THERE are more millionaires in the Glasgow area than anywhere else in Scotland, but of the 11,288 residents who are worth seven figures few are like entrepreneur Willie Haughey.

He believes "giving something back" is part of being successful and, true to his word, has become of one Scotland's best-known philanthropists.

RUSSELL LEADBETTER finds out what makes him tick

AS the taxi leaves Rutherglen, the driver asks who I have been interviewing. Willie Haughey, I say. The driver then tells how his sister-in-law, who runs a youth football team, once received £1000 from him.

Of everyone she had contacted, Mr Haughey was the only one to reply - "her jaw just fell when she opened the envelope".

The 51-year-old may be the archetypal self-made millionaire - the Gorbals boy who left school at 15 with zero qualifications - but he puts his hand into his pocket with a frequency that has made him one of Scotland's best-known philanthropists.

A few months ago he paid £3000 to buy football gear for Ruchazie's Muirton AFC after the club's original equipment was set on fire by vandals.

Another £50,000 will enable hundreds of first year Glasgow pupils to benefit from professional football training and coaching.

Ten thousand pounds went to Cash for Kids so Mr Haughey could join Radio Clyde's Superscoreboard Live! team. He gave a £1000 cheque to Asda workers raising cash for Yorkhill, and other money to two talented young golfers and to blind walker Scott Cunningham.

Two years ago, at the prompting of Sir Tom Hunter, he gave £100,000 to the Make Poverty History march, and a similar donation to the Special Olympics.

"The day of the march was my birthday," Mr Haughey recalls, "and it was my best birthday because I went to Edinburgh and joined the march."

The donations echo the desire of his charitable trust to be "understanding, supportive and sympathetic."

In the boardroom of his Rutherglen-based company, City Refrigeration Holdings, he is more succinct: "Giving something back is a key part of being a success."

Because of who he is, his donations are virtually guaranteed to attract coverage, but he insists he is merely doing what other Scots entrepreneurs have been doing.

He is part of the 400-strong, Glasgow-based Entrepreneurial Exchange and says: "A lot of key people who have been involved in the Exchange go a long way towards installing in the next generation that giving something back is a big part of being successful.

"I know there are loads of people who give a lot back and shy away from the publicity, but I have never spent money on public relations.

"If you want cheap PR, go on the board of Celtic or Rangers - you'll get all the PR you want for the rest of your life, guaranteed.

"Generally, though, it is true we Scots have a caring nature."

He smiles as he mentions Celtic. A lifelong fan, he was one of the directors credited with helping to turn the club around when, before Fergus McCann's arrival, it was in the doldrums in the 1990s.

Mr Haughey's spell as a director ended 10 years ago, but many still associate him with the club.

He was a great friend to Jimmy Johnstone. Not for nothing did Jinky once say: "I was on my way out, losing the house and everything. Willie put it all right for me. He set out rules, especially about the drinking."

Mr Haughey might have become a footballer. He had trials with big clubs in Scotland and England, but tore a muscle in his left leg and that was that chance gone.

"Now, when I talk to kids in schools, I tell them I am delighted I didn't make it as a footballer - I couldn't live on their money."

He is, of course, joking. The latest Rich List estimates his fortune at £50million, made through the company he set up with wife Susan in 1985.

"I enjoy talking to the kids. Some of their questions make you laugh.

"Recently, I went back to Holyrood, my old school, where I was asked to deliver a motivational speech to 200 young people. Afterwards, one wee boy came up to me and said, Could you give me my dinner money? I've lost mine!' "He had me howling with laughter and I thought it summed up Glasgow.

"Hopefully at least 10% of the kids in the audience will be motivated and inspired by what I had to say, and were left thinking to themselves, well if he can do it, so can I.

"Trying to get the message across to the kids that even if you are not going on to academia you can be a success if you choose to be a plumber, electrician or a joiner.

"You can make as much money as a lawyer or an accountant. The message is be all you can be.

"I tell them how I had to go back to college after school, and that, of everything I've ever achieved, my proudest moment was watching my son Kenny graduate.

"I assure them, if you work hard on your education for the next five years you'll never have to work hard' again. _But, if you don't, and you're not up there academically, don't give up. Always have a dream and a goal."

THERE are plenty of reasons for him to spring out of bed each morning because City Refrigeration Holdings is continuing to expand.

It employs more than 10,000 people and carries out facilities management at 10,000 locations across the UK for clients such such as Asda and Ladbrokes.

His dedication to entrepreneurship and to charitable work has rewarded him with an OBE and, this year, with Glasgow's St Mungo Prize, when he was described as a "true friend to Glasgow".

He talks about the City Charitable Trust, which raises over £750,000 a year for good causes.

Ninety per cent of donations go to local causes, like Maggie's Centre, the Emmaus project for the homeless, the Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust.

The rest is spread throughout the UK and Africa; City engineers have drilled wells in countries such as Malawi, and more than 46,000 people have access to fresh drinking water as a result.

How does he unwind? "Dead simple. When I go home on a Friday night I order a fish supper and open a bottle of wine.

"I still enjoy going to football and I play a bit of golf, and recently I've started to play tournament poker.

"I am one of these guys with an active mind. Poker is a hobby where you have to be really focused on what you are doing."