I started my next job in March 1977, which was also based in Leek. This time I was working for Leek Motor Factors as a sales representative. The company was essentially part of Leek Motors Ltd., an Opel car dealership based in Leek. The basic wage was quite poor, but I was also paid a commission based on my sales each month.
The commission was initially not very much either, because my "patch" was the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and there was fierce competition from rival firms. Still, at least I got a company car with the job - an Opel Kadett estate! Unfortunately I managed to have a couple of minor accidents in that car that earned me the nickname "Rent-a-Dent". On the plus side, I got to drive a race-tuned Opel Commodore while my car was being repaired!
After about six months, the sales representative looking after the other "patch" quit Leek Motor Factors for a better paid job. Her sales area encompassed Leek itself, Ashbourne, Buxton, and Macclesfield. I was allowed to take the area over, which suited me for several reasons, not least of which was that we had a number of well-established customers in these towns, so my commission was virtually guaranteed to at least double.
Although life on the road gave me a certain amount of freedom in terms of working hours and having a set of wheels at my disposal, I discovered over time that I was not really cut out to be a salesman. During my time with Leek Motor Factors I had moved out of my parents house and moved in with my then girlfriend. After we broke up I rented a small bed-sit in a house in Waterhouses, a tiny village half way between Leek and Ashbourne.
My parents, together with my brother, had meanwhile moved back to Maidstone, Kent, which is of course where my story started. Again, this was due to my father getting another new job, this time as managing director of a paper and packaging manufacturer in Rochester. Being a free agent once more, and having decided that my future career lay in a different direction, I made the decision in October 1981 to quit Leek Motor Factors and move back to Kent to live with my parents.