Tim Orrell’s marketing career developed out of an ambition to own a Porsche.

Watching a television sit-com introduced him to marketing – a career he admits he knew nothing about.

“There used to be a comedy called Me And My Girl. He was in advertising and had a Porsche. I thought it looked good and would have a go at it, but I still haven’t got a Porsche 21 years later.”

After passing his A-levels, Tim intended to go to university, but he spotted a job vacancy at a local advertising agency – “so I gambled and started off as an office junior on £4,000 a year”.

His job as a voucher clerk was to check through newspapers, highlighting adverts. Eager to learn, he pestered to be given a patch to cover and clients to see.

His persistence paid off and he was offered a week’s trial in an area near Carlisle, seeking advertising from hoteliers. He proved his worth and spent a decade working for the same company, progressing to senior roles.

“I went from checking newspapers to being on the board. I was a board director,” says Tim.

The company was eventually bought out, prompting Tim to work for another agency promoting printers in Britain and the rest of Europe.

His next move was working for an agency which looked after packaging for supermarket giant Asda, then he took the plunge and became self-employed.

He set up a fashion magazine for Premier League football, using players from clubs he was working with to model some of the designer clothes and accessories sold through the magazine.

His intention was to pitch for investment on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den programme, but the current economic climate forced him to reconsider, and nine months ago he joined advertising agency Golley Slater as managing director. Tim and his team look after the advertising for Leeds and Manchester from his Guiseley office.

The company designs websites and produces advertising for TV and radio adverts. It promotes everything from chocolate bars to toothpaste, and even helps recruit soldiers as the Army is among its high-profile clients, along with fashion retailer TK Maxx and motor company Mitsubishi.

“The fascinating thing, and why I continue to love what I do, is everything is different. You never have the same day twice,” says Tim.

He says advertising and marketing “matters more” in the current difficult economic times.

Tim is aware of the competition in his line of business. “We have to be clever in what we do to get people to notice us,” he says.

Although marketing is often perceived as a cut-throat industry, Tim believes caring for clients and staff has a positive effect on performance. Particularly in times of recession, he believes they should look after each other.

“When times are hard, you need to hold people closer and look after them,” he says.

His former boss instilled in him the philosophy about appreciating staff, and he’s referred to it throughout his 21 years in the business. “It has never let me down,” he says.

Tim says anyone venturing into marketing needs to be determined.

“It is not for the faint-hearted. From the outside, it looks like the most glamorous career. It is great and it is exciting, but my guys work incredibly long hours and you need to have a bit of gritty determination. You have to like winning – we like to win for our clients and ourselves.”

For more information on a marketing career, contact Bradford College on 433333.