James Whittaker is the managing director of Peel Waters and is involved in some of the North’s most important developments.
However – by his own admission – he’ll always be known as the son of legendary billionaire John Whittaker, who gave the North projects like MediaCity and the Trafford Centre.
He’s the latest guest on BusinessCloud’s Northern Leaders podcast and talks candidly about his father, his philosophy and his own charity-raising exploits.
You can listen to the episode – which has been sponsored by DSW Capital – on Spotify or Apple Podcasts; or watch it on YouTube below.
Recalling his childhood he said: “We very rarely saw Dad as children. He was working so late. He wouldn’t be in until 12pm and when he did come in, he would be on the phone.”
He recalled his father’s early vision for the Trafford Centre when he was a young child.
“He pointed to some land from the Barton Bridge next to the Manchester Ship Canal and said ‘I’m going to build the biggest retail leisure destination in the world here’ and as children we laughed at him,” explained the young Whittaker.
At the age of eight, James went to boarding school at Ampleforth School with some words of wisdom from his father ringing in his ears.
“He said ‘don’t worry about education, just play 1st team rugby’,” James recalled. “He said rugby teaches you every life lesson you need to learn – teamwork, commitment, camaraderie and training.”
The young Whittaker did get picked for the 1st team – even keeping future England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio out the team.
James spoke about his own relationship with his father.
“I never compare myself with my father because there’s no way I can compete with someone like that,” he said. “What I want to do is create my own legacy.”
He also spoke about his father’s relationship with Sir Howard Bernstein, the late, great, chief executive of Manchester City Council.
“They were really good friends,” explained James. “We had a joint venture with Manchester City Council for over 40 years. They used to have regular dinners, lots of red wine. It was quite awkward at times when obviously the congestion charge came up. That was quite a difficult conversation.”
James has been involved in several key projects himself, including Therme Manchester, a large-scale wellbeing resort and water park on the former EventCity site in Trafford Park, Manchester, that will cost up to £500m.
He spoke about Peel’s involvement in Everton’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which forms part of Peel’s Liverpool Waters scheme.
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The father-of-three also spoke about his support of Embassy Village in the centre of Manchester to tackle homelessness, as well as lifting the lid on the highs – and lows – of swimming the 36-mile length of Manchester Ship Canal.
This episode of the Northern Leaders podcast is sponsored by DSW Capital, which owns the Dow Schofield Watts brand.
It was produced by What Media. The interviewer was BusinessCloud’s executive editor Chris Maguire.
You can listen to the Northern Leaders podcast on Spotify; on Apple Podcasts; or on YouTube.
Previous guests have included Roland Dransfield founder Lisa Morton; Chorley Group founder Andrew Turner; Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies; Matillion CEO Matthew Scullion; and former Chief Crown Prosecutor of the North Nazir Afzal.