CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
THE NEED FOR A CHANGE IN MINDSET TO MEET THE COST CHALLENGES 2010 –2020
Since the 20th Century – particularly in the Business Schools era of the past 50 years, the general mindset of Corporate Management and Organisational thinking has been that despite a flattening of Organisational Structures – making a large chunk of Middle Managements redundant – Organisations in the Public Sector still needed to have Pyrimidal Hierarchical structure to perform satisfactory.
If you examine the balance sheets and accounts of many Quangos, Government Departments and Local Government Departments, you will find escalating costs for Chairmen, Chief Executives, Deputy Chairmen & the like, Deputy Chief Executives, Assistants to Chief Executives with their accompanying staffs and high cost office accomodation. If you add in the costs of pensions and expenses, the overall costs of these singular positions are enormous. Perhaps more enormous is the inflated egos of these post holders who think that they are needed and irreplaceable. Surely every Public Body needs us !
Another feature of the past 25 years has been the growth of the concept – mainly preached by the large Management Connsultancy firms – that you must pay Public Senior Management the equivalent salaries to simular post holders in the Private Sector – or else you will not be able to recruit the right people into the Public Sector and as a result, levels of competence and performance will seriously decline.
A third feature of mindset thinking of the past 50 years has been the Box Fitting Mentality in Human Resource Recruitment strategies, although there has been some progress in this area. The kind of mindset I refer to is twofold. First, the traditional CV has been used as the prime method of assessing a candidate’s ability to perform in the new role. Secondly, candidates who do not fit the box – that is, the candidate must have had experience in the same field as the job advertised - are rejected and do not even get a first interview.
The time has come to change all these old fashioned mindsets and to adopt some new 21st Century thinking.
So, what should be the new parameters ? As a basis for discussion, here are some suggestions.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES
There is no need for a Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive any more in the organisational structures of Public Bodies – or their equivalent titles in the Civil Service.
These functions should be replaced by a new Board Structure which includes an Executive Management Team who need to have a broader training in Management Skills than they do at present. Management functions should be more integrated and a rotational system of Chairing meetings should be adopted. This will save £millions of current wasteful expenditure. A collective consensus approach is needed. Quality Top Management do not need Chairmen and Chief Executives to tell them what to do !
REMUNERATION PACKAGES
Stop relating Public Remuneration Packages to the Private Sector. Start realising that it is myth that Public Bodies will not be able to recruit good people unless they match Private Sector remuneration packages.
There are many many good people who are waiting in the wings to join the Public Sector Top Management teams – if given a chance in the recruitment process. Just check out who gets the Top Jobs in the Public Sector. You will find the Chief Executive of one local authority leaves his post to go to another local authority in another area. They recruit like for like. The recruitment agencies have a blinkered mindset – they cannot think outside the box.
RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Have you ever wondered why it is that we have so many bad, incompetent, poor managers at the head of so many of our Public Bodies?
Have you ever considered why they slip through the recruitment process that is supposed to be so rigerous and thorough ? I have.
Here are some suggestions to improve the recuitment process.
q Stop the mindset that a PhD is better than a BA .
q Stop the mindset that a University Degree holder is better than a student who did not go to University but had A Grades at Advanced Level or has a Vocational Qualification.
q Start examining more Emotional Intelligence rather than Academic or IQ intelligence. I am sure that the candidate with Emotional Intelligence – with good interpersonal skills, will often prove to be the better Manager.
q Stop sifting candidates in the first round by age. I know it goes on because I have seen it at first hand.
q Stop ticking the boxes – meaning – stop eliminating candidates who have not had experience in the exact job industry. We need a change in mindset within Public Bodies and a candidate from outside of the box can bring a breath of fresh air into the position.
EVOLUTION OR REVOLUTION
These radical suggestions in management thinking need to evolve over the next few years. Why not try an experiement ? Identify a few Public Bodies where these radical changes can be experimented with. Think of it like testing a new drug. You need trials to be certain the new drug works. I think that it will work and Britain and maybe the World will be a better place.
Nothing will ever change for the better unless we have the creative spirit to at least try and experiment.
Perhaps the World Financial Crisis has given us the chance to make radical changes. Will the Government – whoever wins the General Election 2010 – be brave enough to try ? If they do, Britain will be a better place and the reduction in the costs of our Public Bodies will make a major contribution to the early reduction on our debt.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
SUMMARY OF ACHIEVEMENTS TO 2015 - RAY WILLIAMS MA MPhil MBA
RAY WILLIAMS MA MPHIL MBA
SUMMARY OF ACHIEVEMENTS
Chief Executive – Ofrex, BOC Medishield, Camping Gaz – 25 years successful experience UK & International. Each company became Market Leader in the UK.
Management Consultant, Enterprise Adviser, Business Adviser – DTI & Business Link – 12 years experience in SME sector across a wide range of Industry areas.
30 years experience at Board Level. Multi-million pound budget experience Global Healthcare Industry.
Vice - Chairman COLA Trade Association. Member General Council LPGITA.
Director SAME – Society for the Advancement of Medical Engineering. Currently,
Chairman - Executive Committee of Wycombe 50 Plus Leisure & Sports Club.
Chairman - Wycombe Sports Centre - Customer Panel
Chairman - Parliamentary Liaison Committee, National Trade Association.
MA Degree – Strategic Management – Brunel University
MPhil Degree – Consumer Research Leisure Industry – Lancaster University
MBA Degree – General Management – Henley Business School
Diploma in Marketing – Chartered Institute of Marketing
Diploma in Management Studies – British Institute of Management
Advanced Management Course – Harvard Business School
Government Certificate of Achievement in the Practice of Business Management
Languages – Advanced Certificate in French – London Chamber of Commerce
Basic Spanish. Certificate in Environmental Studies.
National Awards – National Marketing Award For An Outstanding Achievement in British Marketing
Business Adviser of the Year Finalist Thames & Solent
Gold Microphone Award For Best Radio Advertising Campaign In Britain
Institute of Marketing Scholarship Winner to USA
National First Prize Winner – Marketing, CIM
National First Prize Winner – Market Research -CIM
Current Activities - Composer of - THE WILD FLOWERS CONCERTO - A Tribute to the Wild Flowers of London Olympic Park and RIA CONCHITA THE MUSICAL - all available on YouTube and iTunes , Amazon, Virgin Megastores, Google Play, Spotify world wide. Author - see www.eurekys.blogspot.co.uk
EUREKYS - Music - Film & TV Scripts - Literature.
Part-time Chairman of Moorcroft Productions Limited Chief Exeeutive of Eurekys Management Consultants. Chairman Wycombe Sports Centre Customer Panel.
Other experiences – Tutor Open University for MBA Degree students
Lecturer in Management – Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College.
Seminar Leader on Marketing for Business Link & CIM
Trustee of Corporate Pension Funds ( Ofrex Group ; Camping Gaz )..
Sponsors - Operatic Prize - National Eisteddfod of Wales 2013.
Voluntary Work
Chairman - Wycombe Sports Centre User Panel
Past Chairman - Wycombe 50 Plus Club
Life Member - College of Saint George Windsor Castle
Volunteer - Wycombe Swan Theatre
Business Skills – Marketing, Finance, IT & Human Resources, General Management
SUMMARY OF ACHIEVEMENTS
Chief Executive – Ofrex, BOC Medishield, Camping Gaz – 25 years successful experience UK & International. Each company became Market Leader in the UK.
Management Consultant, Enterprise Adviser, Business Adviser – DTI & Business Link – 12 years experience in SME sector across a wide range of Industry areas.
30 years experience at Board Level. Multi-million pound budget experience Global Healthcare Industry.
Vice - Chairman COLA Trade Association. Member General Council LPGITA.
Director SAME – Society for the Advancement of Medical Engineering. Currently,
Chairman - Executive Committee of Wycombe 50 Plus Leisure & Sports Club.
Chairman - Wycombe Sports Centre - Customer Panel
Chairman - Parliamentary Liaison Committee, National Trade Association.
