During his school and university days, Jim Mortimer was a most accomplished athlete in various sports. While taking part in solo sports such as athletics and swimming, his agility and tremendous stamina served him well and he was confident and competitive in both. He was also a talented football player, playing for both his school and university teams. Once finished with university, he dropped out of other sports to give more time to indulge in his greatest love, football. He played for a small team that was in his locality. His decision to 'hang up the football boots' came, when his son, Jack, started playing for his school football team aged 9 years. He wanted to give all his spare time to cheering Jack on from the side lines.

 

His uni years were a constant round of partying; lots of fun, heavy drinking and the smoking of weed were a twice weekly occurrence. As Jim approached his final year and became more disciplined with his studying, he decided that the 'booze and drug scene' was no longer for him. He adopted a more formal and professional tone, one that led to some of his friends (not those who were loyal to him) refer to him as being cold and 'aloof'. If he was to make a success of being a Chartered Accountant, he felt that it was finally time to do some serious growing up.

 

After several years of being an accountant for a UK wide accountancy firm, Jim met and married his first wife. Three years into their marriage they welcomed a son, Jack. His wife didn't easily take to motherhood and, yearning for her wilder days, she started going out regularly. It didn't take long before Jim was hearing stories of her infidelity and also about her string of one-night stands and affairs. However, Jim had easily taken to fatherhood, so whilst he now led a separate life to his wife, he vowed to stay in the marital home for Jack's sake. Jim had no interest in one-night-stands or in having an affair. Until Jack was much older, and until he fell in love with the right woman, 'getting laid' held no interest for Jim.

 

By the time James Mortimer started his new position as junior partner at the Hopkins Partnership, his weekends were always taken up by his son. Jim would watch him playing football on Saturdays and usually Sundays were taken up with the pair of them going bowling, white water rafting or rock climbing. When Helen Rushforth returned to work at the practice after some much-needed 'time out', Jim found himself immediately drawn to her in a way that was new to him and he didn't know how to handle these feelings. He came across as rude and dismissive in his attempt to hide his true feelings for her. The pair were constantly at war - until they both attended a seminar together, which involved an overnight stay. That was the start of new beginnings.

 

Jim's bad traits include his blatant sarcasm and a need to always be in control. He also makes rather stupid mistakes when he's intoxicated.

 

Jim's good points are many - once he's given his heart. He is kind and considerate, loving, loyal, hard-working, reliable, and a great friend. His role as a father is most important to him and he goes above and beyond for his children.

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JIM'S DISLIKES

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Men who treat women badly.

Drugs.

Cold wintry weather.

His brother.

Airports.

Shoddy workmanship.

Queuing.

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JIM'S LOVES

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His parents, his son and his daughter. 

Helen.

Good food.

His friends.

His career.

Music.

Films.​​​​​​​​​​

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