Tony Banks

Few people can say they’ve had as remarkable a career path as Tony Banks.

His first ever job saw him work as a newspaper delivery boy. From there he’d go on to become a refuse collector, supermarket shelf stacker and even a chicken catcher!

Tony left school at 17 to study accountancy at Abertay, then known as Dundee Institute of Technology.

Soon after, he’d join the Territorial Army Parachute Regiment to supplement his student grant. He liked it so much he left his course to join the regulars.

In 1982, Tony found himself fighting in the Falklands and tragically saw one of his closest friends lose his life. After the conflict, he transferred to the parachute field ambulance.

He’d leave the army to become an insurance salesman. He later moved to Scotland to launch his own business. While working as a medic on the oil rigs he discovered that the private sector did not have the capacity to cope with the country’s ageing population.

This is what led to Tony buying his first care home, Balhousie Lisden in Kirriemuir in 1991.

Today, the Balhousie Group is Scotland’s largest independently owned care home provider.

Tony’s no stranger to television and appeared in Channel 4 show The Secret Millionaire in 2009. He’s appeared in a BBC documentary and also released a book, Falklands: My War and After, in 2012.