MEET THE BOSS: A regular look at what makes the company bosses of East Lancashire tick.

This month, ANDREW CALVERT interviews engineer John Getty...

ENGINEERING is in John Getty's blood. Even though his father refused to allow John to follow him into the industry, the lure of working with metal proved too strong. After leaving Burnley Grammar School, he went to study law at Liverpool. Indentured to a local firm of solicitors, John soon realised he was not cut out to become a lawyer.

"I knew I was worth more than the £5 a week they were paying me," he recalled. "But when the principal refused to give me a rise, I knew it was time to leave."

The law's loss was engineering's gain. Today, he is chairman of PDS Engineering in Nelson and still feels passionately about the industry.

"It's quite simply the best job in the world," he said. "And in East Lancashire, we are better at it than anyone else. We have the finest engineers in the world in this area with the skills to take on any size of project."

John is a larger than life character in every sense. Standing taller than six foot and weighing in at more than 20 stones, he is hard to ignore.

The walls of his office are covered with testaments to engineering excellence. But alongside the usual quality assurance certificates and industrial awards are signed photographs of NASA astronauts and world record holders such as Richard Noble, Richard Branson and his fellow balloonist Per Lindstradt.

More by accident than by design, PDS has become involved in a series of world record attempts. It began with Richard Noble's Thrust SSC which broke the sound barrier to claim the world landspeed record back in 1997. The company was asked to solve some engineering problems and John became part of the team and was in Arizona's Black Rock Desert when Thrust became the fastest vehicle ever at more than 850 mph.

The company's reputation spread and John started working on Richard Branson's hot air balloon exploits and with the North West's very own rocket man Steve Bennett. The latest venture is the Quicksilver Project which will attempt to smash the world water speed record of 317.60mph which has been held by Australia for more than 20 years.

PDS is the prime contractor for the 27ft high tech boat which will be powered by a jet engine taken from an old RAF Buccaneer fighter which generates an astonishing 40,000 horse power.

The framework for the chassis has now been completed at the PDS factory in Cliffe Street, Nelson, and the latest boat to take on the mantle of the Campbell family's Bluebird legend is scheduled to make its record attempt in October 2002.

John is naturally pleased with the company's involvement in so many high-profile world-beating attempts. "It gives a boost to everyone working here," he said. "Quicksilver was going to be built in Bournemouth, but I managed to convince the team behind the project that East Lancashire companies had all the skills needed to take on the world.

"Being involved in world records has become part of the job and we have young lads here who have worked on five attempts." John admits that the early work undertaken for the Thrust project was done as a "labour of love" and although he insists all work is done on a commercial basis he can still be tempted by a new engineering challenge. A recent request for assistance came from the British Olympic Association who need help with the runners for their bobsleigh teams in time for the next Winter Olympics. "The runners need to be made with a special type of steel which is difficult to work with," he said, warming to the idea. " And It would be good to go out with the team to America."

John's route to running his own business took him first to the then Mullards plant at Simonstone and then to Cussons in Manchester where he production controller responsible for gift packing of toiletries.

At the age of 25, he went into business with his father who was then running a small transport business delivering engineering parts around Lancashire.

The introduction of new technology into the engineering industry with CNC machines gave John his next break, first maintaining and selling second-hand equipment and then as an agent for an Italian company working throughout the UK.

As a hobby, he also ran his own motorcycle racing team and is still proud of the two bronze medals he won at the Isle of Man TT riding a Suzuki 1100. Around 10 years ago, he teamed up with Chris Woodcock who ran a company in Clayton-le-Moors and PDS was launched.

The company undertakes precision engineering contracts for companies such as Rolls-Royce, BAE SYSTEMS, GE and Westland Helicopters.

"We'll never make a fortune," John cheerily admits. "But we do have a good time."

Sitting in his basement, next to a flight simulator borrowed from NASA for a pending project at the Space Centre in Houston, is a talking reindeer. "We've had a good laugh making it work," he said. "When it's finished, it will brighten up someone's Christmas."