Taking the high life to the edge of space

While Sir Richard is planning to take well-heeled passengers out of the atmosphere in two years' time, Adam Thorpe is already offering people the chance to travel to the edge of space in a Mig-25 fighter jet.

While flights to the edge of space are the most spectacular activity Mr Thorpe, and his business partner, 22-year-old John Garner, offer, their company also runs trips to the top of Everest and organises elephant polo in India.

As well as running a lifestyle company, Mr Thorpe, a former Ripon Grammar School pupil, has set up a property company.

Gill Edge buys dilapidated properties in the Yorkshire Dales and renovates them sympathetically, retaining period features.

Mr Thorpe admits playing up to the image of a "daft lad from Yorkshire" when mingling with London's high society.

But not only does his lifestyle company offer the North's business community a chance to visit the best restaurants and the clubs in London, he is also trying to bring London society to Yorkshire.

"I don't want to name-drop, " he said, "but the other day I was at a party with Joan Collins and Shirley Bassey.

"They were really nice actually, and very interested in what we are doing in Yorkshire."

Membership of the club is a privilege reserved for the right sort of person, said Mr Thorpe.

With top chef Marco Pierre White as a non-executive director, Messrs Thorpe and Garner have gained access to celebrity parties in London and found ways for members to sample the capital's high life.

He said: "The big pull at the moment is our members who want their trips to London looked after for them.

"We have bought bulk memberships to Chinawhite and other clubs and bars, which would cost you £2,500 a year if you bought them separately.

"Basically, we can get our members straight into these places. They can get bookings at the top restaurants, soughtafter concert tickets and the top suites at the top hotels.

"They can even walk down the red carpet to film premieres in Leicester Square.

"There are always glittery people at these places. The problem is that if you are wellknown in the North, you go down South and people don't treat you with the same kind of respect because they don't know who you are. We make sure they get special treatment, and never have to wait for a table. They want people to know they are something."

The lifestyle club has 25 members and is expected to have 100 by the end of next year.

"We don't want just anyone, " said Mr Thorpe.

"We don't want someone paying their membership and getting into a top restaurant and then ordering the cheapest wine and being rude to the waiter, because we will lose our business agreement with that restaurant. The socially exclusive club has been missing in the North for some time but we want to provide that."

For visitors from the South, the club provides trips to Seaham Hall and other top Northern hotels by helicopter, as well as shooting weekends on country estates.

Mr Thorpe and Mr Garner, a Durham University graduate, have had help and advice from some of the region's leading businessmen, including Duncan Bannatyne, Gadget Shop owner Chris Gorman, and Don Beattie, who runs Bulkhaul with Middlesbrough FC chairman Steve Gibson.

Mr Thorpe said: "It is very difficult when you are starting out to convince people to share your vision, especially if you are really young. But they have been very helpful.

"The reason Marco Pierre White, who is from Leeds, got involved was because I wrote to him to tell him I was a young daft lad from Yorkshire wanting to take on London.

"Nine months ago, he phoned me up and said 'hello, is that Adam Thorpe', and I nearly fainted. He's now got a major involvement with the company."

Mr Thorpe said he hoped his lifestyle company, now in its second year, would turn a profit after making losses in its first year.

"It had to have investment before it turned over any revenue, " he said.

The Newcastle University graduate is also passionate about creating jobs in the Yorkshire Dales.

"One of the major problems I have had with Gill Edge is recruiting staff, " he said.

"The five guys I have on my books are all my friends from grammar school and university.

"Keeping a skills base in the region is essential."

Published: 02/11/2004