HE HAS fronted one of Britain's biggest newsagent chains, held so many roles on Essex County Council's cabinet that he cannot remember what they are, and most recently guided the authority in charge of £2 billion of taxpayer's money each year through its most turbulent period.
But Peter Martin, the man who had to pick up the pieces when Lord Hanningfield stepped down in 2010 in the wake of the expenses scandal, will quit at the next election in May.
Why?
Because he wants to spend more time with his family, play more tennis, take up golf again after a ten-year gap and even try to learn the piano.
"I've been here for 24 years now which is quite a significant period of my life; in fact I've probably been here longer than I have spent doing anything else in my life," he told the Gazette.
"I'm 69 next year and this is a full time, 60 hour a week job, week in week out and I had to take the view that should I put my name forward for another four years on the council, at the end of that term I would be 73.
"So I just decided that there are other things I want to do like spending more time with my family."
Indeed, that won't be plain sailing for the married grandfather of four; his daughter Sophie, 42, lives in Paris, son Adrian is in Bath, while Hannah, 35, lives 4,000 miles away in Dubai.
While he modestly admits that the "demanding" nature of his job is not unique to that of Joe Taxpayer, he says he wants to enjoy life before age begins to take its toll.
Not that working 60 hours a week is too much for Peter, whose family started the famous Martin's newsagent brand in 1934.
But he was determined to find his own way in life, rather than fall into the family business that his grandfather and father had built to be so successful.
However, he admits he always hoped he would work for Martin's at some point in his life, as did his two brothers, such was his pride for the family business.
" After a variety of jobs, the position of chief accountant came up at Martin's so I went for it." He rose to the position of managing director of the newsagent chain, which at its height under his leadership had more than 500 stores.
But the company was bought out and after Martin's, Peter, with his brothers, tried setting up a few other businesses, but decided to give it all up to become a local councillor, as he had always been active in the Conservatives.
He was chairman of the association in Chelmsford in 1986 and later the East of England, before even deciding to stand for election in 1989.
He went on to hold various cabinet roles on the authority, his first in finance, although the others escape his memory, while holding down various other voluntary roles in the community, like that of a school governor.
Peter, who took over the leadership at the height of the Lord Hanningfield expenses scandal in February 2010, said: "It was a difficult time to take over with no notice of his resignation.
To date, he says he has saved £350 million through the council's "Transformation" project and lists it as his all-time biggest achievement but is keen to impress that it is a "team effort".
In the wake of the expenses scandal, Peter Martin also said it was a priority to sort out the authority's "governance", in particular the processes in place for claiming expenses.
"We spent a fair bit of time improving our governance. I think there needed to be some changes and we needed to be seen to be making them.
"In spite of what happened at the end of his career, Lord Hanningfield did spend 40 years of his life to serving the county and that should be recognised, regardless of what has happened.
"The change of culture to spending was driven mainly by the fact that we are now living in a period of austerity, and that just happened to be at the same time as the Parliamentary expenses scandal.
"What's driving people's change of behaviour is that we're living in a period of uncertainty.
"When there's less money, people are more careful about their spending, and their personal expenditure, and that's no different between the private and public sectors."
Despite his positive outlook on what has probably been the most testing time in the council's history, Peter insists he has few low points in his career – apart from the Conservatives losing the county council to a Labour/Lib Dem coalition in 1993 – and thrives on the huge responsibility that comes with running an organisation in charge of £2 billion and the welfare of thousands.
"I never take the job for granted, as I would hope anyone in my position would, because you are making decisions that affect people's lives."
