IT is almost 50 years to the day that a young Patrick (P J) Leyden crossed the Irish Sea to seek his fortune in the north west.

The 18-year-old left behind Ireland's green fields and came to Manchester with a one-way ticket and a £10 note in his pocket.

But Patrick soon saw that the city's streets were not exactly paved with gold, and the air was certainly not as fresh as back home in County Clare.

He says: "Nothing prepared me for the smog in Manchester, and, in 1957, the city was also suffering from post-war trauma. It was fairly bleak and, while I was excited at the possible opportunities, I was also a little disappointed."

With a mixture of excitement and trepidation about his new life in England, he headed to his uncle's pub, the Lord Raglan in Bury, and began helping out behind the bar until he found a job.

Now, half a century later and at the age of 68, he is the chairman of one of the fastest growing environmental consult- ancies in the UK.

LK Group works with housebuilders, property developers, local authorities and housing associations, cleaning land contaminated by chemicals and plant infestations such as Japanese knotweed, as well as offering asbestos management services.

The group also provides project management to property developers and testing and inspection services for gas, electrical and water supply installations.

Aggressive

Since LK Group began trading in 2002, demand for its services has soared on the back of aggressive clean-up and redevelopment projects across the UK.

The group has an annual turnover of more than £2m and offices in Bury, Liverpool and Glasgow, with a fourth opening in Staffordshire later this year.

Patrick says: "LK Group filled a gap in the market by offering a complete service from providing consultancy advice to landowners and developers to managing the whole project from clean-up to design and construction."

It is clear that the polite and softly-spoken Irishman is passionate about the business. But why, when most people are collecting their bus passes or heading off to the golf course, did he come out of retirement to set up a new enterprise?

"Well, I do play golf," laughs Patrick. "But I don't believe in sitting around, and I like to keep myself busy. I could also see enormous opportunity and potential in the industry."

However, LK Group is by no means Patrick's first business. In fact he has almost four decades of entrepreneurship under his belt.

After pulling pints in his uncle's pub, Patrick, who had been lucky enough to have had a post-16 education - a rarity in Ireland during the 1950s - landed a job at a Bury paper mill. He says: "I'd studied chemistry and got a job in the mill's labs, where I became the chief tester for its toilet paper.

"But after a few months I was homesick, and went back to Ireland for a while. On my return, I joined Shell at Carrington and worked in its labs, but I then became eligible for national service.

"I had the choice of either going home or doing the service, so I joined the Royal Signals and went to Catterick."

After his three years' national service, Patrick went to work for a plant hire firm in Manchester. In 1968, he decided he wanted to `have a go at plant hire' himself and formed his own company - Shannon Group, named after the river near his home in County Clare.

He says: "When I started out, I had very little money. So I hired out temporary traffic lights, which required the least capital investment!"

Over the next few decades Patrick built the group up into a £6m enterprise by having a canny ability to spot opportunities in the marketplace. During the power cuts and the miners' strikes in the 1970s and 1980s, he began importing small generators from Europe which were in great demand.

Potential

During the late 1980s, he realised the potential of the global market and began exporting the generators to more than 40 countries.

In the 1990s, he made his first foray into the world of environmentally sound business practice, when he began building generators for sewage treatment work which burned bio-gas.

He says: "The generators were designed to burn the gas from the sewage and convert it to energy. This in turn was used to power the treatment works and make them self-sufficient."

Patrick sold his shares in the group during the 1990s and retired, due to ill-health which saw him have a heart by-pass.

But, after returning to fitness, he set up his own consultancy and, at the end of a decade, formed an alliance with Phil Kirby. The partnership became Leyden Kirby and Patrick once again found himself with a thriving enterprise on his hands.

Earlier this year, the company restructured and became known as LK Group.

Patrick handed over his role as group managing director and became chairman. His son Conor was appointed head of its management and pollution response divisions, while daughter Clair is in charge of the asbestos company.

With succession plans apparently sorted, does this mean that Patrick is once again thinking of retirement?

"Not at the moment," he laughs. "I will carry on for as long as I feel I can, and am delighted that I'm still able to go to work. But at the same time there is a highly skilled and talented team in place who are well equipped to take LK Group forward.

"I try to enjoy life. I'm involved in the Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester and still have a lot of ambitions left to fulfil - which I intend to do!"

Factfile:

Name: Patrick (P J) Leyden

Age: 68

First job: Toilet paper tester in a paper mill lab in Bury

How long is your working day? As long as I choose

Worst mistake ever made?  Teaching a Frenchman to speak English

Where is your Favourite restaurant: and why? The Black Oak in Lahinch, Co Clare It is the most consistent, friendliest and with a view over Liscannor Bay to die for.

Last book read: Redemption Falls, by Joseph O’Connor

Car: Volkswagen Touareg

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