Chaos theory

There was no time to panic. "I legged it to the IOD [Institute of Directors], plugged in my laptop and booked the next flight up to Scotland," says Brooks.

The flight, which he shared with pop group Girls Aloud ("the ginger one is actually the best looking"), gave him time to think. By 7pm, most of the key decisions had been taken, he says. "Archie focused on the factory and I focused on sorting out the supply contracts [to transfer business to other Finsbury sites or other local manufacturers]."

In a situation like this, he says, formal business continuity plans are all very well, but in practice, "you don't think: my factory is on fire, can someone get me manual five from the drawer?" Cunningham, who was first on the scene, was "incredible", says Brooks. "He'd been up all night, so I told him that I would take over when I arrived on site so that he could get some sleep. But he was having none of it."

By Christmas, all of the products made at UCB were back in full supply, he says. "That's pretty impressive in less than two months [and not a manual in sight]."

Brooks is not a fan of doing things by the book: "When I became chief executive of Finsbury Food Group [in November 2002 at the tender age of 35], our nominated advisor sent over a 'presentational' lady to tell me how I should conduct myself in the City, what clothes to wear and so on. It was bizarre. Some people are intimidated by the City, but I'm not. I always tell my staff: one thing you can guarantee is that you will always know more about your business than any analyst or investor, because it's what you do day in, day out, so there is nothing to worry about. You just have to be honest and be yourself."

Which is precisely what he found himself doing a year later after he was forced to "explain to the City why profits were going to be nil, rather than the forecasted £1.5M" after a disastrous Christmas in 2003. The problem was primarily down to staffing, he says. "Basically, Memory Lane Cakes [Finsbury's largest business] was growing incredibly fast. We'd bid for about 10 contracts expecting we'd win a couple of them, and we won them all."

Recruiting 150 staff in Cardiff in the run up to Christmas was "bloody hard. We ended up with a factory full of 16 and 17-year-old boys. It was like kindergarten. We got the orders out on time, but efficiency went down 5% and our overtime bill went through the roof.

"Basically, we racked up £800,000 in excess labour costs, the egg market went mad and our materials controls went down the drain. I had to be frank about it. It wasn't about 9:11, the weather, Sars or anything else. We just got people in that didn't have the right skills. But I think the City respected my honesty."

While this was not an auspicious start for any chief executive, it forced Brooks to review his operations, decide where he wanted to be - at the premium end of the own-label market, and exit £10M of marginally profitable business over the following 12 months.

With the chances of getting a price increase from the supermarkets "somewhere between nil and bugger all", the only way to stay ahead is to keep driving efficiency, and to develop new, more profitable premium products, says Brooks, who trained as an accountant before entering the food industry with Brakes in 1989 after stints with Magnet Kitchens and Kimberly Clark.

Memory Lane Cakes has got to save £500,000 a year "just to stand still", he says. But supermarkets are not the enemy: "They are actually very predictable. It's not in their interests to keep switching suppliers. They just want better terms year-on-year in an environment where your input costs are going up. If you accept that from the outset, you can focus on ways of moving forward."

As for his approach to management: "The best strategy is to let the business units get on with running themselves. I've got some bloody good people working for me, and I've learned to trust them to get on with it."

As for his own meteoric rise to the top, he insists he has "absolutely no ambition. I've just been very fortunate to do jobs that I enjoy. If I'm not enjoying my work, I move on - that's my criteria".

His first job (at 18) was trainee accountant at Kent County Council: "I was on a cricket tour when they rang up offering me the job and my mum accepted for me. I got back on Saturday and found out I was starting work on Monday."

His big break came when he joined Brakes' food manufacturing division in 1989 as a cost analyst and landed up in the office next to the md, Richard Ashness. "We were a great double act. I was like a glorified PA." Several years later, in 1997, he got a call from Ashness, who was on the verge of buying Memory Lane Cakes. "He asked me if I wanted to come and work in Cardiff, and I thought, why not?"

By 1999, he was running the joint. The biggest challenge, however, was honing his interpersonal skills, recalls Brooks, who confessed to having weekly meetings with Ashness on Friday afternoons "to list all the people I'd pissed off during the week". The first six months was tough, he admits. "It was the sheer pace of it that got me: supermarkets want everything now. Sometimes I didn't have a clue what was going on. In a large factory supplying the major multiples, that's just the way it is: a good day is chaos - a bad day is anarchy."

However, he was clearly doing something right, given that just three years later, when Memory Lane was acquired by Finsbury Food Group, he was parachuted in as group chief executive.

The top job has meant more dealings with the City, more meetings, and more media attention. "We have had a major review to focus on what we're trying to achieve, but I can't spend all my time wondering where we'll be in 10 years' time. I've got to think about tomorrow, next week and next month, or we won't be going anywhere in 10 years!" FM

Rising star: Finsbury Food Group

Finsbury Food Group is a leading supplier of celebration cakes, premium cakes, slices and speciality breads with factories in Cardiff, Salisbury, Bathgate, Coatbridge and Twechar.

It was launched in 2002 when Lord Saatchi decided to reposition his media and dot.com cash shell Megalomedia as a food business with the purchase of Memory Lane Cakes, followed by craft baker Nicholas & Harris in 2003 and three Scottish bakeries (California Cakes, United Central Bakeries and Campbell's Cakes), in 2005. Memory Lane has the exclusive rights to produce Nestlé branded cakes, while Nicholas & Harris produces and sells organic breads under the Village Bakery brand.

The company, which made a £2.5M pre-tax profit on sales of £73.3M in the year to June 2006, is on course to make £3.1M on sales of £92M this year, driven by growth at the premium end of the market, where it enjoys a leading position.

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