Just because you're born in certain circumstances you shouldn't have to be stuck with that

With social mobility in the spotlight, Rod Aldridge tells David Allaby why he's still working so hard at breaking down business and social barriers.

Rod Aldridge is a generous sort. The founder of FTSE 100 business services company Capita, controversial Labour Party benefactor, and sponsor of two city academies can afford to be generous, but there is a spirit to the man who, as a Chelsea season-ticket holder, doffs his cap to the managerial supremacy of Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I believe in competitiveness; sport encourages self-expression but also team discipline. It's so powerful. Ferguson is the outstanding team- builder," says Aldridge, who has chosen entrepreneurship and sport as joint-specialisms for the academies he supports in Darwen, Lancashire, and Brighton. "He has built great teams, rebuilt them and never been afraid to make sacrifices for the team strategy. He is passionate about what he does and sets such high standards.

"It's about creating the right environment for young people to develop – something they will be proud of. It's about leadership. We see the two academies as community assets; for families; entrepreneurial hubs to help start businesses; students will be encouraged to run businesses, bringing the curriculum to life. I don't believe that if you are born in certain circumstances you should be stuck with that."

Two years on from his resignation as chairman of Capita after a storm over his £1m loan to Labour, Aldridge "is doing the things he believes in and that amounts to quite an agenda for the former council post boy who now does his business from the calm of the Aldridge Foundation suite of offices in London.

"The loan controversy helped me to focus on what I really wanted to do with the next phase of my life," he says. "I wouldn't have stepped down except for the trouble but I didn't want to damage the business I had spent 22 years building." The loan, viewed by some as being as good as a donation, is now wrapped in new legal documentation that will confirm its repayment, but at the time it left the donor in "one of those situations where you feel very lonely".

He still believes in Capita – he's a significant shareholder – but that is no longer a professional commitment. "There's been a shift in the business," he acknowledges. "It is more slanted to the private sector than it was. There continues to be a reluctance in central government to engage with the private sector. Opportunities are at their lowest for potential outsourcing partners there.

"A lot of money is still being spent on consultants. It's buying support to prop up departments instead of looking to re-engineer to an extent that creates real benefit. It may be more comfortable, easier to procure and less controversial to get in consultants, but skills are not transferred. I do feel sympathetic to senior people in central government because there is constant political demand for immediacy."

Aldridge is concerned that some of the fundamentals of controlling public spending are being overlooked. "A lot of post-Gershon pressures have disappeared," he says. "Savings can still be found by addressing inefficiencies. You have only to look at figures around staff turnover, sickness levels and paper-driven inefficiencies. It needs to be rethought and, to be frank, people need to be revitalised."

He has been a champion of offshoring some services – a less attractive option when UK unemployment rises. "It's a question of balance," he says. "You don't aggressively offshore, and certainly not frontline or call centre activities. It's more about back-office process and the ability to create opportunities here. You can't always balance high local employment and efficiency.

"It's a time to be open to new relationships. The dynamics are changing. A lot of public bodies are still structured to suit their own needs."

The Aldridge Foundation is supporting Birmingham University's centre for public service partnership in examining the evidence for partnerships in more effective service delivery. "The industry has to learn to engage better with the public sector. The old outsourcing model has had its day. It has to be more about relationship, joint venture," he says.

"A tension is building as customer awareness grows. People would applaud that a lot of money has gone into services but they would question whether they see that much improvement for all the investment. That is dangerous for a politician or service chief. There is no more money – it's gone into the system and it's time the system became more responsive."

After accountancy experience with four local authorities, Aldridge took on the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's computer services division in 1984. He brought together 154 councils to design and implement a system to handle Direct Labour Organisation legislation. It was a triumph and after his management buy-out, Capita was born. It was quite an education, he reflects.

A survivor of the 60's secondary school system who had failed to find a career in the Probation Service, had found his niche. "When I engage with young people I see how incredible they are, but the social divide is still quite staggering. We have to be able to move things in their direction. We are working to set up a user-voice company for young offenders; entrepreneurship in our academies will be about more than business – it's about our role in society; and there are massive skills and social benefits in young people volunteering with an organisation like V, which I chair." He is even looking to build on Strictly Come Dancing mania with a ballroom dancing programme. "If I had stayed at Capita I couldn't have done any of this," he adds. "It's very rewarding."