BUSINESS boss Bill Gleave, one of the youngest chief executives in the country, has seen his salary package jump.

Former YTS car salesman Bill, who founded Burnley-based pillow manufacturer Northern Textiles, saw his pay and benefits increase from £55,000 to £79,000 in 1998 after being promoted to chief executive of French plc.

At 32 the move made him one of Britain's youngest bosses of a stock market-listed company.

Bill became a director of the firm when it bought out Northern Textiles in a £2 million cash-and-shares deal three years ago. The latest annual report of the group shows he owns 998,468 shares in French, worth almost £275,000.

In 1997 he was awarded the Lancashire Evening Telegraph Business Person of the Year title for his achievements.

After leaving school at 16 in his native Sale, Manchester, Bill had spells as a YTS car salesman at an Austin Rover dealership and as a sport shop assistant in the town. He later came to East Lancashire to work as a salesman for the former Coloroll group in Nelson.

After working in other parts of the country he returned to East Lancashire in his mid-20s to launch Northern Textiles with a partner.

The firm began in a rented unit off Todmorden Road, Burnley, and within three years hit the £3 million turnover mark.

It sells more than £9 million of pillows and quilts and other products a year, employing around 225 people. Last year it reported record sales and profits despite difficult market conditions.

Wythenshawe-based French plc manufactures household textiles, curtain products and bedding.

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