MA Degree – Strategic Management – Brunel University
MPhil Degree – Consumer Research Leisure Industry – Lancaster University
MBA Degree – General Management – Henley Business School
Diploma in Marketing – Chartered Institute of Marketing
Diploma in Management Studies – British Institute of Management
Advanced Management Course – Harvard Business School
Government Certificate of Achievement in the Practice of Business Management
Languages – Advanced Certificate in French – London Chamber of Commerce
Basic Spanish. Certificate in Environmental Studies.
National Awards – National Marketing Award For An Outstanding Achievement in British Marketing
Business Adviser of the Year Finalist Thames & Solent
Gold Microphone Award For Best Radio Advertising Campaign In Britain
Institute of Marketing Scholarship Winner to USA
National First Prize Winner – Marketing, CIM
National First Prize Winner – Market Research -CIM
Current Activities - Composer of - THE WILD FLOWERS CONCERTO - A Tribute to the Wild Flowers of London Olympic Park and RIA CONCHITA THE MUSICAL - all available on YouTube and iTunes , Amazon, Virgin Megastores, Google Play, Spotify world wide. Author - see www.eurekys.blogspot.co.uk
EUREKYS - Music - Film & TV Scripts - Literature.
Part-time Chairman of Moorcroft Productions Limited Chief Exeeutive of Eurekys Management Consultants. Chairman Wycombe Sports Centre Customer Panel.
Other experiences – Tutor Open University for MBA Degree students
Lecturer in Management – Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College.
Seminar Leader on Marketing for Business Link & CIM
Trustee of Corporate Pension Funds ( Ofrex Group ; Camping Gaz )..
Sponsors - Operatic Prize - National Eisteddfod of Wales 2013.
Voluntary Work
Chairman - Wycombe Sports Centre User Panel
Past Chairman - Wycombe 50 Plus Club
Life Member - College of Saint George Windsor Castle
Volunteer - Wycombe Swan Theatre
Business Skills – Marketing, Finance, IT & Human Resources, General Management
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
A SON’S PILGRIMAGE TO RAF LANGAR
WORLD WAR TWO LANCASTER BOMBER AIRFIELD
My father was Flight Engineer Arthur Haydn Davies VR of 207 Squadron RAF who served at Bottesford, Langar and Spilsby in WW2. He was killed on the 18 October 1943 in his first flight from Spilsby when his Lancaster EM-L was shot down over Hannover. Only the rear gunner survived.
On Sunday 26 July and Monday 27 July 2009 my wife and I visited RAF Langar on the Leicestershire Nottinghamshire border to see where my father aged 26 had spent the last few weeks of his life.
I had read the book by Barry Goodwin and Raymond Glynne-Owen about RAF Langar. In it, they say that the Plough Inn at Strathern a village near Langar was popular with the Lancaster Bombers air crew so we made the Plough our first stop for lunch. It was smaller than I expected and it lacked any memorabilia about 207 Squadron. However, the current owner had purchased a copy of the Goodwin Glynne Owen book and we were able to have a chat about the role of the Plough during the days of WW2.
From the Plough we decided to book into our hotel which was Langar Hall, an up market country house in the village of Langar. In the 18th Century it used to be the home of Admiral Howe. It is now owned by Imagen, a delightful lady who knew a lot about RAF Langar. She told us that as a little girl she lived at Langar Hall and that she remembers the noise that the Lancasters made as they flew over the house. She said that she felt safe and that they were protected by the Lancasters. The house remained a private residence throughout the War and the RAF never billeted anyone at the house. In those days the house did not have a restaurant and therefore there were no visitors from 207 Squadron personnel.
Next to Langar Hall was the church of Saint Andrews which dates back to the 12th century. We went insde and saw the little plaque commemorating 207 Squadron at Langar. The Book of Remembrance was open at the page of EM-W whose crew were killed on the 17 July 1943..
We drove the short journey to Langar Airfield. The British Parachute Association use the airfield regularly and a very nice man showed us around the Control Tower. It had many extentions since WW2 and we were very surprised how small in area the original parts of the Control Tower were during the time 207 wre operational there. In the ground level room the wall is covered with photos of 207 Squadron aircraft and aircrew. There was also a very interesting Information Sheet about 207 Squadron. The airfield all looks so peaceful today. I imagined what it was really like during the dark days of 1942 qnd 1943.
As we left the airfield we paid our respects at the Memorial stone to those who lost their lives whilst serving at Langar.
We returned to Langar village and had a drink in another popular pub for 207 Squadron – The Unicorn’s Head. Much to my delight, there were pictures in the bar arear about 207 Squadron – including a photo of EM-W which with my father’s Lancaster was one of two Lancasters lost on the first raid on Hannover from Spilsby.
We had a great dinner at the Langar Hall in the evening and I made it a celebration and a tribute to my father and those like him who made it possible for me and my wife to have the freedom to enjoy our lives and have such a lovely family of children and grandchildren.
We took some time to tour the Vale of Belvoir and saw Belvoir Castle perched on top of a hill. We imagined the Laacaster pilots using the castle as a marker and the Grantham Canal as they returned home from a bombing raid. Bottesford Airfield is nearby and many other wartime airfields and I wondered how the crews picked out the right airfield to land in the dark.
After 66 years I still miss not having a father to see me grow up and I feel so sorry that he never saw his grandchildren and great grandchildren. My brother Jeffrey was only 9 months old when my father was killed. However, if it were not for the brave young men of 207 Squadron and their like and the Nazis had won the War, what kind of lives would we have lived – if indeed we did live under the brutal Nazi regime.
Thank you 207 Squadron, thank you for your courage, thank you for your skills. Thank you for our freedom. In 2009, your efforts are not forgotten and never will be forgotten.
WORLD WAR TWO LANCASTER BOMBER AIRFIELD
My father was Flight Engineer Arthur Haydn Davies VR of 207 Squadron RAF who served at Bottesford, Langar and Spilsby in WW2. He was killed on the 18 October 1943 in his first flight from Spilsby when his Lancaster EM-L was shot down over Hannover. Only the rear gunner survived.
On Sunday 26 July and Monday 27 July 2009 my wife and I visited RAF Langar on the Leicestershire Nottinghamshire border to see where my father aged 26 had spent the last few weeks of his life.
I had read the book by Barry Goodwin and Raymond Glynne-Owen about RAF Langar. In it, they say that the Plough Inn at Strathern a village near Langar was popular with the Lancaster Bombers air crew so we made the Plough our first stop for lunch. It was smaller than I expected and it lacked any memorabilia about 207 Squadron. However, the current owner had purchased a copy of the Goodwin Glynne Owen book and we were able to have a chat about the role of the Plough during the days of WW2.
From the Plough we decided to book into our hotel which was Langar Hall, an up market country house in the village of Langar. In the 18th Century it used to be the home of Admiral Howe. It is now owned by Imagen, a delightful lady who knew a lot about RAF Langar. She told us that as a little girl she lived at Langar Hall and that she remembers the noise that the Lancasters made as they flew over the house. She said that she felt safe and that they were protected by the Lancasters. The house remained a private residence throughout the War and the RAF never billeted anyone at the house. In those days the house did not have a restaurant and therefore there were no visitors from 207 Squadron personnel.
Next to Langar Hall was the church of Saint Andrews which dates back to the 12th century. We went insde and saw the little plaque commemorating 207 Squadron at Langar. The Book of Remembrance was open at the page of EM-W whose crew were killed on the 17 July 1943..
We drove the short journey to Langar Airfield. The British Parachute Association use the airfield regularly and a very nice man showed us around the Control Tower. It had many extentions since WW2 and we were very surprised how small in area the original parts of the Control Tower were during the time 207 wre operational there. In the ground level room the wall is covered with photos of 207 Squadron aircraft and aircrew. There was also a very interesting Information Sheet about 207 Squadron. The airfield all looks so peaceful today. I imagined what it was really like during the dark days of 1942 qnd 1943.
As we left the airfield we paid our respects at the Memorial stone to those who lost their lives whilst serving at Langar.
We returned to Langar village and had a drink in another popular pub for 207 Squadron – The Unicorn’s Head. Much to my delight, there were pictures in the bar arear about 207 Squadron – including a photo of EM-W which with my father’s Lancaster was one of two Lancasters lost on the first raid on Hannover from Spilsby.
