THEY say women are better at multi-tasking than men, but Recardo Patrick might be the exception.
He’s a singer who has toured the world and has also appeared on the X-Factor, a media ambassador in Austria, a patron of BASIS (Brain and Spinal Injury Charity), an Alpine event organiser and he’s involved in multi-million pound property deals.
He’s also rubbed shoulders with all sorts of celebrities, from Bill Clinton to Paris Hilton.
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As he dashes into Carluccio’s restaurant, he says: “I’ve just come back from Ibiza. I live in Austria, Ibiza and the UK.”
While most of us would find living in three countries a logistical nightmare, for Recardo it is normal – he craves being busy and works `24/7′.
As for his diet, he avoids red meat and opts for the Verdure Alla Griglia – seasonal grilled vegetables, chicken and fresh orange juice with fruit salad for desert.
I choose the Agnello Alla (a lamb steak), which was delicious, followed by bread and butter chocolate pudding.
Recardo’s always thinking ahead to his next project.
“I want to achieve something everyday, I never switch off,” he says.
He puts his drive for success down to a tough upbringing, as a fostered child in Manchester.
Right now his latest `baby’ is promoting the new party drink Rich Prosecco, with Paris Hilton fronting the campaign.
Recardo’s inspiration
“My upbringing spurred me on to where I am now. I was raised in care and by foster parents – I lived in over 25 care homes,” he tells me. At 14, Recardo joined the Seventies soul band Sweet Sensation, with whom he toured numerous European cities.
But it was the Manchester Evening News’ Search For a Star talent competition in 1982 that kickstarted Recardo’s success.
He says: “I was on four TV shows in a week off the back of that.
“I didn’t really have the normal teenage years that most kids did,” he adds, ruefully. Recardo eventually bought Balearica in 2001 – a bar, restaurant and club in Manchester – but after a year the restaurant folded. At that point, Recardo was at his lowest: “I lost everything financially – but you have to experience sorrow to know happiness.”
Since then he’s built up a career as a broker selling major clubs, theme parks and bars. Currently he’s got property deals lined up amounting to £100 million. Among the venues are Manchester’s Ritz and M2.
But Recardo’s not cagey about his success – in fact, he’s keen to share the secrets.
“You protect your circle and always think laterally – you have to think of the possible consequences of everything you do when it concerns the projects that are most important to you,” he says.
A Christian, Recardo stresses that you have to `believe in yourself, if you have an idea – execute it’.
His philosophy has paid off – when not working he leads a glamorous lifestyle packed with motorbikes, snowboarding and doing up his Ibiza beachfront home.
But as we part company Recardo admits: “I’m a true northerner: I love cheesy Blackpool as much as the glitzy European cities.”
Carluccio’s, Unit 13, Hardman Square, Spinningfields, Manchester. 0161 839 4738.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com ’
