The man who was the voice of a queue-busting announcement has published his first novel.

Terry Green, of Tavistock, is famous, but few will know who he is because he is best-known for providing the voice of ‘cashier number three, please’ announcements at various shops and banks.

He has become a customer service guru with national accolades and is now behind successful pizza and burger restaurants and pubs. Terry hopes his expertise can benefit his home town’s high street.

Terry was in the team which invented the queue management system adopted by most banks and similar customer service providers. Terry’s disembodied voice has been heard by some 25-million people patiently or impatiently queuing at one time or another. His authoritative voice was then gradually superseded as companies demanded regional accents to personalise their announcements.

The invention won the Queen’s Award for Business and was a huge achievement for the small company Terry then worked for - he only became the announcer by default.

He said: “I feel very proud to be that voice which improved millions of people’s customer service and made businesses more aware of their customers’ experience.

“It was a major innovation in customer service and huge for us as a small outfit, and especially as we weren’t geared up for professional voice artists. So, after the women’s recorded voice was chosen, everyone looked at me and I was THAT voice, just by chance.

“So, we’re responsible for exporting the famed British queuing skill worldwide. It became so big, so quickly, as a major development in customer service, that we merged with another company.”

The voice announcements were used alongside the flexible queue lane dividers which used the same seatbelt retractable mechanism which is standard is modern cars and that Terry was again involved in developing when he was in the motor trade covering the South West.

He worked for Peugeot when it bought Chrysler for only £1, spawning the Chrysler Talbot, Horizon and Sunbeam cars, and doubled his sales targets, leading to his promotion, covering London and Essex.

Next came a spell with Unipart which was leading on the then new car-phone market and he successfully negotiated contracts with the likes of Mazda, Renault and Jaguar. A career with a tyre maker followed.

His success in sales and marketing led to him becoming a customer service guru. The innovative queue management system led to a £12m turnover and Terry’s role led to him being on Michael Heseltine’s DTi innovation unit advising industrialists on marketing. He also supported the Sunday Times Enterprise Network. For 20 years he has advised new businesses for the The Prince’s Trust (now The King’s Trust).

“I have advised M&S and others on getting inside the mind of their customers, to understand their behaviour throughout their stores and improve the whole experience.”

His new crime thriller Redline, published by Endsleigh Press, is on sale in two Tavistock shops and draws on his career and on his experience of writing a business book: “It’s about management accountant and firefighter Jake, set in the glamorous world of sports cars. It’s fast-moving, but paints a detailed scene – it reflects my expertise and what I like my novels to be like.”