SEAN Randell is the new chief executive at the troubled Maidstone Chamber of Commerce. He stepped in after the abrupt departure of Bill Alder and the subsequent police probe into alleged financial irregularities. He spoke to Business Editor TREVOR STURGESS about the challenge ahead.

SEAN Randell has vowed to draw a line under the past, insisting the job is not a "poisoned chalice". He inherits one of the county town's most important jobs in hardly the best of circumstances.

But Mr Randell says he is relishing the challenge and determined not only to keep the show on the road but to make it better in the coming months. In the last financial year, the chamber would have made a slim profit but for the alleged theft of around £27,000. Next year, the prospects of going into the black look more promising.

"I consider myself to be a visionary and I can see the chamber very much for what it can be rather than a poisoned chalice," said Mr Randell. "I want to draw a line under the past."

Mr Randell, 34, changed career direction and took a salary cut to accept the chief executive's job. He moved to the chamber from Select, the recruitment firm where he was area manager in charge of branches in Maidstone, Redhill, Crawley, Brighton and Portslade. He looked after up to 750 temps a day and 30 staff with a £30 million turnover.

His first task has been to shore up membership, limiting the damage from the fallout from Mr Alder's abrupt departure. He closely monitors membership renewals, and is pleased that, in the past few weeks, more firms have joined the chamber or renewed membership than those that have quit.

"Our members are being fantastic, really supportive," he said. "We've got to look after what we've got. If we nurture that, our membership will grow naturally."

Mr Randell has put new controls in place. Unlike Mr Alder, he does not have a credit card for business use. His expenses are paid direct into his bank account with salary. Neither will he sanction a member again using the chamber's credit card facilities, as happened with The Heavenly Bed Company, a chamber sponsor that subsequently went out of business.

"I don't see how it could happen again," he says. "The operating system we have in place now would make it impossible."

He paid tribute to the staff, saying they deserve a gold medal for pulling the chamber through this most difficult time.

"I guess I needed a challenge and I've loved every minute of the past six weeks," he said.

Mr Randell, a bachelor, vegetarian, fitness enthusiast and keen gardener, lives in Sutton Valence. He was born in Clapham, London, but moved to Kent when he was nine.

His parents Les and Joyce Randell ran The Bell and Jorrocks village pub in Frittenden, and he worked in the pub after leaving Angley School, Cranbrook.

When he was 21, he returned to London, entering the recruitment business with Reed Personnel. He became the company's youngest branch manager at 24 when he ran the flagship Baker Street outlet.

He is passionate about training, encouraging young people to have the right attitudes to work and not to expect a starting salary of £25,000, at least in Maidstone. He also wants to see people being equipped with the skills the country needs.

"We're going to need electricians, plumbers, builders, mechanics, nurses, teachers and doctors but if 90 per cent of our youngsters are doing marketing degrees, there's going to be a huge gap."

Mr Randell plans to be in the chamber hot seat for five years before returning to his first love--running a pub and pulling pints. Before then, he aims to be a chamber ambassador, trying to heal wounds and put the chamber back onto a sound financial footing.

He hopes to persuade a Select 25 group to pump more into the chamber and to work with the Town Centre Management Initiative team to further boost Maidstone's profile and reputation as an exciting place for business. One thing he would like to see is more brown signs on the M20 pointing visitors to the town's many attractions.

His mission statement speaks of "integrity, respect and fun". On the fun side, he is proud of being called a Harry Hill lookalike after his close resemblance to the oddball comedian with the large upturned collar. A photograph of Randell's face is superimposed on a picture of Hill pinned to the chamber wall.

But Mr Randell never doubts the seriousness of his new challenge--to restore Maidstone and Mid Kent Chamber's credibility as the county town's respected and reputable voice of business.