Craig Glenday
Craig Glenday has been editor-in-chief at Guinness World Records since 2005 having joined the company in 2002 as head of editorial. He previously worked as an editor at Trinity Mirror.
1. What was your biggest career break?
I’d have to say it was accepting the role of head of editorial at Guinness World Records back in May 2002. About seven months before that, I’d just started at the UK offices of iVillage, where I was hired as their Food & Drink Producer. When the opportunity to work at GWR arose, I was offered a compelling hike in salary to stay, but it wasn’t about the money – I’d like to think it never really has been about the salary in my working life – so I said “thanks but no thanks”. It was certainly the best career move I’ve ever made, as I’d been a life-long fan of the books and couldn’t really believe my luck that the job was offered to me. It was also an honour to work briefly with our Founding Editor Norris McWhirter, and it’s nice for me to know that after Norris, I’m the longest serving editor.
2. Have you had a notable mentor – and if so what was it about them that was so inspiring?
Thanks to my dad, I’ve always grafted and accepted that hard work is part of life. He drilled into me a Protestant work ethic, so at 15 (while already working as a church organist and teaching music lessons), I started a weekend and holiday job alongside him in a bakery. I was paid relatively well (cash in hand!) so when the owner offered me the chance to go full time, I very nearly abandoned my education. It didn’t take much convincing from my parents for me to decline the offer and carry on at school and get some Highers (the Scottish equivalent of A-Levels).
Talking of school, I also found three of my teachers particularly inspiring and helpful in shaping my attitude to learning and hard work. Hugh Smith (Music), Ken McAra (English) and John Davidson (Computing) gave me ample opportunities to expand my horizons, and although I’ve never really said thanks to them, I’ve never forgotten their efforts. Teaching is a sacred profession, and if you get the right teachers, they’ll set you up for life.
3. What one piece of advice would you give to the 20-year-old you?
Other than perhaps taking my health more seriously ('really, lose weight!'), carry on as you’re doing. Oh, and I’d get my 20-year-old self to try harder convincing my friend Iain Reid to buy his girlfriend Pusan’s uncle’s house in Leyton with me when it could’ve been bought for peanuts. I’ve never forgiven him for forcing me into a decade of paying rent…
4. Who do you admire in business and why?
I’m not really one to take much inspiration from the business community but I’ve had the pleasure of Richard Branson’s company on a number of occasions and would have no hesitancy in suggesting him as an inspirational figure. He’s certainly got a very strong personal brand and I like his have-a-go attitude. I’m also impressed with the (record-breaking) charitable efforts of the likes of Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Warren Buffett.
5. What does the future of your industry look like?
Publishing is undergoing a lot of change, with threats from the digital realm and other forms of entertainment, so the next few years are going to be interesting. I really can’t imagine a world without printed books, but irrespective of the medium – whether books are served up on pieces of sliced tree or beamed directly on to your retina – there will always be a need for publishers to curate, edit, shape and polish. I’ve been to enough seminars and conferences to realise that no one really knows how the future of publishing is going to pan out, so the best thing publishers can do it stock up on credible content and IP in one form or another. And find a way to stop giving it all away for free. (Steve Jobs, who I, as a big Apple fan, might otherwise have cited as someone I admired in business, has a lot to answer for!)
6. If you weren't the editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records what would you have done instead?
I nearly studied music full time – I gave up the organ to focus on percussion and was lucky enough to spend a year at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama junior school. I started in Glasgow at the same time as a student called Colin Currie, who was a phenomenal talent. I’d never seen anyone so committed or determined, and it’s no surprise to me that he’s since gone on to become the world’s most celebrated and booked concert soloist. His passion and ability was awe-inspiring but also intimidating, and I realised that I would never be cut out for a life as a full-time musician. I’ve tried my best to keep up the music – I’m the drummer in the GWR house band, The Infamous Grouse! – and it’s great to have as a means of escaping from the day job.