We had a great dinner at the Langar Hall in the evening and I made it a celebration and a tribute to my father and those like him who made it possible for me and my wife to have the freedom to enjoy our lives and have such a lovely family of children and grandchildren.
We took some time to tour the Vale of Belvoir and saw Belvoir Castle perched on top of a hill. We imagined the Laacaster pilots using the castle as a marker and the Grantham Canal as they returned home from a bombing raid. Bottesford Airfield is nearby and many other wartime airfields and I wondered how the crews picked out the right airfield to land in the dark.
After 66 years I still miss not having a father to see me grow up and I feel so sorry that he never saw his grandchildren and great grandchildren. My brother Jeffrey was only 9 months old when my father was killed. However, if it were not for the brave young men of 207 Squadron and their like and the Nazis had won the War, what kind of lives would we have lived – if indeed we did live under the brutal Nazi regime.
Thank you 207 Squadron, thank you for your courage, thank you for your skills. Thank you for our freedom. In 2009, your efforts are not forgotten and never will be forgotten.
Saturday, 6 March 2010
ENCOUNTERS WITH THE FAMOUS
During my lifetime, I have had the pleasure of meeting many famous people. This is a glimpse of my Encounters with the Famous, stretching over a period in time from the 1940s to the early 21st Century.
My first experience of meeting a famous person occurred during World War 2 in Swansea, South Wales where I lived with my mother and grandparents – my father was away serving in the RAF with Bomber Command in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
My grandmother, Annie Woodman used to rent out some rooms in her large house in Swansea to visiting artists from the Swansea Empire Variety Theatre. One of the first artists that I remember meeting was Billy Cotton Senior who toured with his band. His famous slogan was Wakey Wakey. Many years later, his son Billy Cotton Junior became Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC until he retired. The lead singer in the Billy Cotton band was Alan Breeze. He used to give an impromptu performance in the living room of my grandmother’s house on a Sunday evening – my mother playing the piano for him. Sometimes neighbours would be invited to hear Alan Breeze sing. I remember Alan signing my autograph book.
The Ganjo brothers who were Russian acrobats used to stay at our house and they too signed my autograph book. Later, the Ganjo Brothers became more famous as London Theatre impressarios. Sid Field the comedian was another guest and I remember him signing my autograph book with the words Stick to your piano Ray. Even though at the time I was only 7 years old, I was beginning to show promise as a pianist. We used to get complimentary tickets to go to the Empire Theatre and many an artist during the performance would shout out Look, there is my landlady Mrs Woodman up in the circle and they would make some joke about landladies.
After the war, I went to Dynevor Grammar School in Swansea. I was a good rugby player and I played for the School 1st XV and Swansea Schoolboys XV.
Each year Dynevor used to play the Old Boys XV. In the mid 1950s, I had to mark Horace Phillips who played on the wing for the Wales XV. I remember how fast he was – he scored a couple of tries but I did manage to tackle hime a few times.
In 1953 I was the only player from Swansea Schoolboys XV to be chosen for the trial for Wales. The match took place in pouring rain at Ammanford West Wales. I played on the wing and in the centre on the opposing team, played – Cyril Davies who later played for the senior Wales team. My encounter with Cyril Davies was when I tackled him as he was about to score a try – and he broke a rib in the process. So, not all encounters have happy outcomes.
Our doctor in Swansea was a well known Wales rugby international W. O. Williams. He was a well built tall man with a very pleasant personality.
My sporting encounters continued in the 1960s when we lived in Cwmbwrla a suburb of Swansea. My step father Bryn knew the family of John Charles and Mel Charles who became two of the most famous players to play for Wales – and Swansea, Arsenal, Juventus and Leeds to mention just a few of the clubs. John and Mel used to play around at Cwmbwrla Park and later they would call in to our house in Stepney Street for some tea. I remember meeting them on numerous occasions. They were very tall and happy young men and they loved joking with us. My step father seemed to know everyone in the Cwmbwrla area including the grandmother of Catherine Zeta Jones who later became a very famous Hollywood actress married to Michael Douglas.
Harry Secombe was an old boy of Dynevor School and he used to visit us often at the school. When I was in the Lower Sixth form, I organised a school dance for the 4 grammar schools in Swansea – 2 boys schools and 2 girls schools. It was a great success and out of the proceeds, I bought a large silver trophy which I presented to the Headmaster to be used in The Harry Secombe Sports Day at the school.
It was in 1961 that I had my encounter with a mega Hollywood star in Los Angeles.
I had won the Institute of Marketing scholarship to study American Marketing techniques in the USA. During my visit to the USA, I went to Los Angeles with some of my colleagues from Philips Electronic Industries in North America. The company supplied lighting and sound equipment to MGM studios in Los Angeles. One evening we were invited out to dinner by George Pal who was at the time one of Hollywoods top Film Producers. George Pal took us to a restaurant called Luau’s – a polynesian restaurant. I remember the surprise that I had when I noticed sitting on the table next to us was Zaa Zaa Gabor, who was already famous in 1961. George Pal noticed my look of amazement and he asked me if I would like to meet Zaa Zaa. He introduced me to her and she very kindly invited me to join her at her table. I asked her How are your sisters ? She talked to me about Eva and Magda Gabor and also told me that she had been that day to see her daughter in the convent school – her daughter by Conrad Hilton. She asked me about my trip to the USA. She was as attractive as ever, smiling all the time and a very delightful person. She autographed the menu for me and wished me well.The next day George Pal arranged for me to have a personal tour of the MGM studios including a visit to the set of Bonanza, which was a very well know TV series.
Whilst collating data for my Thesis on American Marketing Techniques, I met Ed Weiss who was at the Doyle Dane and Bernbach advertising agency in New York. Ed Weiss at the time was one of America’s top marketing gurus. He was involved with the classic advertising campaign for the Volkswaggon beetle car in the 1960s. – one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time. I met Ed Weiss in his office in New York. He was very helpful to me and he gave me a full catalogue of photos about the Volkswaggon campaign. Whilst in New York, I studied Colour Television developments and I met a number of top executives at NBC studios.
In 1967 I was studying at the Harvard Business School in Boston. During my stay at Harvard I had the pleasure of meeting the Dean of the Harvard Business School, The British Consul in New York, Ed Burske Editor of the Harvard Business Revue and Professor Theodore Levitt, famous for his ground breaking book Marketing Myopia.
In 1968, I was back in North America as the guest of the Government of Ontario as part of a trade mission to Canada. On my return trip from Toronto to London, I had my next dramatic encounter but this time with the infamous.
I had boarded a British Airways plane in Toronto which was supposed to be a non stop flight to London Heathrow. To my surprise, the plane landed at Montreal. No passenger got off the plane. After a while, Canadian Mounted Police entered the cabin followed by 3 men. The cabin staff showed the 3 men to the seats immediately in front of me. A man sat in the middle seat handcuffed to the other 2 men. The man was Charles Wilson the infamous Great Train Robber. He had been caught in Toronto and he was being escorted back to the UK by 2 detectives from Scotland Yard.
I had a very clear view of Charles Wilson. He was smiling and joking most of the time.
He was concerned that his wife would be looked after.
The plane was diverted to Prestwick in Scotland. A number of press reporters boarded the plane at Prestwick including the main tabloid papers. The press kept asking many questions to Charles Wilson and he did not get much rest between Prestwick and London where more reporters and television cameras greeted us as we disembarked from the flight at Heathrow. The next day when I arose from bed, I picked up the Daily Express and the whole of the front page was covered with a photo of Charles Wilson, the 2 detectives and me taken in our seats on the plane. The first and only time I hit the front page of a national newspaper.
Whilst I was the Chief Executive of Ofrex Limited ( 1968-1972 ) I used to sponsor the England Women’s Cricket Team. Rachel Heyhoe used to be the Captain of the team. I used to provide the team with bags, equipment and other gear for their international tours. I remember that on the eve of the team’s departure to tour Australia, Rachel Heyhoe ( later Rachel Heyhoe-Flint, famous as a BBC presenter and President of a Cancer Charity ) invited me to a farewell cocktail party at a venue near Piccadilly London. I was very pleased to meet the famous England Cricketer Sir Len Hutton. I had a photo taken with Rachel and Len Hutton. He was a most charming and modest man – considering he had been one of England’s most prolific run scorers in history up to that point in time. He had played against all the main cricket nations and he had scored many record breaking centuries. I also met Dennis Compton at the Saints and Sinners Club dinner at the Savoy Hotel London.
