As a teenager Dove started spending money on small bottles of scent, astounded by the fact such a heady fragrance could emerge from such a tiny bottle.

He set about learning more, writing to the classic French fragrance house Guerlain, until eventually, both pestered and impressed by his interest, they offered him a job. Dove stayed at Guerlain for 20 years, becoming their chief ‘nose’ or ‘professeur de parfum’.

“It’s important to understand that you don’t smell anything with your nose,” he explains, talking me through the intricacies of how we smell.

“At the back of the nose is where you find the scent receptors (found on the mucous membrane) which are connected to the olfactory nerve.”

The olfactory nerve is directly linked to the limbic system, the part of the brain that deals with emotion and memory - it’s why scent sparks nostalgia.

In 2001 he left Guerlain to launch his own projects (Roja Dove now has three best-selling scents and the palatial Haute Parfumerie in Harrods).

“For the Parfumerie I made a decision that it had to have a point of difference. I decided I would write a list of all the Houses I thought made great things, then all the scents which I thought they made which were great.

“The Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie in Harrods is the only Parfumerie in the world where somebody has been able to go to the Houses and been able to say I don’t want your range.

“So it is a very, very, personal edit of what I believe is the best in Parfumerie. It’s nothing to do whether it’s old or it’s new or whether it’s inexpensive or expensive. We have perfumes from £50 up to £4.5 million. It’s just about if I think it is good.”

I wonder if this luxury sector has been affected by the recession:

“The recession hasn’t touched us” Roja explains. “We have a point of difference and a very clear message about what we’re about. My Parfumerie in Harrods is over 100% up on our retail in January and we never have a sale or discount. I think that brands which stay true to themselves will always survive.”

As a successful businessman, do you still have to budget?

“I’ve never had to budget in my life. I have no idea whether I have £1 or £1million in my bank account. Peter, my partner, also looks after the company’s finances and if I were doing something and needed to stop he would scream ‘Stop!’ I think I’m very good at making money but I have no interest in knowing how much money I have. I do what I do because it’s what I want to do.”

What luxury could you never give up?

“Good bedding. And I would prefer to eat much less than to eat bad food.”

Do you feel you have found the WorkLife balance?

“I would say I never feel that I am really working even though I work longer hours than most people do. My work is very much part of my life. I’m very privileged that my work affords me to do the things that it does.

“I’ve travelled around most of the world met some astonishing people and I wouldn’t want my life another way really. I really feel that I live the life I was born to live.”

How would you describe your style?

“I don’t care about what is fashionable I care about what I like. I wear the most enormous volume of jewellery. I love diamond jewellery.”

Do you have a secret ambition?

“Yes. It’s a simple one and I could do it tomorrow if I wanted. I would love to be staying in a lovely hotel with an elevated view of the Mediterranean.

“Most likely in the south of France or in Italy and the room should have a wonderful terrace. And I would love to have breakfast on that terrace with no schedule.”

What’s next for Roja Dove?

“I would like to create a Roja Dove fragrance brand - a commercial one. I’ve realised that what I have done for many years is help other people’s brands and what I’d now like to do is help my own properly.”

So what does Roja think of our city?

“I’ve always found the people here extraordinarily friendly and forward which I love”.

How does the ‘professeur de parfum’ describe the scent of Manchester?

“Manchester has quite a pronounced scent - maybe it is helped by the humidity in the air which tends to bring all odours to the fore. It is without question urban, with a pronounced petroleum note underscoring the earthiness of dirt and the sweet warmth of humanity.”

I wonder what it must be like for Roja Dove, the man who has been known to ask an air steward not to come near him as her perfume was so offensive, using his nose so continually and so intensely.

“It can be a terrible plague,” he says. I’m beginning to know what he means. By the end of the day, I’m analysing absolutely everything I smell from a packet of crisps to the sweet smell of a cosmopolitan up in the Brasserie Bar.

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