"I'd never really considered it, I just get on with the job - it's been a very busy time recently."
Quietly confident and self- effacing in equal measure, Denton-born Claudio joined the board at Newton-le-Willows-based Speedy - one of the north west's most dynamic and acquisitive businesses - as chief operating officer last November.
He clearly loves his work and admits that, as a new father, there are never enough hours in the day.
As well as his promotion, it's been all go in his personal life - marriage and fatherhood have recently been added to his CV.
He says: "It has been a fantastic time. It's fair to say the big challenge has been squeezing everything in. You have to have a sense of balance in your life."
Claudio, who now lives in Didsbury with his wife, Clare, and baby son, Luca, says of his recent promotion: "I have been lucky. The thing is to grab your chance when it comes along, and to make sure you develop and learn as you move along."
Family is the essential driver in Claudio's life.
Born to Italian parents who came to England separately in the 1960s and 1970s, Claudio is the second of four children. His elder brother is a bus driver, his sister works in marketing for a university in London, and his younger brother is a supply chain manager.
His dad is a wall and floor tiler, and as a teenager Claudio would accompany him on jobs to earn extra cash - and, importantly, `to learn my fall-back trade', he adds with a smile.
Family
He says: "As anyone who knows anything about Italians knows, family is a very big thing. I'm also a keen skier, so when you add that to family, getting to watch City, and doing a bit of DIY, there's not much time left."
He says his parents have a `misplaced sense of pride' in his achievements, arguing they have achieved far more than he.
"My mum and dad came from what I call Victorian Italy: both were born in the deep south in the 1940s, in a very deprived area. My mum was pretty much working from the age of five, looking after other children. My dad from the age of seven. So really, in many respects, their sense of pride is the wrong way round.
"I have had more of a leg-up than them. They have given me all the support I could wish for, whereas they came from absolutely nothing."
As a season ticket holder at Manchester City, Claudio has seen more than a few ups and downs.
He proudly reveals that he went to the same school as former star Paul Lake, and that each school he attended - Xaverian Sixth Form, following St Thomas More in Denton - had a `strong football pedigree'.
After his A-levels he went to Birmingham University to study banking and French.
"Around the time I was choosing my options it was the stock market crash of 1987. All of a sudden the concept of the FTSE 100 began to mean something and have a real significance for people."
Claudio was accepted on to the graduate recruitment scheme at Rothschilds, where he earned his wings under the guidance of Richard Bailey, the respected deal maker and grandee of the Manchester investment banking scene.
"I owe Richard Bailey a lot. He's done a lot to develop talent. Just look at the people who have come out of Rothschilds in Manchester - there's Andrew Simpson and Steve Underwood at Peel Holdings, Matt Davies at Pets At Home, Tony Machin at Freedom Finance, as well as me."
"Rothschilds have a phenomenal market presence in this area - I don't think there's anything comparable anywhere."
Claudio joined Rothschilds in 1996 - just before the dot-com boom - and stayed for eight years, cutting his teeth on major deals from the £2bn take- private of Manchester property giant Peel Holdings to £3m trade sales. His last deal was the Peel take-private - it even made him late for his own leaving do.
Integrity
As a City fan, he says (with tongue in cheek), it was a challenge to his professional integrity to advise Manchester United on the creation of its financial services division.
A desire to jump ship to work within a business, rather than just advise it, led Claudio to seek pastures new.
He says: "I thought there was a bit more to industry than advising businesses on who they should buy and sell. Speedy was a client of Rothschild's and offered me a great opportunity."
Originally hired as business development director, but not on the main board, Claudio was soon plunged into the fast-paced life at the acquisitive tool and equipment hire business.
"The first week I was there, we completed two acquisitions. I was straight in at the deep end. We did eight or nine deals in the first year I was there.
"I had always thought I would remain on the strategic side, not the operational side, but after about a year there was an opportunity within the lifting business.
"I was a bit daunted at first, because I didn't have any operational experience, but it went well for me. I oversaw the acquisition and integration of Lifting Gear Hire and doubled the business in size."
His time before Speedy gave him a `good grounding in what makes the business tick', but his move to industry was a `move into the real world'.
"There's something of a bubble in corporate finance - life is different when you're running a business. What we have at Speedy is a real hunger and drive to succeed. It's a young business, with a pretty young team running it, too.
"Personally speaking, I have been given a phenomenal opportunity to learn and develop with the business and the people around me. There's so much to go at for Speedy."
FACTFILE
Name: Claudio Veritiero
Age: 34
Job: Chief operating officer Speedy Hire
What was your first job? Working in B&Q on a Sunday
What car do you drive? BMW 3 Series
How long is your working day? 13 to 14 hours
Favourite restaurant? Rhubarb in Didsbury. Favourite holiday destination? A ski resort.
Your greatest achievement? Proving I can make the transition from adviser to moving a business forward.
Worst mistake you've made? Not realising sooner there was a life beyond investment banking.
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