THE INVENTOR AND GTECH FOUNDER ON HIS DISMAL SCHOOL DAYS, HIS SECRET F1 DREAM AND HIS LUXURIOUS LAWNMOWER

I am one of seven, so it's a very big family.

- Nick Grey

There were loads of things around - the garage always had interesting-looking stuff that hadn't been touched for years, so I used to fix things and muck about. Mostly it went alright; some things I couldn't fix, but generally I would find a use for things that took my interest.

One of my earliest memories is about discovering how things are made.

My first fascination with how things were made started when I was only two or three, and it sticks in my memory. I'd got a jumper and I noticed the seam was on the outside of the end bit. I said to my mum that the silly men had got the seam on the wrong side and she said, "No, you fold that back and then the seam is on the inside." I was like "Oh, that's clever..."

There's something special about petrol engines.

When I was 11 or 12, there was this old petrol lawnmower in the garage that hadn't been run for years and years. I think the tank was full of water and all sorts, so I emptied it out and thought I'd see if I could get it going... and I did. The other mower worked, but it always did so that wasn't interesting. The one that never worked, since I could remember, was the interesting one.

I modified an old motorbike to beat the school bus.