Paul Rackham: No Time to Waste

When Paul Rackham began wheeling and dealing as a child, even he couldn’t have foreseen building a multimillion-pound business. He couldn’t have known that he would one day socialize with the likes of Lord Lucan, or that he would own racehorses ridden by Lester Piggott. His has been an inspirational journey, one that began in rural poverty and climbed to the ranks of theSunday Times rich list.

Here, in his own direct but modest style, Paul tells the story of his Suffolk childhood, the emergence of his own entrepreneurial spirit, the rebellion of adolescence, the building of multiple business interests and the overcoming of inevitable set-backs. His memoir chimes with the great themes of post-war Britain, from the time of austerity and making do with the barest of essentials, through the building of a rejuvenated nation and on into the boom and bust years of the later 20th century. It’s also a story that offers fascinating insight into the emergence of Britain’s recycling industry, told by a man who was in the vanguard of changing how a country thinks about waste management.

Through the highs of rapid growth and the lows of deals gone bad and personal misfortune, Paul’s inspirational and thought-provoking story proves that with an entrepreneurial approach, hard work and a streetwise attitude anything is possible.