At Ofrex, we negotiated a deal with Technicolor Corporation to sell their Super 8 cameras in the UK. Market. . We had a meeting at Ofrex House London with another famous personality – Harry Saltzman producer of The James Bond films with George Drexler multi-millionaire owner of Ofrex. It all ended happily and we signed the deal.
During the period 1972-1974 I was a founding Director of the Medishield Corporation of BOC. I was the Deputy Managing Director and Controller of all the medical businesses of BOC. One day I got a call from ny boss asking me to go to Olympia Exhibition Hall where the BOC Medical stand were expecting a visit from HRH The Prince Philip. Of course, I took a taxi there straight away. I had the pleasure of greeting HRH The Prince Philip to the stand. And I had a photo taken with him.
Some weeks later, I was assigned the task of greeting The Prime Minister of Antigua to Hammersmith House London which was the Headquarters of BOC. After greeting the Prime Minister and his aid, I entertained them to lunch in the private executive dining room. During the lunchtime conversation, the Prime Minister told me that he wanted to establish an holiday air link between the UK and Antigua. He had heard about Sir Freddy Laker and his low cost airline Laker Airways. By coincidence, my Personnel Manager at Ofrex was a personal friend of Sir Freddie Laker. I offered to make the contact for the Prime Minister. He agreed and I telephoned my contact in Ofrex, explained the opportunity for Laker Airways and asked her if she would contact Sir Freddy Laker. She did make contact with Sir Freddy Laker who arranged to meet with the Prime Minister.
During my time at BOC I met many famous people in the medical profession including Professor Jimmy Payne of the Royal Collage of Surgeons – he was at the time Head of Anaethesia at the College. I had lunch with Professor Robson of Hammersmith Hospital and met most of the top doctors in the world specialising in anaethesia – I spent some time at the University of Chicago Hospital observing Programmed Anaethesia. Professor Paine, Professor Robson and myself were the judges for the BOC Fellowship in Anaethesia – the first award going to Doctor Kumagai from Sopporo University Japan.
I went to Saint James' Palace for a reception with the Bath Society and shook hands with Sir Barnes Wallis, the investor of the bouncing bomb in WW2 for the famous Dam Busters Raid on Germany.
During the period 1974-1986 I was the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Camping Gaz
( GB ) Limited based in Windsor. It was a period of intense encounters with the famous.
I remember on one occasion during a visit to the head Office of ADG the parent company, my colleagues and I had dinner at La Coupe Choux restaurant on the left bank in Paris. It was an old building converted into a very classy restaurant. Dining there also were the Rolling Stones pop band who were already very famous worldwide. I met Mick Jagger – he had studied at the London School of Economics like myself and I met Susan George the actress who was dining with the Rolling Stones that evening..
We waited together as a group outside the restaurant for a taxi. I chatted to Susan George about Maidenhead where she lived. When a taxi arrived, we offered the Rolling Stones the first choice of a taxi and off they went. It was a fun encounter because we had all drunk a lot of french wine !
On another occasion in Paris, I had lunch at the offices of our advertising agency Havas. Sitting next to me was a very fine lady whose name was Madame Hervet. During the lunchtime conversation, I noticed that she had a lovely gold medallion necklace. I asked her where she had got this lovely necklace. She replied Your Queen Elizabeth gave that to me. I asked her why the Queen had given the medallion to her ? She replied For my services to your Duke and Duchess of Windsor whom I worked for as a Personal Assistant for many years. She then asked me where my colleague and I were going to dine that evening.? I told her that we had not decided yet. She suggested that we dine at the Tour D’Argent a famous restaurant on the left bank. Later she very kindly booked a table for us. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were shown to the special table overlooking the Seine where royalty and special guests usually sat. We looked out at Notre Damne Cathedral. Madame Hervet had fixed it for us at the Tour D’Argent.
One day at the National Sports Centre Gym at Bisham I was on the bicycle when Clive Richard sat on the bike next to me. I started to hum...We are all going on a summer holiday. He laughed.
Another time at Bisham, I was on the rowing machine. Suddenly, Sir Steve Redgrave 5 times Olympic Gold Medal Winner from Marlow sat on the rowing machine next to me. Before he could get going fast, I increased my stroke rate and over 1 kilometre, I won. Yest, I beat the World Champion! hahahaha.
There was another fun encounter with the famous when I attended the Harrogate Trade Show one year. We were staying at the White Swan Hotel where they were filming scenes for the film Agatha – about that time when the author Agatha Christe disappeared. As we returned to the hotel from the Show, they were filming in the reception area. There was Dustin Hoffman standing by the reception desk. My colleague rather boldly said to Dustin Hoffman Dustin, I would like you to meet Ray Williams. Dustin responded by saying hello to me and asking me what I did – and we chatted until he was summoned for the next scene.
I met also Vanessa Redgrave at The Swan Hotel. She was playing the part of Agatha in the film. She was so friendly, humorous and a delight to meet.
At the Harrogate Trade Show I met Chris Bonnington the Mountaineer and Sebastian Coe.
I was at a concert in the BIC at Bournemouth when Cilla Black picked me out of the audience with the words - Living proof that Grecian 2000 does not always work ! She spotted my grey hair.
In 1953 as a young boy I had seen the film of The Conquest of Mount Everest and Edmund Hillary standing proudly on the top of Mount Everest. Whilst at the Harrogate Trade Show, I had the great honour to meet on a few occasions Sir Edmund Hillary. I presented him with a Camping Gaz cooking stove and he gave me a picture print of Mount Everest
More recently in 2015, I met the famous Ria Jones who has starred as Leading lady in many West End Shows and her brother Ceri Dupree. I had lunch with Ria in London. Her mother Avril was my school friend in Swansea.
In 2016 my sons Michael and Stephen had lunch with Ivan Gazidis Chief Executive of Arsenal Football Club. Michael and Ivan had played football together when they were schoolboys. I drove then both to matches over a 2 year period,
I met TV star Suzanne Shaw at The Pride of Buckinghamshire Awards.Our Club Wycombe 50 Plus Club won an Award. The event was held at the Stoke Park Hotel at Stoke Poges.
In June my wife and I were invited to the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. We saw most of the Royal Family but we never met any !
In March 2016, The Duke of Kent cousin of The Queen and Grand Master of The Masonic Movement of England visited High Wycombe to officially open The New Wycombe Sports Centre.
As Chairman of the User Panel, I was presented to The Duke of Kent. I also met Sir Steve Redgrave 5 times Olympic Gold Medalist who was currently Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire for the second time.
Met Richard Hardman of the Daily Mail. He is one of their top journalists. He is going to write a Feature Article about solving the 73 years mystery of what happened to Lancaster Bomber EM-L and my Father on the 18 October 1943.Our Family might even appear in a Documentary in 2018 about the 75 years old RAF and the Lincoln Memorial,
Met up for lunch in 2016 with Nicky Barr Director of RAF Bomber Command Lincoln Memorial. Discussed my 45 page Dossier about the fate of my father in Lancaster EM-L in WW2.
She likes the story and it will be included in the Archives at Lincoln. I have become an Ambassador for Bomber Command in Buckinghamshire.
During our visit to Hannover in September 2016 we met the family of Baron Manfred von Richtofen who shot down 80 British planes in WW1 before in 1918 he too was shot down near Amien France by a British plane.
