My job: 'There's a gap for truly local radio'

Sep 10 2008 Surrey Herald

Name: Graham Laycock Age: 59 Job: Programme director for Brooklands FM in Addlestone Lives: Great Bookham

What are your main responsibilities?

I am responsible for the programmes that go out on the radio. I organise the schedule and the presenters and interview new people who want to be presenters.

How did you get into it?

I used to make my own programmes at home on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. I was inspired by listening to Radio Caroline and Radio London and the people that used to broadcast from miles out to sea outside British waters because they didn't have a licence and they didn't need one if they weren't technically in Britain.

How do you compete with other radio stations?

The problem now is that because of the credit crunch a lot of the commercial stations are having to regionalise and there are fewer and fewer local programmes. I think there is a gap in the market there for a truly local radio station to serve local businesses, charities and residents.

How have attitudes to radio changed over the years?

People used to think if they played music for free people wouldn't buy it, but of course we know now that the opposite is true.

What is the most boring/repetitive thing about your job?

Nothing really. Some of the admin gets boring sometimes but that is the only thing really, I enjoy it all so much.

Have you ever said anything while not realising you are on air?

There have been odd occasions when the microphone has been left on by mistake and we don't realise and talk to each other. But we have a rule that no one should swear anywhere near the microphone area, even if you think the microphone is off, just in case.

Is your job pressurised?

Yes, when you are doing a show and playing music you have to have everything lined up for what is on next. There are moments when somebody can't do a programme and you have to swiftly move in to action to make sure someone can cover it.

We have got a team of about 30 people and are always looking for different people with different skills.

What has been the worst job you have done?

I have been quite lucky because I left school at 16 and went straight into the railway industry so I never had a small weekend job or anything like that. I am a rather lucky man in that respect. The one thing that did knock me back was a serious illness I had, called Wegener's granulomatosis vasculitis.

Basically the body's immune system goes wrong and some of the antibodies start attacking your blood cells. That was difficult to deal with.