AS a schoolboy, Mark Hanson’s head was in the clouds!

His father had flown Mosquitoes during the war and while other lads were dreaming of being train drivers, Mark’s earliest ambition was to be a pilot. His dad’s later careers were much less glamorous – as a director of a manufacturing firm and then as a piano tuner and repairer.

And Mark also came back down to earth!

“Once I’d got over the idea of being a pilot, it was a question of where my interests lay,” says Mark. “At my father’s suggestion, I got a summer job at Eddisons, the commercial property firm, when I was 17. I worked in all the departments and I took to it straight away. I decided that is what I wanted to do.”

Mark, who was born and bred in Halifax, gained a degree in urban land economics at Sheffield Polytechnic and took jobs including bin man and steel erector during his student days.

He worked for Eddisons in Bradford during his “year out’ and upon graduating, joined the firm’s Huddersfield office where he worked for eight years.

Mark set up his own business, Hanson Chartered Surveyors, in 1989 – prompted in part by the big changes hitting the profession during the mid-1980s. Rules relating to building societies were being relaxed and several of them were buying estate agency chains. Eddisons at that time was acquired by Leeds Permanent.

“It was a complete anathema to me,” says Mark. “If a private practice is owned by someone else there is an inherent conflict of interests. You are working for the shareholders or someone else rather than the client.”

Mark says he was “pushed” into setting up on his own by a couple of clients – and in October, 1989, took an office in Queensgate.

“I had no qualms about it,” he says. “Interest rates for mortgages were at 17%. In October, 1989, Nigel Lawson resigned as Chancellor – and I felt partly responsible! I had two children under the age of three and a mortgage, but it seemed right.

“And that experience has proved beneficial. We have had more than one recession since then and in terms of business, you have to understand how to advise clients in the bad times as well as the good.

“Anyone can make money when times are good. When you have been through recession yourself and had to steer your own business through recession you are much better equipped to help your customers.”

The 2007 credit crunch provides the latest example. “There were companies out there which have never had to deal with recession,” says Mark. “They were groping about wondering what to do next. On the other hand, we have seen it all before.”

Being successful in the world of commercial property boils down to having a genuine and thorough understanding of business and how to help clients with the problems, says Mark.

Hanson Chartered Surveyors operates chiefly in Kirklees and Calderdale, East Lancashire and Cheshire, but in the last 12 months the firm has handled deals in places as far apart as Liverpool, Stockport, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Reading, Basingstoke and Dagenham.

The seven-strong team tackles all types of commercial, industrial and retail property – from a lock up shop to a 250,000sq ft factory. Unusual work has included providing a valuation on a Sikh temple for a bank.

Says Mark: “One of the joys of this work is that no two jobs are the same. You are always having to use your wits. There is some science, but a lot of art in it! We are always very mindful that working outside our ‘patch’ involves more work because you have to be familiar with the environment.”

Mark has decided views on his local ‘patch’ and what steps need to be taken to secure Huddersfield’s future.

He favours developments such as the Mirfield 25 scheme, where David Brown hopes to build a new technology and innovation centre, and the £100m HD One project for further expansion of the Galpharm Stadium complex.

“We are acting for clients who are looking for new industrial accommodation,” says Mark. “The demand is there. We have completed a sale of land at AInleys Industrial Estate in Elland for a manufacturing company.

“Manufacturing is doing quite well because the Far East is finding it more difficult to compete with UK exports and their costs are increasing.

“Development begets development, so you have to encourage development. You can’t look back. You have to look forward to the next deal and ask ‘what’s coming up tomorrow?’. It’s not how good have we been, but how good can we be?”

Mark recognises the need to retain the best of Huddersfield’s architectural heritage, but takes issue with those who seek to preserve the town “in aspic”.

“We should learn from what has gone before and keep the best of it,” he says. “But we should allow the rest to disappear in the mists of time.

“What is going on next is far more exciting and relevant than what went before.”

Mark says Huddersfield was unlucky in having forward-looking aldermen and councillors who allowed some of the town’s best buildings – such as the old market hall – to be demolished and the new ring road to be built. Mark sees the ring road as a collar, choking the town.

Mark doesn’t share the pessimism of people who see online shopping as a threat to the future of town and cities.

“They are going through a complete change,” he agrees. “But they will not be lost to us. The web will be found out. There are people who want to shop online, but there are still a lot of people who like going into the shops to see and touch the products they are buying.

“I am not pessimistic at all about Huddersfield town centre. I think it is a great place to live and work and has a wonderful future.”

Away from work, Mark is a governor of Greenhead College and plays tennis twice a week . He is a former secretary and president – and now a trustee – of Queens Sports Club in Halifax. “I own a set of golf clubs,” he adds. “I also like walking, music and being with family and friends.

“I still live in Halifax and it is nice to come to work in a different town to the one in which you live. I have a keen interest in the success of both areas.”