Following the publication of the Daily Mail article, my brother Jeff and I have appeared on British Forces Radio to 23 countries and The Nick Coffer Show on BBC 3 Counties Radio.Forces Radio
lunch in London Ria Jones daughter of my school friend Averil Thomas Jones. She said my music compositions was " Terrfic." Ria Jones is a famous singer and has played the Lead Roles in - Evita, Cats, Sunset Boulevard and many more successful Musicals in the West End. We dined at Bills Restaurant.
t. He was one of the nicest men I have ever met – very modest and full of fun.I was the Vice- Chairman of COLA – the Camping and Outdoor Leisure Association. I was also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Liaison Committee. As as result, I visited the House of Commons a few times. We appointed Sir John West MP for Maidstone as our liaison consultant. I had many meetings with Sir John and lunch in the Members dining room at the Houes of Commons. Sir John served the Industry proud.Each year, I was the guest of Paddy Moloney, Editor of the Camping and Sports Equipment News at the Savoy Hotel London for the Annual Dinner of the Saints and Sinners Club. It was at these dinners that I encounterd many famous celebrities. They included, Giles the cartoonist, Lord Tonypandy the Speaker of the House of Commons, Cliff Morgan the famous Wales scrum half, Dennis Compton the England cricketer, Terry Waite – on the Christmas before he was kidnapped by terrorists, Dennis Thatcher, Barry Cryer the television scriptwriter and many more.One year I was invited to the Ministers Dinner at Greenwich. We had to board a boat at Westminster Pier. Who should join us that evening was no other than William Whitelaw and other members of the Margaret Thatcher cabinet.I met another politician when we were awarded The Marketing Award of Great Britain at The Hilton Hotel London. Sir Keith Joseph, Minister in the Thatcher Cabinet greeted me and presented me with the National Marketing Award. I sat on the top table with him and noticed that he only ate a boiled egg for lunch – he was a sick man at the time.Probably one of the memorable encounters was during the 1990s with Dr James Colthurst. I was studying at Henley Management College for an MBA degree and Dr Janes Colthurst was one of my student colleagues.James and I used to chat a lot over a beer in the bar at Henley or in the main lounge.He used to say to me that he has just had afternoon tea with Diana. I would enquire – Who is Diana ? I was so surprised when he would reply – Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in London. How do you know Princess Diana I would ask ?He told me that Princess Diana was a close friend of his whom he had known for some time. He said that he would go often to see Princess Diana at Kensington Palace – he was her best friend and she would telephone him ate at night on a range of matters. James never told me what they had discussed and he was very discreet.Years went by and one day I read about a rumour that the Private Secretary to Diana was likely to resign. I wrote a nice letter to Princess Diana offering my services to her as Private Secretary. I received a very nice leter back from Princess Diana on letterheaded paper of The Household of The Prince and Princess of Wales. She thanked me for my enquiry but she did not want to do anything at that stage – but she would keep my papers on file. So, I did not meet Princess Diana but I met her close confidant.What a confidant Dr James Colthurrst turned out to be. Later in the 1990s all the main Bristish newspapers had front page news about Dr James Colthurst. He turned out to be the man whom Diana invited to record her views on the breakup of her marriage from Prince Charles. James would go to Kensington Palace to interview Diana and record her thoughts with her full agreement. The tapes were then given to Andrew Morton who later wrote books about Priness Diana. James Colthurst probably knew more of the truth about Diana than anyone else in the world.My father was in the RAF during World War 2 and he flew Lancaster bombers of 207 Squadron based at Bottersford, Langar and Spilsby. There are 2 encounters connected to the RAF that I remember well. One was when I met Sir Barnes Wallis the inventor of the Bouncing Bomb which was used by Bomber Command to blow a hole in the dams in the Ruhr Valley of Germany in WW2. I met Sir Barnes at Saint James’s Palace London at the Bath Society event which was also attended by the Duke and Duchess of Kent. He was a slim built man, very modest and polite. It was a great honour to meet such a famous man from WW2.Once I reached the Final Shortlist for the position as Chief Executive of The MacMillan Cancer Relief charity. I met Jonny Johnson who was a Spitfire ace in the Battle of Britain in 1940. His face was badly scarred as a result of the burns he received in his encounters with the German Lufftwaffe. He was a slimly built man, very polite and it was an honour to meet him.The other encounter linked to WW2 and the RAF was my encounter with Lady Ryder of The Ryder Homes for the Disabled and wife of the late Sir Leonard Cheshire of the Cheshire Homes. Leonard Cheshire had commanded Group 5 Bomber Command in WW2 and he was the overall Boss for my father’s 207 Squadron. The encounter was in the 1990s when I was running my own Management Consultancy Business called Eurekys Management Consultants. I wrote to Lady Ryder offering my services to her. She replied and asked me if I would accompany her and her architect to Lourdes in France where she wanted my advice on whether or not to invest in a property to open a Sue Ryder Home for the disabled in Lourdes. So, I travelled to Lourdes with her, we met the Mayor of Lourdes and other leading people, we visited the property which was on the market for £5 million. I prayed with Lady Ryder at the Grotto of Saint Bernadette at Lourdes. Shes asked me what did I think. I replied – Yes, go for it.Lady Ryder did go for it and today at Lourdes there is a Sue Ryder Home.It is a amazing to me that all those years ago my father at 26 was flying a Lancaster Bomber over Germany and 50 years later his son was flying to Lourdes with the wife of his Commander-in-Chief.Ther are 2 humourous encounters that need to be mentioned. Dana the Irish Singer had won the European Song Contest. She was singing at Bailey’s Night Club in Watford and I was there with some friends. During her performance, the spotlight fell on me and Dana came down from the stage and started singing a love song to me. I was so embarassed. She took hold of my hand and led me onto the stage. She then got me to help sing a duet with her. I sent her a bouquet of flowers the next day.On another occasion, at the Bournemouth International Centre, I was attending a variety show in which Cilla Black was singing. Suddenly, a spotlight fell on me and Cilla asked me a few questions like where are you from luv and said You see, living proof that Grecian 2000 does not work – yes, I had grey hair.Sir Steve Redgrave won 5 Gold Medals for rowing at 5 consecutive Olympic Games. He lives in Marlow. One day I was on the rowing machine at Bisham Abbey Sports Centre near Marlow. I was taking part in a rowing the Thames competition – one would row each day on the machine and plot a journey down the Thames on a board. One day, I was surprised to see Sir Steve Redgrave rowing on the machine next to me. Suddenly, I increased my stroke rate and for a time I out rowed Steve. So, to his day I claim to have beaten Sir Steve Redgrave at rowing. Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it. My friend and colleague on the Master of Arts course at Brunel University was Jeff Hucknall. He became the Chief Executive of The National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey. He knew most of the famous sports people who visited Bisham Abbey. I met a few including Tim Henman British Number 1 tennis player and 4 times Wimbledon Semi-Finalist and Tony Adams, Arsenal Captain and England footballer. They were often in the upstairs bar at Bisham Abbey after a training session – drinking water of course..In the same gym at Bisham , I was, on another day, on the cycling machine when Sir Cliff Richards sat on the cycle next to me. I said Hello and I could not resist humming the tune – We’re all going on a summer holiday. Yes, he was amused.I have had 2 famous neighbours when I lived in Beaconsfield. One was Tony Palmer who became the Chairman of Taylor Woodrow, leading builders in the UK. I became very friendly with him and his family. The other one was David Morritt who was Chairman of Morritt Homes and Chairman of Wealdstone FC. I was with him at Wembley Stadium the day that Wealdstone won the FA Trophy and completed the double – they were Champions of the Conference League.Finally, I have happy memories of meeting the Captain of the QE2 ship, Captain Warren when it was very new in 1971 on the cruise to Senegal, Portugal and the Canary Islands and later in 1998 meeting his son, Captain Warren Junior during the cruise to Colombia, Panama Canal, Mexico and California
They say that Life is a game of chance. For me, this has certainly been the case. I have been luck to meet so many interesting famous people over many years.
So, that is it up to now in 2008. What next I wonder ? Well, here we are in 2011 and my wife and I are at the Queens Club London for the Aegon Tennis Championships. I was walking along one of the corridors and I came face to face with Andy Murray Number 1 Tennis Player in Britain and Number 4 in the World. He had just returned from Paris where he had lost to Rafa Nadal in the Semi Final of the French Open. I say Hello Andy and asked him for his autograph. He signed my tennis bag. I patted him on the back and said Well done Andy. He then went on his way followed by a hoard of admirers.
