Jim Howard

Jimmy Howard introduces himself as, “Jim the Rat Catcher, nobody knows me by my real name.” He is a colourful character, larger than life, fun, friendly and always joking.

Born in Surrey in the UK, Jim had what he called “a fantastic childhood, my father was the youngest of 12 brothers so there were always lots of adult cousins to look after us.” At school Jim preferred maths and science and was described as sports mad, playing all types of sport, soccer, cricket, athletics, even lawn bowls. “I went to a Catholic school on Clapham Common and one of the old Brothers who was the gardener there taught us lawn bowls - I’ll probably take it up when I’m old. I was raised on soccer, and played it at a reasonably high level. I was one of the first semi-professional footballers in Hong Kong in 1968. Just a late blossomer at Rugby. I never played Rugby till I came here,” Jim laughed.

“I became a Rat Catcher by default. One of my friends said Rentokil was a good firm to join and I was half way through a surveyor traineeship when they asked me to go to Hong Kong to set up the Rentokil operations there. It was a fantastic adventure for a 20-year-old, I didn’t even know where Hong Kong was on the map, and it took 36 hours in a Comet.”

True to his gregarious nature Jim left no opportunity go by; in his six years in Hong Kong he met and married his delightful wife Jenni, fathered children, played serious football and made many friends. He performed well at his work too with Rentokil asking him to go to the Philippines to take over operations there as executive vice president and treasurer.

Jim, who describes himself as a reasonably long-term expatriate, enjoyed his fourteen years in the Philippines best. “We were living under martial law there, but I didn’t have to obey the curfew. I was a rat catcher, I could go anywhere,” he paused to grin. “At the time in the Philippines it was a good quality of life, good education for the kids, and lots of expatriate friends. I think expatriate friendships are longer lasting and more meaningful. For instance when I left Rentokil in the mid 80s and Jenni and I went around the world for six months, we traveled the world just meeting friends we met through sport. A friend from the Jakarta days drove 300 miles from Nottingham to London just to have a few drinks with me, when my own brother there just couldn’t make it.”

Jim’s philosophy of life is about making friends and it shows. Jim just loves people and they just love him back. “I don’t take myself too seriously. I think it is important to have a friendly disposition and make a passing acquaintance with everyone you meet on the way up, because you very well may meet them on the way down.” (Always the humorist, our Jim.) “The world is all about people, the more people you are friendly with the better time you have. Isn’t it nice to have friends everywhere, to walk into a room and someone speaks to you?”

Jim defines success as “Hard work. As MD of Katoen Natie Logistics Specialists I am working harder now than at any stage yet. The more responsibility you get the harder you have to work.” So what is important for him? “Having a happy, balanced, working, sporting life, enjoying it all and having the time to rest and relax. My family is very important, Jenni and I have tried to instill this into the kids too, and even now with the three of them scattered from Vancouver to London to Panama we always get together at Christmas.”

Sport has always played a pivotal role in Jim’s life. He expounds, “A very important aspect of expat life is the sporting scene. Clubs such as the Nomands in Manila, the British Club in Bangkok and the Panthers here; all these places represent an oasis of sanity.” (After seeing photographs of the Panthers in their pink trench coats, there are those who might disagree with that statement, Jimmy.) “A lot of the opportunities and experiences I’ve had are a result of playing sport. For instance I played rugby in Nepal and I never would have gone there otherwise as I don’t like mountain climbing, and I went to Vietnam a couple of times to play soccer in the years that it was closed.”

Jim eventually left Rentokil in 1987, after twenty-three years overseas they wanted him to return home to the UK. This did not fit in with his plans to be the perennial expatriate. “I said absolutely not and joined a Swiss organization, SGS, running their agricultural and fumigation division.” Then in 1997 he helped EOC Polymers establish a factory in Rayong and in February this year joined Katoen Natie in Maptaput.

What advice does Jim, who has made being an expatriate his way of life, have for other expats? “Wherever you go you must be respectful of the local culture and the values of the local people. You don’t have to agree but you have to take it into account. Make as many friends as you can. Get on well with everyone. Listen to good advice. It is not necessary that you follow it, but remember there is a grain of truth in everything. Don’t be too serious.” For Jim Howard, the last piece of his advice has personally been easy. “I suppose a sense of humour is a Howard family trait; my uncles were always joking. We were a family of Cockney sparrows.” For a Cockney sparrow, Jim Howard has flown very far and high - and done it all with a laugh and a friendly slap on the back on the way.