THE Nicholson family will forever be associated with the name of Vaux Breweries. That is particularly true of Frank and his older brother Sir Paul.

The family's involvement with the brewery dates back to 1898, when their grandfather, Charles, who lived in Silksworth, joined the company, eventually marrying the youngest Vaux daughter, Amy, in 1901.

While Sir Paul is now Lord Lieutenant of County Durham, his 49-year-old brother has struggled to find a role as rewarding as the one he enjoyed at Vaux, where he was managing director from 1984 until its closure in 1999.

He attempted a management buyout of the business, which failed in March that year. He said: "It was terrible to be in charge of the business as it closed, and feeling responsible for the 600 staff who lost their jobs in the closure.

"That's why I had to attempt the management buyout. And while Paul and myself were in favour of the deal, the other nine members of the board voted against it.

"Looking back, it was a very sad and totally unnecessary decision, but you have to move on. I could sit here forever thinking what could have been."

But the father-of-three, who lives near Plawsworth, between Durham and Chester-le-Street, bears no grudges.

He said: "It was a business decision, and one I had to accept. It was made in a democratic way by all the members of the board."

The decision brought to an end 100 years of tradition. After the war, the region boasted 25 breweries. By 1975, that number had been reduced to five; Scottish and Newcastle, The Federation Brewery, Camerons, Castle Eden and Vaux.

Since the closure of Vaux, Mr Nicholson has focused his energies on other areas, particularly charity work and the small business sector.

He said: "I found myself out of work for a while after Vaux closed and looked for other jobs in the brewing sector. I needed to find some way of channelling my energy.

"That has come through all the charity work I now do, the non-executive directorships I hold, and my chairmanship of an educational computer games company, Make-Believer, based in Northumberland."

One of his directorships gives him a link to his brewing past, as a non-executive director of brewers Joseph Holt, based in Manchester.

"It is a family-owned business, around one-tenth the size of Vaux, which is what I really like about it," he said.

He is also non-executive chairman of the Northern Enterprise Group, and holds non-executive directorships at Lycetts Insurance Brokers in Newcastle, the Port of Tyne Authority and the Durham Markets Company.

He is also a trustee of the International Centre for Life, in Newcastle, and the Northern Rock Foundation, chairman of Sunderland Youth Enterprise Trust and a governor at Durham School.

In the past, he has been Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of County Durham, a regional council member of the CBI, chairman of the Tyne and Wear Small Business Task Force, The City of Sunderland Partnership, and the North-East Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association.

He runs his own consultancy, called Frank Nicholson, providing advice to small business and aspiring entrepreneurs.

He said: "I have tried to use all the experience I gained at Vaux to help other businesses. I tend to still think of myself as an aspiring entrepreneur, rather than a successful one.

"If anything, my experience of Vaux has taught me humility. I had to start doing things for myself after leaving the group, when I had been used to having a secretary to do everything for me.

"To be honest, I couldn't even type a letter. One of the first things I did was embark on a typing course. Now I can type faster than I can write, although I don't ever think you will find me in the typing pool."

Educated at Harrow School, where he passed nine O-levels and two A-levels, Mr Nicholson graduated from Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1975 with an upper-second in land economy.

He then trained to be a surveyor, because, despite the family being involved in the brewing business, his father, who was chairman of Vaux between 1952 and 1976, wanted his five children to be qualified to do something else.

"As a result, I'm a chartered surveyor. My other brothers have all gone their own ways. Nigel is an engineer, based in Alberta, Canada, Andrew is a chartered accountant who worked for Vaux for a short period in the 1970s, while Mark farms on the outskirts of Durham City."

Having made the decision to go into business, Mr Nicholson found he had a lot to learn.

He said: "I had to learn about running a small business the hard way, like everybody else.

"I found I couldn't rest on the laurels of my position at Vaux. That was a long time ago, and you find people have short memories in business."

As for the future, he said: "I've got an urge to create something new and challenging for myself. I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, and there are several ideas on the boil, including a property development company.

"I hope, when I come to look back at my life, that I'll be able to say I was successful in more than one field."