In 1950, I was apprenticed as a Ship Draughtsman with Swan Hunter. On completion in 1955, I then spent a year in the shipyard as a journeyman; it involved three months in the Loft, two months in the Plumbers Shop and the Electrical Shop, and then time working with the shipwrights, carpenters, platers and fitters lining off. I then spent two years National Service in the Royal Air Force throughout the Far East, before returning to Swan Hunter in 1958 to work in the Steel Drawing Office. There, I calculated scantlings for steel and aluminium structures, and welding profiles ensuring that they complied with regulatory bodies’ requirements. Around May 1959, I joined the Ship Estimating Office, which I took to like a duck to water. By 1961, I was appointed Section Leader, and two years later, Cost Controller, before in 1964 being placed in charge of all purchasing and material handling. In 1967,1 was appointed Group Purchasing Co-ordinating Manager and Material Controller, and three years later, Purchasing Director. By 1974, I was appointed Deputy Chairman, Chief Executive in 1976, and Chairman and Chief Executive in 1977. Under British Shipbuilders I was a part-time Board Member, and in 1981 was appointed non executive Chairman of Cammell Laird, and overall Managing Director of the Composite Shipbuilding Division. In November 1981, I was appointed a full executive Board Member, and Executive Vice Chairman of British Shipbuilders Offshore Division. A year later I was appointed a Managing Director of British Shipbuilders [one of four]. In 1982, I had resigned from my chief executive position at Swan Hunter, but retained the Chairmanship in a non executive capacity. In May 1983, I was appointed non executive Chairman of Scott Lithgow. When Scott Lithgow was sold, and when Cammell Laird [the two large companies in the ill-fated Offshore Division] integrated into Vickers in 1984, I became Executive Chairman of Vosper Thornycroft, which was subsequently successfully privatised. Thereafter, in January 1987, I was appointed Managing Director of NESL for the last three months before its closure, and subsequently I was made redundant by British Shipbuilders.

Swan Hunter had a lot of orders in the late 1950s. However, the market had changed significantly.