ANTHONY Robinson fled to the other side of the world to escape the family business.

But the boss of Abingdon-based Robinsons Relocation, started by his great-grandfather 120 years ago, is glad he came back and took the helm.

Mr Robinson, 42, said: “I spent my twenties and thirties saying ‘I don’t want to do this’, and even moved to Australia when I was 25 to get away from it.”

Three years later he changed his mind and came back.

He said: “The family business may be a bit boring but it has robust policies and sound financial footing.”

Mr Robinson learned the ropes at Robinsons Relocation, which handles 10,000 moves a year, while growing up.

He said: “My father’s view on pocket money was that once we reached 12, we were expected to work in the holidays, packing and carrying boxes.

“At the time I hated it, but now I’m thankful, because it gave me a good grounding in how to deal with the guys who do the job every day of the week.”

He studied business, finance and human resources at Newcastle Polytechnic and carried on working at the firm in his holidays, in sales, finance and admin.

“That gave me a good understanding of every nut and bolt of the business,” he added.

He has two sons, aged nine and seven, with wife Natalie but does not expect them to take over the business from him.

The reasons behind why people move are often sad or stressful, he pointed out.

“You see the worst side of people, because they are going through a lot of stress and want to shout at someone.

“We have been accused of being the reason why someone had a miscarriage and even ‘my husband got cancer because of you’.”

The past five years have been tough for Robinsons Relocation, which has a turnover of £17m.

Mr Robinson said: “Things were great until the Northern Rock collapse in August 2007.

“It was as though someone had switched the lights out and we spent five years in the doldrums.”

The firm employed 260 people in 2007 but had to make more than a third of the workforce redundant as a result of the slump in business.

It handles relocations all over the world, including Australia, Canada, the US, Africa, Alaska and Asia.

Language problems, red tape and corrupt officials are some of the problems. He said: “It’s about the complexity of how many borders you have to cross.

“There are challenges but at the same time, it’s massively stimulating.

“We are branching out into new parts of the world all the time.

“For my great-grandfather the biggest challenge was war, while for me it’s the increasing globalisation of the business.”