Author Description

The British economy relies for growth upon Entrepreneurs. It is the new opportunities they seize which create new jobs. For Frank Cronin, who was in many ways a typical entrepreneur, it was providing employment which gave him the greatest satisfaction.<br/>At a time when jobs in his home city were in short supply, he became one of Sunderland's largest private employers. This book tells the story of how Frank took over the small but long-established family stationary business and turned it into a world-beater. Frank's opportunity came with the explosion of commercial bingo in the early 1960s. In less than a decade he turned the business into the UK's leading supplier of bingo tickets and won significant sales overseas. Later he would capitalise upon the growth of newspaper bingo. But this book is also about Frank the man. It tells the story of a childhood haunted by the spectre of his mother's illness. It describes his long and loving marriage and his relationship with his four sons. It covers the key role he played in restoring the finances of Sunderland FC during the 1970s. And it tells how he still managed to find time in his busy life to raise funds for charity through the Variety Club of Great Britain. Perhaps above all it shows how Frank's innate humanity influenced his public and his private life.