simon-woodroffe jobs schoolleavers Virgin Media
Name: Simon Woodroffe
Age: 55
Left school at: 16
Qualifications: 2 O-levels: Maths and French
Occupation: Entrepreneur, TV presenter, motivational speaker.
Defining moment: Reaching the age of 40 and realizing I was stuck in my comfort zone. The adage "follow your fear to find your destiny" echoed in my head and this spurred me on to launch Yo! Sushi.
Simon Woodroffe opened the first Yo! Sushi restaurant in 1997, selling Japanese food using a serve-yourself conveyer belt system in a bright, modern environment.
The restaurant chain has steadily expanded from its London base to open in the Glasgow, the Middle East, Ireland and France. The Yo! Empire now includes YO! Zone health clubs, the YOtel hotel chain amongst others.
Not bad for someone who worked as a roadie for Rod Stewart and The Moody Blues before becoming a stage designer.
"I didn't do very well at school because learning things from books didn't interest me.
I remember a school trip when we were taken to the Aston Martin factory to see the James Bond cars, and that flicked a light on in me.
Actually seeing a job being done for real, with a subject that I could relate to and was interested in, made me think that I could do whatever I wanted in life. I just needed to be engaged.
I had a series of different jobs before I set up the Yo! Company Group - there are now Yo! Sushi restaurants worldwide.
Practical learning is tied up with everything we do at Yo! Sushi; nearly all of the training takes place outside the classroom and everyone who joins the company spends a week in the kitchen learning how the food is made, regardless of what level they're joining at.
The real secret is to find your own way of doing things and follow that path.
You might be creative or intuitive; you might be a genius with numbers or great at planning ahead. And one of the best ways of finding the right way for you is through learning by doing."
