Business Profile: Jonathan Webber
Birmingham Chamber’s Jonathan Webber criss-crosses the globe to help companies win overseas business. Ian Halstead sees what makes him tick.
Over the centuries, many noble Englishmen have spent their lives searching the continents for mythical cities, or seeking the truth behind mysterious fables.
However, when Jonathan Webber returns time and again to the sprawling street markets of Africa and Asia, it is on the trail of something rather more prosaic than lost gold mines, or the secret of eternal youth.
He is consumed by a desire to find back numbers of the cricketing world’s famous almanac, Wisden, to add to the hundreds of volumes he already keeps in safe storage.
Given that the hardback version of the first Wisden went for £23,000, and that a full set would set you back at least £100,000, it’s understandable that Webber is seeking the value option to complete his collection.
“The gaps now are largely just a matter of money. You know where they are, but the prices are astronomical,” he admits.
“I once discovered 160 Wisdens in a shed in Egypt, which was exciting, although they turned out to be duplicates of ones I had.
“You always need lots of spares though, in case someone wants a swap, and I do enjoy the thrill of the hunt.”
Webber displays the same passionate intensity for his other great love - local politics. He’s standing in Wolverhampton’s Park Road constituency, where he lives, and for the Liberal Democrats.
“I can’t tell the difference between the two main parties, and New Labour has always been Tory-lite.
“Our family was pretty non-conformist, and I’ve always had that kind of streak,” he explains.
“Even now, at a personal level, I sometimes struggle to cope with authority.
“At a political level, I do worry about the amount of legislation being enacted by the current Government.
“The CCTV networks are making Britain too much of a surveillance society, and I dislike the concept of ID cards, because they change the relationship between people and the state.
“To me, we all have the right to be a citizen, and the state should serve us, not the other way round.”
The words are said with calm grace, rather than the fervour of the hustings, but you can begin to see why Webber’s grand-mother was a suffragette.
Indeed, she and her husband were far more of an influence on the young Webber than his parents, largely down to Webber Senior’s laissez-faire approach to childcare.
“Our family was East End Jewish, and my dad was a genuine Cockney, and really quite intimidating,” recalls Webber.
“He was a very clever bloke, but didn’t really understand children, so I was sent to boarding school from the age of seven.
“Then dad died, mum went to live in France with my sister, and my grandparents became my guiding light.”
It might sound a lonely, and rather solitary, childhood, but Webber dismisses such psycho-babble.
