We now meet Andy Hogg, a member of our publicity team

Hello Andy, have you always lived in Forncett?

Gosh no, I’m actually from Yorkshire and was brought up in Scholes, just outside Leeds. And looking further back, my surname Hogg originates in Scotland, so over the years the Hoggs have gradually moved southwards!

So, what prompted the move?

Well, that’s a long story, but my first move southwards followed on from my university degree. I did a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering at Salford University and being a car enthusiast applied for jobs in the motor industry when I graduated in 1983. I got a job at Land Rover and moved to Birmingham. Interestingly while at university I got involved with the Formula 2 racing team Maurer Motorsport and met their driver Stefan Bellof who went on to race in Formula 1, but sadly died in 1985 in a racing accident.

What were you doing at Land Rover?

Initially I was using my knowledge in aerodynamics to update Range Rover, but over the years I was involved in a number of other areas such as manufacturing engineering and ABS braking development. The latter took me to Sweden where I tested cars on a frozen lake at Arjeplog – one time the brakes didn’t work too well (as planned) and I ploughed into a snowdrift! I moved up the management ladder and started work in Product Planning which was very challenging as it involved planning bespoke military vehicles – on one occasion I found myself on Salisbury Plain with missiles firing off the back of a specially designed Land Rover!

Land Rover was also instrumental in bringing my wife and I together because I used to play squash with one of my colleagues, Jon, and through him met his sister-in-law Claire to whom I’ve now been married 37 years!

And what brought you to Norfolk?

In February 1988 I got a job at Lotus in Computer Aided Engineering. This took me around the world doing consultancy work for General Motors, Japanese car makers and Michelin, leading to trips to the USA, Japan and South Korea. When we first moved to Norfolk, Claire and I lived on Cheney’s Lane before moving to Mulbarton, then Forncett End and finally to our house on Low Road, not far from St Peter’s. We had two children in 1990 and 1992 and both went to Forncett School. Funnily enough with my Scottish heritage they both went on to universities in Scotland, Harry to Sterling and Megan to Edinburgh College of Art.

I left Lotus in 2002 after running their car programmes to do consultancy work for a while and then I spent 4 years working with CBS on digital advertising in the London Underground. This was challenging because we had to install over 15km of fibre optics to feed projectors, screens and install 30,000 advertising boards This also meant organising hundreds of installation staff over 3 years of working through the night when the trains weren’t running.

Commuting to London took its toll so in 2011 I started a company with an ex-colleague from CBS and we now develop goal setting software for small businesses using Xero and QuickBooks.

My goodness, you have been busy! I’m surprised you have time for any hobbies.

Well, coming back to Scotland again, I have a strong interest in whisky and have been to a number of distilleries over the years. I was introduced to whisky by my grandfather who had a tradition of toasting in the New Year. I’m also a Liverpool fan and have been delighted this season – they are 15 points ahead with two games to go, and now Champions. The other thing that interests me is Hi-Fi – my dad used to design and build his own speakers, some incorporating concrete to give the music a richer, more stable sound.  I am always tweaking mine when I’m streaming my music - which ranges from Mahler to Miles Davis to Led Zeppelin and even Sufjan Stevens!

 

What an interesting life you’ve had so far! Thanks for all the help and support you have for our campaign.