local area, many of whom would not have jobs of this quality without our presence. We have largely been successful in this objective despite having to battle the recession from 2008-2013.

It is also a source of great pride that we have made a major contribution to modern flagship buildings. These include the amenity building at York St. John University in the centre of York; bricks for the ground floors of The Shard, The Shard Arcade and the London Bridge Station redevelopment; St Albans Cathedral; Jesus College, Cambridge; a new building for Chetham School of Music in Manchester; a brand-new, mixed-use development in the heart of Kensington in London; and a new folly at Dumfries House in Scotland.

All these buildings are a great advertisement for the company, for brick as a product and, most importantly, for the employees who work here.

I was also very proud to lead the successful fight to save Nun Monkton Primary School in the 1980s.

What do you need to make life complete?

I am now coming into my twilight years so I don’t have too many demands to achieve this objective. As ever, I hope for good health for my family and friends as well as myself and the opportunity to ensure I have made a contribution in their lives in a variety of ways. I have had a loyal wife for 22 years and she is my friend and soulmate. What more can you ask? I have that, together with four wonderful children and five grandchildren.

Why do you make a difference?

I like to think it is my commitment to people around me within my business life and within my family life that makes a difference. I know this is not original but it is fundamental to everything that I strive to do. Using a combination of enthusiasm and diligence to achieve a better life for all those with whom I live and work.

What makes you most angry?

Bureaucracy, especially the unnecessary degree of it in some fields of life, is a major annoyance. I also get very angry about the fact that some sections of society are always complaining.

We are very fortunate to have the democracy in which we live and, although it is easy to disagree with people on the opposite side of the fence in one’s politics, we should never forget the fact that we are most fortunate to have survived two World Wars and come out the better for it. It is true that there are still imperfections in society but it is certainly not half as bad as the comments, trolls, tweets and some sections of the media would have us believe.

It would be nice sometimes to hear balanced comments from balanced people in the media rather that this endless chronic criticism.

Having said that, the way the country has rallied behind the fight against Coronavirus has been heart-warming. Only the nastiest people are still trolling.

What would you like to see on your epitaph?

'Without going over the top, he tried to consider other people in everything he did whether this is in the family or at work. In a quiet way he tried to make other people’s lives happier and to treat people fairly no matter what their background is or their colour, creed or religion. He tried to put in more than he took out'.

If you would like to be featured in our Meet the Boss series, email your answers (in 430 words) and a photo to Business Editor Nadia Jefferson-Brown at nadia.jeffersonbrown@thepress.co.uk