WHEN the boss of Basingstoke’s radio station breezes into the office, it’s with a very welcoming and cheery hello.

Paul Smith, who is chairman of Celador Entertainment, which owns The Breeze, Basingstoke and North Hampshire 107.6 has an easy charm about him that belies his many, and very impressive, achievements in the world of television and film.

Recipient of a CBE in the 2012 New Year Honours List, for services to the media industry, the Belfast-born founder of Celador was the man who came up with the international hit TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

It was also his company that co-produced the smash-hit film Slumdog Millionaire, which won eight Oscars, seven BAFTAs and four Golden Globes.

Now, Paul, pictured, is pursuing his long-held passion for radio, establishing a network of commercial radio stations in the South and South West.

Currently, Celador Radio has 16 Breeze stations in its stable. It acquired Tindle-owned Kestrel FM rebranding it to The Breeze Basingstoke last December, and has recently taken over the Ofcom licence operated by Total Star in Cheltenham.

“I've gone into radio now because circumstances didn't give me the opportunity to get into it earlier,” explained Paul.

“But the passion for radio has been there for a long, long time. I always wanted to go into it - I have a love for radio.

“I love its immediacy and I love the ability for it to engage huge amounts of people relatively easily and relatively simply.

“We can sit here in the studio with one guy and a microphone and some carefully chosen bits of audio and that's it - and it's just wonderful.”

Paul, who is 66 but has the energy and enthusiasm of someone much younger, once had a hankering to be a DJ himself. “I even applied to the BBC to do it and I've still got the rejection letter,” he said.

Keen to acquire more stations in the South, Paul said: “We want to concentrate on the most affluent area of the United Kingdom.

“We're reliant on advertising and therefore let's go into the place where people are going to have their greatest disposable income.”

Celador Radio's head office is in London, but Paul makes sure he gets out and about to the various stations.

He said: “Managing at a distance is not a great way of running businesses, as I think people need to be able to see the senior management on a regular basis - even if they are not the direct line managers.

“So it's important that the guys see me now and again and I pop in here and if nothing else just have a chat with them.

“I know them all in Basingstoke and we've only been working together for a few months. And I like them - they do a great job for us.”

The office in Festival Place is Celador's Thames Valley hub, and it is where output for The Breeze Andover and The Breeze Newbury is also broadcast from.

The skill of the presenters come into play to give each station its local feel.

Paul said: “I hope if you were sitting in Andover listening to The Breeze, that you would believe that you were listening to something from up the road.

“When required, the presenters will record individual links between two pieces of music, one for Andover, one for Basingstoke and one for Newbury.

“And when it gets to that link, they will all fire separately and each individual station will get an output that is intended specially and exclusively for them.”

If the opportunity arises Paul would be keen to add more stations to the Thames Valley broadcast centre.

“We are always on the outlook for more acquisitions and if we can get any more in the Thames Valley, then the likelihood is that they will be broadcast from here. So buying the station here in Basingstoke was critical.”

So far this has proved to a good move, with Paul describing Basingstoke and the surrounding area as being a great market.

Keen listeners may have noticed a change in the station's output.

“Kestrel was an all things to all men station in terms of its entertainment, whereas we target a more precise audience here which is the 25 to 54 age group with a bias towards women,” explained Paul.

Paul likes what he sees in Basingstoke, describing it as a vibrant town.

He said: “The very first time we came here when we were negotiating to buy the station, I had not been to Festival Place before and when I arrived I went wow!

“To see the energy of the town centre and to feel its buzz, and see all the good shops opportunities they provide was wonderful.

“I find that when I go to some towns and cities, I find depressed centres because of the economy. But I don't get that sense here.”

“I'm sure everybody has had to pull in their belts, but nonetheless. I don't get the sense that it is affecting the market too critically.

“I get a sense that there is still a certain buoyancy here that isn't necessarily in other areas.”

“And then to be able to drive out of town and in five minutes find yourself in beautiful countryside with a lovely local pub - that to me is the best of living. And you don't get that if you live in the centre of London, I can tell you.”