My first experience of meeting a famous person occurred during World War 2 in Swansea, South Wales where I lived with my mother and grandparents – my father was away serving in the RAF with Bomber Command in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
My grandmother, Annie Woodman used to rent out some rooms in her large house in Swansea to visiting artists from the Swansea Empire Variety Theatre. One of the first artists that I remember meeting was Billy Cotton Senior who toured with his band. His famous slogan was Wakey Wakey. Many years later, his son Billy Cotton Junior became Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC until he retired. The lead singer in the Billy Cotton band was Alan Breeze. He used to give an impromptu performance in the living room of my grandmother’s house on a Sunday evening – my mother playing the piano for him. Sometimes neighbours would be invited to hear Alan Breeze sing. I remember Alan signing my autograph book.
The Ganjo brothers who were Russian acrobats used to stay at our house and they too signed my autograph book. Later, the Ganjo Brothers became more famous as London Theatre impressarios. Sid Field the comedian was another guest and I remember him signing my autograph book with the words Stick to your piano Ray. Even though at the time I was only 7 years old, I was beginning to show promise as a pianist. We used to get complimentary tickets to go to the Empire Theatre and many an artist during the performance would shout out Look, there is my landlady Mrs Woodman up in the circle and they would make some joke about landladies.
After the war, I went to Dynevor Grammar School in Swansea. I was a good rugby player and I played for the School 1st XV and Swansea Schoolboys XV.
Each year Dynevor used to play the Old Boys XV. In the mid 1950s, I had to mark Horace Phillips who played on the wing for the Wales XV. I remember how fast he was – he scored a couple of tries but I did manage to tackle hime a few times.
In 1953 I was the only player from Swansea Schoolboys XV to be chosen for the trial for Wales. The match took place in pouring rain at Ammanford West Wales. I played on the wing and in the centre on the opposing team, played – Cyril Davies who later played for the senior Wales team. My encounter with Cyril Davies was when I tackled him as he was about to score a try – and he broke a rib in the process. So, not all encounters have happy outcomes.
Our doctor in Swansea was a well known Wales rugby international W. O. Williams. He was a well built tall man with a very pleasant personality.
My sporting encounters continued in the 1960s when we lived in Cwmbwrla a suburb of Swansea. My step father Bryn knew the family of John Charles and Mel Charles who became two of the most famous players to play for Wales – and Swansea, Arsenal, Juventus and Leeds to mention just a few of the clubs. John and Mel used to play around at Cwmbwrla Park and later they would call in to our house in Stepney Street for some tea. I remember meeting them on numerous occasions. They were very tall and happy young men and they loved joking with us. My step father seemed to know everyone in the Cwmbwrla area including the grandmother of Catherine Zeta Jones who later became a very famous Hollywood actress married to Michael Douglas.
Harry Secombe was an old boy of Dynevor School and he used to visit us often at the school. When I was in the Lower Sixth form, I organised a school dance for the 4 grammar schools in Swansea – 2 boys schools and 2 girls schools. It was a great success and out of the proceeds, I bought a large silver trophy which I presented to the Headmaster to be used in The Harry Secombe Sports Day at the school.
It was in 1961 that I had my encounter with a mega Hollywood star in Los Angeles.
I had won the Institute of Marketing scholarship to study American Marketing techniques in the USA. During my visit to the USA, I went to Los Angeles with some of my colleagues from Philips Electronic Industries in North America. The company supplied lighting and sound equipment to MGM studios in Los Angeles. One evening we were invited out to dinner by George Pal who was at the time one of Hollywoods top Film Producers. George Pal took us to a restaurant called Luau’s – a polynesian restaurant. I remember the surprise that I had when I noticed sitting on the table next to us was Zaa Zaa Gabor, who was already famous in 1961. George Pal noticed my look of amazement and he asked me if I would like to meet Zaa Zaa. He introduced me to her and she very kindly invited me to join her at her table. I asked her How are your sisters ? She talked to me about Eva and Magda Gabor and also told me that she had been that day to see her daughter in the convent school – her daughter by Conrad Hilton. She asked me about my trip to the USA. She was as attractive as ever, smiling all the time and a very delightful person. She autographed the menu for me and wished me well.The next day George Pal arranged for me to have a personal tour of the MGM studios including a visit to the set of Bonanza, which was a very well know TV series.
Whilst collating data for my Thesis on American Marketing Techniques, I met Ed Weiss who was at the Doyle Dane and Bernbach advertising agency in New York. Ed Weiss at the time was one of America’s top marketing gurus. He was involved with the classic advertising campaign for the Volkswaggon beetle car in the 1960s. – one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time. I met Ed Weiss in his office in New York. He was very helpful to me and he gave me a full catalogue of photos about the Volkswaggon campaign. Whilst in New York, I studied Colour Television developments and I met a number of top executives at NBC studios.
In 1967 I was studying at the Harvard Business School in Boston. During my stay at Harvard I had the pleasure of meeting the Dean of the Harvard Business School, The British Consul in New York, Ed Burske Editor of the Harvard Business Revue and Professor Theodore Levitt, famous for his ground breaking book Marketing Myopia.
In 1968, I was back in North America as the guest of the Government of Ontario as part of a trade mission to Canada. On my return trip from Toronto to London, I had my next dramatic encounter but this time with the infamous.
I had boarded a British Airways plane in Toronto which was supposed to be a non stop flight to London Heathrow. To my surprise, the plane landed at Montreal. No passenger got off the plane. After a while, Canadian Mounted Police entered the cabin followed by 3 men. The cabin staff showed the 3 men to the seats immediately in front of me. A man sat in the middle seat handcuffed to the other 2 men. The man was Charles Wilson the infamous Great Train Robber. He had been caught in Toronto and he was being escorted back to the UK by 2 detectives from Scotland Yard.
I had a very clear view of Charles Wilson. He was smiling and joking most of the time.
He was concerned that his wife would be looked after.
The plane was diverted to Prestwick in Scotland. A number of press reporters boarded the plane at Prestwick including the main tabloid papers. The press kept asking many questions to Charles Wilson and he did not get much rest between Prestwick and London where more reporters and television cameras greeted us as we disembarked from the flight at Heathrow. The next day when I arose from bed, I picked up the Daily Express and the whole of the front page was covered with a photo of Charles Wilson, the 2 detectives and me taken in our seats on the plane. The first and only time I hit the front page of a national newspaper.
Whilst I was the Chief Executive of Ofrex Limited ( 1968-1972 ) I used to sponsor the England Women’s Cricket Team. Rachel Heyhoe used to be the Captain of the team. I used to provide the team with bags, equipment and other gear for their international tours. I remember that on the eve of the team’s departure to tour Australia, Rachel Heyhoe ( later Rachel Heyhoe-Flint, famous as a BBC presenter and President of a Cancer Charity ) invited me to a farewell cocktail party at a venue near Piccadilly London. I was very pleased to meet the famous England Cricketer Sir Len Hutton. I had a photo taken with Rachel and Len Hutton. He was a most charming and modest man – considering he had been one of England’s most prolific run scorers in history up to that point in time. He had played against all the main cricket nations and he had scored many record breaking centuries. I also met Dennis Compton at the Saints and Sinners Club dinner at the Savoy Hotel London.
At Ofrex, we negotiated a deal with Technicolor Corporation to sell their Super 8 cameras in the UK. Market. . We had a meeting at Ofrex House London with another famous personality – Harry Saltzman producer of The James Bond films with George Drexler multi-millionaire owner of Ofrex. It all ended happily and we signed the deal.
During the period 1972-1974 I was a founding Director of the Medishield Corporation of BOC. I was the Deputy Managing Director and Controller of all the medical businesses of BOC. One day I got a call from ny boss asking me to go to Olympia Exhibition Hall where the BOC Medical stand were expecting a visit from HRH The Prince Philip. Of course, I took a taxi there straight away. I had the pleasure of greeting HRH The Prince Philip to the stand. And I had a photo taken with him.
