DORSET pig farmer, turned record company boss, Ian Brown, is gunning for a Christmas number one, again.

The 39-year-old entrepreneur, famous for propelling local singer Gordon Haskell to a Christmas number two in 2001, is this time backing a 40-strong all girl choir.

The choral version of The Korgis' 1980's hit Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime, hits shops today and is tipped as a potential number one, putting The Cantamus Girls Choir on the same odds for the sought after Christmas top spot as Girls Aloud.

Ian said The Korgis "love the idea".

The girls, whose ages range between 13 and 19, won the World Choir Olympics in Germany two years ago, and want to go to China next July to defend their title. Ian was approached by a father of one of the Cantamus girls who asked if he would help them to raise the necessary funds for their trip.

In order to do this, the choir from Nottinghamshire have taken a departure from their usual material to produce an album of covers of songs by U2, Coldplay and East 17.

The suggestion to produce such a record came from St Leonards-based Steve Smith, owner of Room With A View Studios, where the album was recorded.

Ian's company, Flying Sparks, deals with the promotion. The choir has already appeared once on Richard and Judy, with another appearance planned this week. They will also be appearing on GMTV and on Radio 2 with Johnny Walker. Radio 2 was where Ian did his first interview six years ago.

"I didn't realise what a big deal it was at the time. I just phoned them up and said that Tony Blair had told farmers to diversify, so I decided to go into the record business. They loved it and invited me in."

I suggested that he must have had a natural talent to be able to slip so easily from producing pork to promoting musical stars.

"I can talk a lot, but I've no talent at all," he joked.

So how did he make the jump from pigs to pop?

"I first started by pushing line dancing records. I was in a field in Kent and there were all these people line dancing. It looked like fun."

Perhaps the secret of his success lies in the fact that he has so much fun with the job. He seems to take his success with a pinch of salt.

After just two years of running his own label, Ian caused a media stir by making 55-year-old singer Gordon Haskell serious competition for A-listers Nicole Kidman and Robbie Williams for the Christmas number one.

Ian said he gets a real buzz from playing the media game and guiding a record from the recording studio, to radio airplay, to chart success. He is a busy man, spending two days a week in London and the rest of his time operating from a garden shed in Damerham. He works alone, but his two girls sometimes help him to "pack records in Jiffy bags".

Despite having what some would see as a glamorous job, Ian still has a love of pigs and would like to get back to farming one day.

First published: December 19