SAMMY the macaw was a vicious bird.

But he's also the reason Andrew Mount now runs a successful art business in the heart of Knutsford.

"I was transporting the bird to a customer in my father's car," said Andrew "All of a sudden I noticed Sammy had escaped and was ripping the upholstery to shreds."

Wallace Mount had sent his son to deliver the blue and gold parrot to a customer of the family's pet shop.

"The woman offered me a job selling limited edition prints because she realised what a good job I had done selling her the parrot," said Andrew.

And so began a career in fine art that has flourished for more than two decades.

Andrew was born in Derbyshire in 1954 and grew up with one sister - 11 years his senior.

"We used to fight a lot but I think that was because we had little in common because of the age difference," said Andrew.

The family moved to Poynton before settling in Bollington.

But for Andrew, a change of address didn't mean a change of school because Bollington School closed down - and all the pupils transferred to Poynton.

"I loathed school and was only really interested in horticulture when I was young," said Andrew.

He wasn't the only one not keen on lessons.

When it snowed the children from Bollington would take advantage of the adverse conditions to avoid attending school.

The journey from Bollington to Poynton was always an uphill struggle for the school coach at the best of times.

But when Andrew and his pals crowded at the front of the bus, it made the journey impossible.

"All the Poynton pupils would run to the front of the bus so that it couldn't get any traction on its back wheels," said Andrew.

"We missed a few days of school through that."

For the young horse enthusiast, time spent at the blacksmith's was far more interesting.

There, he would help out - shoeing horses and doing odd-jobs around the yard.

"The shire horses are quiet animals but a small Shetland Pony put the blacksmith in hospital on one occasion," said Andrew.

But the equestrian life also once left Andrew needing urgent attention - during his days working for a milkman.

He'd become a good rider after his dad - an RAF showjumper - sent him to riding lessons.

The milkman used to import horses from Ireland and sell them. Andrew's job was to demonstrate how well behaved the beasts were.

He performed the task well. Only once did a horse drag him through a GREENHOUSE.

"We both got a bit cut," said Andrew.

At 16 he started work at Bramhall Parks, but staff cutbacks led to changes and Andrew left.

"I ended up doing some really mundane jobs so I left to work with my father," said Andrew.

He got a job in the family pet shop - and began developing his business sense by encouraging his dad to sell more exotic species.

"It was quite a traditional pet shop when I started working for him, but it developed and started to sell reptiles and foreign birds," said Andrew.

It was a change that Wallace almost lived to regret.

He caught a rare disease from one of the birds and almost died.

"In three days a very fit man couldn't talk any more," said Andrew.

"The doctors didn't know what was wrong with him but I remembered something I had read in a book about the disease and they did manage to save him."

Andrew was able to sell even the most dangerous of pets, including Sammy the parrot.

The woman he sold Sammy to offered him a job - even though the parrot had bitten her dog's nose off.

He took up her offer and his career progressed as he learned more about artists and the printing process.

Never a man to miss a challlenge, Andrew seized the opportunity to become an artist agent and at one time represented 27 different talents.

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