Jan Ward: How I made a mint in specialist metals

Jan Ward has always been a risk taker. And it has paid off, as the company she started with £3,000 savings, Corrotherm International, now turns over £14m a year.

No one is more surprised at how far she has got in life than Jan Ward herself. "I thought I'd be dead by now, to be honest, because I'm always doing stupid things," says the 53-year-old founder of Corrotherm International. "I can't tell you the number of times I was in plaster when I was a kid. I fell off the roof, fell down the stairs, fell out of a tree, got run over twice by the same bloke. I'm even sat here now with a broken arm."

Born in Southampton, where her father was a steel erector, Ward was 15 when she became pregnant and was expelled from school. "You know, stupid girl." She took on a number of jobs, studying at night and taking correspondence courses until she qualified as a mechanical engineer in 1984. "I was always interested in metal work, in taking things to bits and getting the screwdriver to things." She started work for a company that sold stainless steel tubes to oil firms. When she decided to set up on her own in 1992, she managed to poach some of its clients.

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Jody Clarke

Jody studied at the University of Limerick and was a senior writer for MoneyWeek. Jody is experienced in interviewing, for example digging into the lives of an ex-M15 agent and quirky business owners who have made millions. Jody’s other areas of expertise include advice on funds, stocks and house prices.