FORMER Wanderers star and successful local businessman Francis “Franny” Lee came to talk at the University of Bolton’s Business School — and The Bolton News caught up with him to chat football, toilet rolls and employing Peter Kay.

Football fans across the country will remember Francis “Franny” Lee as a talented stocky striker who scored hatfuls of goals for the Whites as well as Manchester City and Derby County, while also representing the England national side on 27 occasions.

But for many in the Bolton area, the 70-year-old, who hails from Westhoughton is also remembered as a hugely successful local businessman who made his fortune with Bolton-based paper recycling firm F.H Lee, which he launched while he was playing the beautiful game.

He said: “I was in business all the time I was playing football, when I finished at Derby the company had between 80-100 employees in 1978.

“It was part of the condition set by my father that if I wanted to try and become a footballer I had to plan for when the game had finished.

“ I looked at several other things, but I always worked — for a time I worked at Dunscar Golf Club as well as working for my uncle cleaning and fixing gravestones — I always enjoyed working.”

F.H Lee started off operating in the wastepaper and haulage business before moving into tissues and eventually making toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, handkerchiefs, cooking foil and cling film — eventually supplying most of the major retailers in the UK.

In 1985, the company merged with Hazelwood Foods and the multi-million pound business was sold in 2000.

Speaking about the firm, Franny said: “I worked it out in those days that you could either spend your weekends taking your wife around the supermarket and spending money or you could work and make money instead.

“It was a good time to have the business, the majority of workers were former cotton mill employees who were used to working hard, I think they had a much more enjoyable time working for us.”

One of those former employees was a young man by the name of Peter Kay — the Bolton comic worked on night shifts for F.H Lee for a short time, but his then boss said his comedy stylings could be a “disruptive influence”.

He added: “We were lucky to have Peter working for us, he kept everybody happy — although we eventually dissuaded him from coming in because he could disrupt the production on the nightshift with all his joking around.”

So after success on and off the pitch, which aspect of his career does the 70-year-old reflect on most fondly?

He said: “Football is the best game in the world, if you can play the game naturally, then it is very easy, although it’s not easy physically.

Initially it is far, far easier playing football than running your own business, but of course football is much more demanding physically

“But if you enjoy your business it gives you so much job satisfaction.”

Franny was in conversation with veteran broadcaster Gordon Burns at the university.