Some weeks later, I was assigned the task of greeting The Prime Minister of Antigua to Hammersmith House London which was the Headquarters of BOC. After greeting the Prime Minister and his aid, I entertained them to lunch in the private executive dining room. During the lunchtime conversation, the Prime Minister told me that he wanted to establish an holiday air link between the UK and Antigua. He had heard about Sir Freddy Laker and his low cost airline Laker Airways. By coincidence, my Personnel Manager at Ofrex was a personal friend of Sir Freddie Laker. I offered to make the contact for the Prime Minister. He agreed and I telephoned my contact in Ofrex, explained the opportunity for Laker Airways and asked her if she would contact Sir Freddy Laker. She did make contact with Sir Freddy Laker who arranged to meet with the Prime Minister.
During my time at BOC I met many famous people in the medical profession including Professor Jimmy Payne of the Royal Collage of Surgeons – he was at the time Head of Anaethesia at the College. I had lunch with Professor Robson of Hammersmith Hospital and met most of the top doctors in the world specialising in anaethesia – I spent some time at the University of Chicago Hospital observing Programmed Anaethesia. Professor Paine, Professor Robson and myself were the judges for the BOC Fellowship in Anaethesia – the first award going to Doctor Kumagai from Sopporo University Japan.
I went to Saint James' Palace for a reception with the Bath Society and shook hands with Sir Barnes Wallis, the investor of the bouncing bomb in WW2 for the famous Dam Busters Raid on Germany.
During the period 1974-1986 I was the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Camping Gaz
( GB ) Limited based in Windsor. It was a period of intense encounters with the famous.
I remember on one occasion during a visit to the head Office of ADG the parent company, my colleagues and I had dinner at La Coupe Choux restaurant on the left bank in Paris. It was an old building converted into a very classy restaurant. Dining there also were the Rolling Stones pop band who were already very famous worldwide. I met Mick Jagger – he had studied at the London School of Economics like myself and I met Susan George the actress who was dining with the Rolling Stones that evening..
We waited together as a group outside the restaurant for a taxi. I chatted to Susan George about Maidenhead where she lived. When a taxi arrived, we offered the Rolling Stones the first choice of a taxi and off they went. It was a fun encounter because we had all drunk a lot of french wine !
On another occasion in Paris, I had lunch at the offices of our advertising agency Havas. Sitting next to me was a very fine lady whose name was Madame Hervet. During the lunchtime conversation, I noticed that she had a lovely gold medallion necklace. I asked her where she had got this lovely necklace. She replied Your Queen Elizabeth gave that to me. I asked her why the Queen had given the medallion to her ? She replied For my services to your Duke and Duchess of Windsor whom I worked for as a Personal Assistant for many years. She then asked me where my colleague and I were going to dine that evening.? I told her that we had not decided yet. She suggested that we dine at the Tour D’Argent a famous restaurant on the left bank. Later she very kindly booked a table for us. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were shown to the special table overlooking the Seine where royalty and special guests usually sat. We looked out at Notre Damne Cathedral. Madame Hervet had fixed it for us at the Tour D’Argent.
One day at the National Sports Centre Gym at Bisham I was on the bicycle when Clive Richard sat on the bike next to me. I started to hum...We are all going on a summer holiday. He laughed.
Another time at Bisham, I was on the rowing machine. Suddenly, Sir Steve Redgrave 5 times Olympic Gold Medal Winner from Marlow sat on the rowing machine next to me. Before he could get going fast, I increased my stroke rate and over 1 kilometre, I won. Yest, I beat the World Champion! hahahaha.
There was another fun encounter with the famous when I attended the Harrogate Trade Show one year. We were staying at the White Swan Hotel where they were filming scenes for the film Agatha – about that time when the author Agatha Christe disappeared. As we returned to the hotel from the Show, they were filming in the reception area. There was Dustin Hoffman standing by the reception desk. My colleague rather boldly said to Dustin Hoffman Dustin, I would like you to meet Ray Williams. Dustin responded by saying hello to me and asking me what I did – and we chatted until he was summoned for the next scene.
I met also Vanessa Redgrave at The Swan Hotel. She was playing the part of Agatha in the film. She was so friendly, humorous and a delight to meet.
At the Harrogate Trade Show I met Chris Bonnington the Mountaineer and Sebastian Coe.
I was at a concert in the BIC at Bournemouth when Cilla Black picked me out of the audience with the words - Living proof that Grecian 2000 does not always work ! She spotted my grey hair.
In 1953 as a young boy I had seen the film of The Conquest of Mount Everest and Edmund Hillary standing proudly on the top of Mount Everest. Whilst at the Harrogate Trade Show, I had the great honour to meet on a few occasions Sir Edmund Hillary. I presented him with a Camping Gaz cooking stove and he gave me a picture print of Mount Everest
More recently in 2015, I met the famous Ria Jones who has starred as Leading lady in many West End Shows and her brother Ceri Dupree. I had lunch with Ria in London. Her mother Avril was my school friend in Swansea.
In 2016 my sons Michael and Stephen had lunch with Ivan Gazidis Chief Executive of Arsenal Football Club. Michael and Ivan had played football together when they were schoolboys. I drove then both to matches over a 2 year period,
I met TV star Suzanne Shaw at The Pride of Buckinghamshire Awards.Our Club Wycombe 50 Plus Club won an Award. The event was held at the Stoke Park Hotel at Stoke Poges.
In June my wife and I were invited to the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. We saw most of the Royal Family but we never met any !
In March 2016, The Duke of Kent cousin of The Queen and Grand Master of The Masonic Movement of England visited High Wycombe to officially open The New Wycombe Sports Centre.
As Chairman of the User Panel, I was presented to The Duke of Kent. I also met Sir Steve Redgrave 5 times Olympic Gold Medalist who was currently Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire for the second time.
Met Richard Hardman of the Daily Mail. He is one of their top journalists. He is going to write a Feature Article about solving the 73 years mystery of what happened to Lancaster Bomber EM-L and my Father on the 18 October 1943.Our Family might even appear in a Documentary in 2018 about the 75 years old RAF and the Lincoln Memorial,
Met up for lunch in 2016 with Nicky Barr Director of RAF Bomber Command Lincoln Memorial. Discussed my 45 page Dossier about the fate of my father in Lancaster EM-L in WW2.
She likes the story and it will be included in the Archives at Lincoln. I have become an Ambassador for Bomber Command in Buckinghamshire.
During our visit to Hannover in September 2016 we met the family of Baron Manfred von Richtofen who shot down 80 British planes in WW1 before in 1918 he too was shot down near Amien France by a British plane.
Following the publication of the Daily Mail article, my brother Jeff and I have appeared on British Forces Radio to 23 countries and The Nick Coffer Show on BBC 3 Counties Radio.Forces Radio
lunch in London Ria Jones daughter of my school friend Averil Thomas Jones. She said my music compositions was " Terrfic." Ria Jones is a famous singer and has played the Lead Roles in - Evita, Cats, Sunset Boulevard and many more successful Musicals in the West End. We dined at Bills Restaurant.
