Kevin Macliver, an innovative engineer and devoted father of four, is the mastermind behind Multimac, a range of three and four-seater child seats, in varying widths, which can carry children from birth to 12 years old and beyond and are expertly designed to fit any car from a Mini to a Rolls Royce.
His garage invention inspired by having his fourth child has since evolved into a thriving £2.5 million per year international business. Fuelled by his unwavering passion for engineering, Macliver seeks to create ingenious solutions for everyday challenges and encourage more families to have more than two children.
My car of choice
In my previous life, I drove 40,000 miles a year around the UK and Europe, so a car was a tool rather than a fashion item, and I tend to keep cars a long time – generally Mercedes. Two of my last five cars did over 300,000 miles and the other three well over 200,000. I now prefer classics to new cars. I have a Mercedes 560 SEC, which I’ve owned for 31 years, and a G-Wagen I’ve had for 26 years, and a newish Cayenne and some others. My dream car since a child was a Mercedes Gullwing, but recently it has become a 2006 Porsche Carrera GT.
My favourite holiday destination
Italy – very British – Tuscany; just love the family oriented lifestyle, the architecture, the scenery, the weather, and the food. The hospital was pretty good, too, when I broke my shoulder.
My gadget I can’t live without
I don’t want to be too predictable, but as a travelling businessperson, my smartphone. I had an early Blackberry and was an advocate, but eventually even I had to give up and get an iPhone. We take it for granted now, but I remember having an early phone in the eighties, and someone phoned my office: it diverted to my mobile where I was with my daughter having a riding lesson, and when the horse neighed loudly the caller couldn’t believe it.
My go to fashion brand
Back in the day, when we wore suits and ties, I used to wear Daks, as favoured by farmers and landed gentry types. Daks then went through a metrosexual phase and lost that classic style but I still have a few. Nowadays, in less formal times I guess it is Gant and Levi. Equally important is shoes: growing up near Northampton it was Church’s factory shop. My younger brother met a Swedish au pair in a local village when he was 20 and emigrated to Sweden. He has recently bought Sweden’s oldest clog company, Troentorp Toefl, and is expanding into Chelsea Boots. I am currently ‘test driving’ a new model for him.
My airline of choice
In my previous life I did a lot of work in various factories in Europe, and factories tend not to be in big cities. Ryanair tended to use military type airfields often 50-100 miles away from the city they supposedly flew to, but coincidentally about 10 miles from the factories I was visiting, so I frequently used them, very conveniently. Otherwise, British Airways is the go-to.
My favourite watch brand
I find watches technically very interesting but do not collect them. My parents gave me an Omega Speedmaster for my 21st birthday, and I have worn it every day since and can’t imagine having any other.
My favourite restaurant
My in-laws will go on a three-week holiday and come back and describe it meal by meal. but in my day-to-day life I regard food as a fuel, and am irritated that pitstops take so much time out of the day. Having said that, I love the social aspect of a family meal or dinner party. My favourite restaurant is probably Il Teatro in Cortona [Italy] where we go as a family most years. It is a simple family Italian restaurant with traditional food, albeit with a number of individual dining rooms furnished with classical furniture and the walls are absolutely covered with non-matching picture frames containing photos of the many actors and film stars who have visited.
My guilty pleasure
Apart from cars (I have about 12 at present) it is probably long baths. Having a big family and attendant friends it is one way to get some peace and catch up on reading. Famous race car designer Gordon Murray noted that as you lie in a bath, the hot water opens up the blood vessels and increases flow to your brain, and as a designer/engineer I have frequently got into a bath with a problem, and got out with a solution in much the same way as Archimedes did.
My favourite way to give back
We have always had a large house with lots of bedrooms and with kids and friends and a sociable wife I am used to getting up and meeting people in the kitchen I have never seen before. My son now lives and works in San Francisco, and recently married a lovely girl with, amongst other family, a Ukrainian grandmother, just after Vladimir Putin invaded. Naturally we asked if we could do anything, and they rustled up a family to come and live with us in the rooms vacated by our grown-up children. That was over two years ago and they are still here. They have degrees and left an apartment and car and good professional jobs but came here with a child and two suitcases. We bought them a car, and they are now part time cleaners while they perfect their English and either stay, or eventually return. Tragic, but like so many.