I’m also a frustrated screenwriter, and am praying for a fat redundancy payout one of these days so I can go live on a beach somewhere and finish those damned screenplays I’ve been nursing for a decade…
7. What is your biggest extravagance?
I’m at the theatre at least once or twice a week, and it’s not a cheap hobby. But I love it as a distraction from working life, and am so lucky to be able to get to see so much good stuff. That’s why I love London – never any shortage of great theatre. I also spend way too much on food and drink. I didn’t get this body from doing Pilates, I’ll tell you.
8. Who would you invite to your dream dinner party and why? (you can invite three people – they must be alive)
I’ve just taken on the chairmanship of the Stephen Sondheim Society, so as an admirer of his work, I’d have to have Steve there; I’ve always been a voracious reader but it wasn’t until my early teens, when I heard his outstandingly good lyric writing, that I realised just how much one can do with language, particularly when used economically. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton keep on topping the Gallup survey of most admired people on the planet so I should really invite them too – they’re bound to have plenty to say – but politics at the dinner table? No thanks. So instead, I’d opt for Stephen Fry ('the stupid person’s thinking person', as the rogue biologist Rupert Sheldrake rather cruelly calls him) and for laughs, Billy Connolly who, next to Sondheim, has done much to inspire my love of colourful language. Oh, and maybe Dan Aykroyd, as I want him to be in one of the films I’m trying to write. Okay, that’s four but if Fry was to act as the butler (we’ve all seen his Jeeves) then he’d be welcome to interject at any time while serving the ice-cream and whisky (see below).
9. What do you do to relax away from work?
I find it quite difficult to relax – that Protestant work-ethic guilt again – but there’s always the theatre. I’m also really enjoying the current wave of decent craft beers flowing through London – I have my friend and Sondheim co-Trustee David Lardi to thank/blame for this – and am quite happy chewing the fat with chums over a beer or three, along as there are salty snacks on hand. And I’ve just discovered the joys of Netflix – thanks to my very distracting friend Oliver Beatson – which to me seems very indulgent and a waste of time but as someone quotable said, time you enjoy wasting isn’t time wasted.
10. If you could change one thing about Britain today, what would it be?
The attitude prevalent in a number of our newspapers – and one in particular, naming no names – that our country or indeed planet is going to the dogs. We live in an amazing world, with so much inspiring, fun, creative, awesome people, but if you believe half of what you see in the media, you’d think we were living in the Dark Ages. I hate that the British media foments such fear – our kids are all going to get abducted by paedophiles, our pensioners mugged, our jobs taken by foreigners, our properties looted, our teenagers impregnated, disabled Muslim lesbian immigrants stealing our council houses, blah blah. It’s just whipping up fear and despair to sell papers. So rarely are the statistics put into context or accurately and fairly reported, and I pity anyone who, willingly or not, adopts these opinions into their own belief systems. Maybe that’s why I’m suited to working at Guinness World Records – on a daily basis, we get to see the inspiring, fun, amusing, fearless and, you know, nice things that humans do to fill their time between cradle and grave.
11. What would your last meal be? (please choose a starter, a main course and a pudding)
I’d happily meet my maker after a repeat of the outstanding taster menu I had on my 30th birthday as a guest of Daniel 'Most Expensive Burger' Boulud at his lovely Upper East Side restaurant – I can’t remember the detail but the experience of it was unforgettable. I ended the night in a Harlem jazz bar with a box of Daniel’s homemade chocolates, so if the music and sweets could be included in the deal, then so much the better.
Otherwise, if you want some culinary specifics, or if I’d have to make it myself (which I’d graciously be willing to do), I’d go less posh. Seeing as it’s my last meal, I’d go straight into a large, dirty entrée of beef chilli with all the trappings – crispy tacos, a strong cheese (Cheddar’s practically Mexican, right?), guacamole, salsas, lime, coriander, jalapeños, the lot. And with a nice selection of beers, of course. As spicy as possible, too – especially if I haven’t got to worry about it the next day. To calm my burning mouth and lips, I’d next opt for some fresh vanilla ice cream doused with Johnny Walker Black and dusted with freshly cracked pepper. And to end, a cheeseboard – a very large cheeseboard – plus a bottle of port and a straw.
