The Early Years

Michael was born in Chelmsford Essex in England, UK to Trevor and Jilly in a house they built themselves at a time that saw the first commercial flights of Concord and James Callaghan became Prime Minister.

The family moved to the West Country and he grew up with his Sister Elizabeth in the area known by some as the heart chakra of our planet Earth located between Glastonbury and Shaftsbury in Dorset.

Firstly, a Pig Farm and then a 6-acre smallholding in a farmhouse built in 1589 that was originally given as a wedding gift to the lord of the manors daughter and son in law and in part built from timbers reclaimed from the broken hulls of the Spanish Armada and beams designed by Italian masters who also uniquely feature in the UK at Longleat House and the local church.

Visiting his Grandparents Joyce and Ken in the village of Blackford (near Camelot) and having tea (or ginger beer an ice-cream) on the lawn with a wide variety of eccentric visiting dignitaries from all over the globe filled his mind with intrigue.

Michael first went into business with Trevor at the age of just thirteen making promotional videos and later TV programmes which aired on local television. An early adopter of technology he secretly had the first mobile phone at high school back in 1989.

Between filming out of helicopters and helping the family to develop the farm property and the out buildings into a state of the art TV production facility for its time, Michael found time to learn to fly both fixed wing and later hot air balloons.  Family holidays to the French Alps skiing and collecting fresh baguettes for breakfast are remembered fondly together with a love of Savior Cuisine.