The go-to guy

THEY seek him here; they seek him there — an apt phrase for businessman and broadcaster, Anton Savage.

He’s a regular on Ian Dempsey’s Gift Grub, the running joke that he’ll stand in for anyone. Mario Rosenstock’s skits are spot on — barely a week goes by without hearing Savage’s voice on air. He regularly steps in to the presenter’s chair for Matt Cooper, Ray D’Arcy and Ryan Tubridy.

Now he’s got his own, regular radio gig, having jumped into the driving seat of the Sunday Business Show this month — the most turbulent time in Irish business. “I’m not sure if it’s good or bad timing, on my behalf, but to be in the middle of a story which three or four generations of Irish people would never have believed possible, is amazing,” the 33-year-old says.

As well as his role at the helm of the Sunday Business Show (he presents alternate weeks with Conall O’Morain), Savage also presented The Apprentice, You’re Fired. “I was delighted to get the gig with TV3,” he says. Savage has something in common with his guests — he was once fired from a job.

“When I was a student, I spent some time in America and got a job as a waiter,” he says. “I was doing the ghastly breakfast stint, when a miserable punter started giving me a hard time — before I could stop myself, I had uttered the words ‘How would you like to eat your huevos rancheros with no teeth’. The manager was standing behind me and heard every word, so I was out on my ear pretty quickly — I was a terrible waiter.”

Savage was an only child — his parents are Tom Savage and Terry Prone — but he says that it helped him to develop a sense of purpose and a level-headed outlook.

“I’ve always been close to my folks, and while I’m sure I got a lot of attention as a child, there were also a lot of expectations which I had to deal with on my own,” he says. “But I guess when you don’t know any different, there isn’t anything to compare it to.”

Born and raised in the north side of Dublin, Anton started school in Sutton, then went on to Belvedere College, and finally gained a degree in English literature from Trinity.

No stranger to the media world, he began his radio career as a teenager. “I was contributing bits and pieces to radio shows from the age of 16,” he says. “Doing book reviews and commentating for people like Pat Kenny, Dave Fanning and Marian Finucane. After that, I was asked to do a few stints for other shows, and finally got gigs standing in for Matt Cooper, Ray D’Arcy and Ryan Tubridy — I’ve been at it a long time.”

Also working as managing director for the Communications Clinic (a family-run public relations and communication training business), Anton is constantly on the go and is never short of words.

“I enjoy interacting with people and most of the time I tend to have a good rapport with listeners and clients, but sometimes it is painfully obvious that I am a dope at heart,” he says. “I have been known to get flustered, and, once, I was interviewing a man who I had known for 15 years, live on air, but as soon as the red light flashed on, I completely forgot his name. I couldn’t introduce him and had to actually ask him his name on air, I felt like such a moron.”

But rapidly gaining a reputation as a calm and collected presenter — not to mention sharply dressed (the team on Today FM constantly tease him about wearing a suit to work) — Anton looks up to the seasoned professionals to help him stay ahead of the game. “While I would say that I have my own style of presenting, I definitely admire the skill of some of my more experienced counterparts,” he says.

“Joe Duffy and Matt Cooper are both very professional and in control of their programmes, and, as for Terry Wogan, nothing can really touch him — imagine being able to keep the nation transfixed for 25 minutes while giving a blow-by-blow account of eating a bun. Genius.”

With his hectic schedule, both on TV and radio and in the boardroom, it is hard to imagine where Anton finds the time to relax. “I don’t really have a pile of downtime, knocking around, at the moment, but I’m not complaining,” he says. “And when I do get a few minutes to myself, I love to go sea fishing — mind you, I’m not much of an expert, my style involves throwing the line overboard and saying a prayer.”

His favourite pastime, however, would be his passion for cars. Having learnt to drive at just six years of age, the self-confessed ‘motor head’ is never happier than when he is behind the wheel.

“People ask me how I learnt to drive at six,” he says. “I tell them the reason why I was such a late starter was because I couldn’t reach the pedals before that.”

And it seems Anton Savage won’t be slowing down any time soon.

* Sunday Business Week, Sundays, 10-11am on Today FM.