BRIAN McBride's mother put a stop to his first-ever business deal, the Glaswegian managing director of phone giant T-Mobile UK confessed. He was 16 at the time and had tried to sell his paper round to a younger brother as a "going concern", but his mother intervened and the plan was thwarted.

"I had my first milk round when I was 12 or 13 and I've been used to being financially independent ever since, " said McBride, who will be 50 in a few months and grew up in Mosspark, although he now calls Camberley, the suburban family town in Surrey's western heathland, his home.

"Just before I went to university, I tried to sell my paper round to a younger brother. I was one of eight kids, you know.

"The deal was agreed, but I never saw any money because my mother wouldn't allow it.

"I have to say that I felt this was most unjust. It was a going concern and I should have been able to sell it. This is an issue which still occasionally comes up at family gatherings."

McBride and his wife of 25 years have just became what he describes as "empty-nesters" after their two daughters left home - one to university and another on a year's adventure in Peru. He returns to Glasgow both for the occasional extended family gatherings and work several times a year.

He was recently back in his native city for an Old Firm match, following the rebirth of interest in his favourite boyhood football team since joining the board of Celtic FC as a non-executive director at the end of last year.

He had just come from surprising the staff of the T-Mobile shop on Argyle Street, Glasgow.

"I like to take them by surprise sometimes, " he admitted after a brief interrogation of the employees and an inspection of the premises.

Seated in a Starbucks cafe, one of the more than 200 outlets where T-Mobile has recently installed wi-fi hotspots, he was dressed in an expensive-looking grey suit, a striped pink tie - which he insisted was "magenta, T-Mobile colours" - and a chunky gold watch.

Sipping a latte, he also insisted no-one called him for sexual favours after his phone number was dished out alongside pictures of scantily-clad women by a London council trying to clampdown on prostitution - a move which hit the headlines last summer.

Westminster City Council had stepped up its long-running campaign to rid its phone booths of advertisements in its drive to persuade phone companies to bar incoming calls to numbers found on call-girl advertisements, which the council contended would curb the sex trade. It handed out 20,000 cards containing risque pictures of young women and the names and business numbers of company heads, including McBride and Barry Elson, Telewest's chief executive.

"No, I didn't get any offers, although I did get a few complaints from residents, " said McBride.

"To tell you the truth, I won't block anyone's calls or cut anyone off.

"This has nothing to do with a business plan or making money for T-Mobile. What if one of these women gets attacked and their phone, which is their lifeline, has been cut off? I certainly don't want that to happen, and I don't think any of us have the right to stand in moral judgment over anyone."

McBride looks back on the episode stoically and with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Mobile phones have become central to almost everyone's lives now, so it's hardly surprising these kind of issues come up, " he said. "I take these things as they come."

Such stoicism is clearly part of his nature and his management style as MD of the UK's largest mobile phone operator by customer market share. McBride is responsible for all the Deutsche Telekom subsidiary's operation in this country, including around 6500 employees - with some 1000 at a call centre in Greenock - around 15 million customers and 155 shops.

McBride has a salesman's charm, but he also comes across as a nononsense taskmaster - which may be connected to his admiration for Michael Dell, his former employer who reputedly takes a hard line against those who come to him with problems but promotes those who bring solutions.

"The thing about Michael was that he knew what he didn't know, and he made sure that he surrounded himself with people who could get the job done, " he said "I admire that approach."

However, McBride's journey began in a five-room council f lat in the south side of Glasgow, as the fourth of eight children.

"When I look back from where I am now, you might think it was terrible with all of us crammed into a council flat in Glasgow - but it really didn't feel like that, " said McBride.

"OK, my mother made most of our clothes, which I think was probably a little odd, even for those days, so we were never going to be the fashion icons of the playground - but we certainly didn't feel poor or hard done by.

Besides, Mosspark is not really the worst place to live. If you are going to live in a council f lat, Mosspark is probably one of the best places to be.

"And I can tell you that if all 10 of us wanted to watch the TV at the same time, it was a real squeeze."

McBride's father was a teacher and later a headmaster at various Glasgow schools, including Lourdes, and the family lived in an atmosphere where education and independence was always considered the key to success and the recipe for upward mobility.

Indeed, other family members have also made successes of themselves - although McBride added:

"To be honest they have all done well. But even though I've probably got the highest-profile role, it cuts no ice with them. They love nothing more than to treat me with the same disdain and lack of respect they have done for the past 49 years."

His eldest sister is a deputy director of education in Renfrewshire and an elder brother was a managing director of Logica's financial services division, and is now a consultant. A younger brother is a managing director of a private property company and another is an information technology manager.

He added with a grin: "You know, when I think back, my dad didn't even seem that proud of me when I went to university. It was just expected that's what I would do. We all lived in an atmosphere of support and encouragement and were taught that education and financial independence were the ways forward for us."

McBride entered Glasgow University at 16 - a milestone he considers to be one of his biggest achievements - and studied economic history and politics with a view to beginning a career in journalism.

"It was a time of newspaper consolidation in Britain and jobs in the industry were scarce, so after I graduated I became a salesman for Xerox, " he said, admitting he works up to 90 hours a week nowadays.

"My father thought it was a step down to become a salesman, even though it was a good job with a very good company. The truth is I liked being a salesman. I was a good communicator."

So what does the future hold in store for McBride - and how much longer will he continue to work 90 hours a week?

"I give myself another five years at this, but I don't ever see myself really stopping, " he said.

"I'm just not the kind of guy who can go fishing or sit around and read books and relax all day.

"The idea of taking up various non-executive roles appeals to me, but at the moment my wife and I have just become empty-nesters - and we're just about coping with that, so we'll have to wait and see."

HOTSPOTS

Best moment: Getting married.

Worst moment: Laying off 600 people while working at Crossfield Electronics in 1995.

What drives you: I am driven toward success and achievement.

What do you drive: BMW 73.

Favourite book: Anything by Gerald Seymour and have just read the Unknown Soldier.

What music are you listening just now: Maroon 5 and Dean Martin.

As a child, what did you want to be: As one of eight, an only child. Careerwise, I wanted to be a journalist.

Greatest achievement: Getting into Glasgow University at 16, and staying there.

Biggest disappointment: Not getting into journalism, as a career, although otherwise I have been very lucky.