What was your first job and what did your responsibilities include?
I was a newspaper boy delivering evening newspapers when I was 14.

How much was in your first pay packet and what did you spend it on?
Probably a few pounds for a week’s work. I would have spent it on electronic components — I was really into building kit radios and amplifiers at the time.

Describe how your career developed to the present day.
After my A-Levels I trained as an engineer in the car industry and did an engineering apprenticeship while studying for a degree and then PhD in robotics.
I worked in new product development and then became chief executive of a food manufacturing company that I managed through start-up, buyout and successful trade sale.
In 1993 I co-founded a Oxford University
bio-medical spin-out company, PowderJect, and built that over ten years into a FTSE 250 company. I went into politics aged 44 and spent five years as a minister in the Blair and Brown governments in defence and science roles.
Following the general election in 2010, I returned to business and my current role at Drayson Racing Technologies.

What are the key responsibilities in your position?
I have overall responsibility for the business as chief executive.

Describe a typical day
Breakfast with family and then a work-out session in the gym before driving to Oxford, meetings with engineering, research and development team developing electric racing car drivetrains, presentation to potential sponsors of the Drayson Racing Formula E race team. Then I may drive into London for vote at House of Lords, before returning for dinner with the family in the evening and catching up on e-mails.

Who/what have been the biggest influences on your career?
My wife, Elspeth — we co-founded PowderJect and Drayson Racing Technologies together — my parents and Professor Keith Foster who supervised my PhD.

What has been your best decision?
Marrying Elspeth.

What is the most important thing you have learnt in business?
Sticking with things when times are tough — not giving up.

Do you run an apprenticeship scheme and, if so, why?
We are not big enough to run a scheme at present but we currently have one trainee working with us.

What is the secret of good management?
Clear objectives.
Do you have a good work/life balance?
Pretty good — my wife and kids think so. But I am working hard at present.

What are the biggest challenges facing your business today?
The uncertain economic environment. It is hard to find people with the right skills in power electronics and systems engineering.
Is there anything in business that really irritates you?
People who do not do what they say.

How do you see your company developing over the next five years?
Growing quite fast, ideally going public at some point.

What has been your most satisfying moment?
Winning the Road America Le Mans series race in 2010 from pole position and having 40 per cent less carbon impact than the car that came second (we used second generation biofuel).

How much do you use social media and how effective is it?
A lot — Twitter especially. It is a great way to understand what is happening and what people are interested in.

What is your attitude to the environment and do you have any green policies in place?
Environmental sustainability is central to our business strategy and developing new technologies to reduce vehicle pollution and greenhouse gas emissions is at the heart of what we do.

What do you do to motivate your workforce?
Provide an inspiring vision for what the business is all about, setting clear goals, providing lots of feedback and rewarding good performance well.

Is there any other job you would like to have done and why?
I would like to have been secretary of state of a government department, because I would have made more impact on government policy and applied what I had learnt after 20 years in business.

What would you like to do when you retire?
I do not see myself retiring — I really enjoy work and want to keep doing it.   

* Lord Drayson is the keynote speaker at the Venturefest science and technology fair being held at the Said Business School, Oxford on June 18.

For more details vist the website: www.venturefestoxford.com