t. He was one of the nicest men I have ever met – very modest and full of fun.I was the Vice- Chairman of COLA – the Camping and Outdoor Leisure Association. I was also the Chairman of the Parliamentary Liaison Committee. As as result, I visited the House of Commons a few times. We appointed Sir John West MP for Maidstone as our liaison consultant. I had many meetings with Sir John and lunch in the Members dining room at the Houes of Commons. Sir John served the Industry proud.Each year, I was the guest of Paddy Moloney, Editor of the Camping and Sports Equipment News at the Savoy Hotel London for the Annual Dinner of the Saints and Sinners Club. It was at these dinners that I encounterd many famous celebrities. They included, Giles the cartoonist, Lord Tonypandy the Speaker of the House of Commons, Cliff Morgan the famous Wales scrum half, Dennis Compton the England cricketer, Terry Waite – on the Christmas before he was kidnapped by terrorists, Dennis Thatcher, Barry Cryer the television scriptwriter and many more.One year I was invited to the Ministers Dinner at Greenwich. We had to board a boat at Westminster Pier. Who should join us that evening was no other than William Whitelaw and other members of the Margaret Thatcher cabinet.I met another politician when we were awarded The Marketing Award of Great Britain at The Hilton Hotel London. Sir Keith Joseph, Minister in the Thatcher Cabinet greeted me and presented me with the National Marketing Award. I sat on the top table with him and noticed that he only ate a boiled egg for lunch – he was a sick man at the time.Probably one of the memorable encounters was during the 1990s with Dr James Colthurst. I was studying at Henley Management College for an MBA degree and Dr Janes Colthurst was one of my student colleagues.James and I used to chat a lot over a beer in the bar at Henley or in the main lounge.He used to say to me that he has just had afternoon tea with Diana. I would enquire – Who is Diana ? I was so surprised when he would reply – Princess Diana at Kensington Palace in London. How do you know Princess Diana I would ask ?He told me that Princess Diana was a close friend of his whom he had known for some time. He said that he would go often to see Princess Diana at Kensington Palace – he was her best friend and she would telephone him ate at night on a range of matters. James never told me what they had discussed and he was very discreet.Years went by and one day I read about a rumour that the Private Secretary to Diana was likely to resign. I wrote a nice letter to Princess Diana offering my services to her as Private Secretary. I received a very nice leter back from Princess Diana on letterheaded paper of The Household of The Prince and Princess of Wales. She thanked me for my enquiry but she did not want to do anything at that stage – but she would keep my papers on file. So, I did not meet Princess Diana but I met her close confidant.What a confidant Dr James Colthurrst turned out to be. Later in the 1990s all the main Bristish newspapers had front page news about Dr James Colthurst. He turned out to be the man whom Diana invited to record her views on the breakup of her marriage from Prince Charles. James would go to Kensington Palace to interview Diana and record her thoughts with her full agreement. The tapes were then given to Andrew Morton who later wrote books about Priness Diana. James Colthurst probably knew more of the truth about Diana than anyone else in the world.My father was in the RAF during World War 2 and he flew Lancaster bombers of 207 Squadron based at Bottersford, Langar and Spilsby. There are 2 encounters connected to the RAF that I remember well. One was when I met Sir Barnes Wallis the inventor of the Bouncing Bomb which was used by Bomber Command to blow a hole in the dams in the Ruhr Valley of Germany in WW2. I met Sir Barnes at Saint James’s Palace London at the Bath Society event which was also attended by the Duke and Duchess of Kent. He was a slim built man, very modest and polite. It was a great honour to meet such a famous man from WW2.Once I reached the Final Shortlist for the position as Chief Executive of The MacMillan Cancer Relief charity. I met Jonny Johnson who was a Spitfire ace in the Battle of Britain in 1940. His face was badly scarred as a result of the burns he received in his encounters with the German Lufftwaffe. He was a slimly built man, very polite and it was an honour to meet him.The other encounter linked to WW2 and the RAF was my encounter with Lady Ryder of The Ryder Homes for the Disabled and wife of the late Sir Leonard Cheshire of the Cheshire Homes. Leonard Cheshire had commanded Group 5 Bomber Command in WW2 and he was the overall Boss for my father’s 207 Squadron. The encounter was in the 1990s when I was running my own Management Consultancy Business called Eurekys Management Consultants. I wrote to Lady Ryder offering my services to her. She replied and asked me if I would accompany her and her architect to Lourdes in France where she wanted my advice on whether or not to invest in a property to open a Sue Ryder Home for the disabled in Lourdes. So, I travelled to Lourdes with her, we met the Mayor of Lourdes and other leading people, we visited the property which was on the market for £5 million. I prayed with Lady Ryder at the Grotto of Saint Bernadette at Lourdes. Shes asked me what did I think. I replied – Yes, go for it.Lady Ryder did go for it and today at Lourdes there is a Sue Ryder Home.It is a amazing to me that all those years ago my father at 26 was flying a Lancaster Bomber over Germany and 50 years later his son was flying to Lourdes with the wife of his Commander-in-Chief.Ther are 2 humourous encounters that need to be mentioned. Dana the Irish Singer had won the European Song Contest. She was singing at Bailey’s Night Club in Watford and I was there with some friends. During her performance, the spotlight fell on me and Dana came down from the stage and started singing a love song to me. I was so embarassed. She took hold of my hand and led me onto the stage. She then got me to help sing a duet with her. I sent her a bouquet of flowers the next day.On another occasion, at the Bournemouth International Centre, I was attending a variety show in which Cilla Black was singing. Suddenly, a spotlight fell on me and Cilla asked me a few questions like where are you from luv and said You see, living proof that Grecian 2000 does not work – yes, I had grey hair.Sir Steve Redgrave won 5 Gold Medals for rowing at 5 consecutive Olympic Games. He lives in Marlow. One day I was on the rowing machine at Bisham Abbey Sports Centre near Marlow. I was taking part in a rowing the Thames competition – one would row each day on the machine and plot a journey down the Thames on a board. One day, I was surprised to see Sir Steve Redgrave rowing on the machine next to me. Suddenly, I increased my stroke rate and for a time I out rowed Steve. So, to his day I claim to have beaten Sir Steve Redgrave at rowing. Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it. My friend and colleague on the Master of Arts course at Brunel University was Jeff Hucknall. He became the Chief Executive of The National Sports Centre at Bisham Abbey. He knew most of the famous sports people who visited Bisham Abbey. I met a few including Tim Henman British Number 1 tennis player and 4 times Wimbledon Semi-Finalist and Tony Adams, Arsenal Captain and England footballer. They were often in the upstairs bar at Bisham Abbey after a training session – drinking water of course..In the same gym at Bisham , I was, on another day, on the cycling machine when Sir Cliff Richards sat on the cycle next to me. I said Hello and I could not resist humming the tune – We’re all going on a summer holiday. Yes, he was amused.I have had 2 famous neighbours when I lived in Beaconsfield. One was Tony Palmer who became the Chairman of Taylor Woodrow, leading builders in the UK. I became very friendly with him and his family. The other one was David Morritt who was Chairman of Morritt Homes and Chairman of Wealdstone FC. I was with him at Wembley Stadium the day that Wealdstone won the FA Trophy and completed the double – they were Champions of the Conference League.Finally, I have happy memories of meeting the Captain of the QE2 ship, Captain Warren when it was very new in 1971 on the cruise to Senegal, Portugal and the Canary Islands and later in 1998 meeting his son, Captain Warren Junior during the cruise to Colombia, Panama Canal, Mexico and California
They say that Life is a game of chance. For me, this has certainly been the case. I have been luck to meet so many interesting famous people over many years.
So, that is it up to now in 2008. What next I wonder ? Well, here we are in 2011 and my wife and I are at the Queens Club London for the Aegon Tennis Championships. I was walking along one of the corridors and I came face to face with Andy Murray Number 1 Tennis Player in Britain and Number 4 in the World. He had just returned from Paris where he had lost to Rafa Nadal in the Semi Final of the French Open. I say Hello Andy and asked him for his autograph. He signed my tennis bag. I patted him on the back and said Well done Andy. He then went on his way followed by a hoard of admirers.
Earlier in 2011 I had met Fern Britton the well know TV presenter. She was attending the first year anniverary event at the Ian Rennie Cancer Support shop in Holmer Green High Wycombe. I had a nice chat with her and mentioned that her children went to the same school as my cousin's children. She told me that she was going to do a new TV show soon and would finish her current afternoon show.
In Janaury 2013, I was in Queenland Australia. At Redcliffe in Moreton Bay they were planning to erect a memorial to the Bee Gees who started their careers at Redcliffe in the Speedway arena.
I was interviewed by Channel 7 Television Brisbane about my views on the Bee Gees and appeared on the Nationwide 6pm News Programme. I was also interveiwed by The Redcliffe and Bayside Herald. They wrote about my praise of Robin Gibb who raised millions of pounds for the Bomber Command Memorial in London 2012. The sister of the Bee Gees sent me a thank you for my praise of her brother - she said she was moved by my comments.
It appears that my past Economics Lecturer for my MA Degree is now the Mayor of High Wycombe - Shafique Chaudhray. He invited us to the Remembrance Day Ceremony and afterwards to the reception at the Bristish Legion.
As a member of the Flackwell Heath Lawn Tennis Club, I often play against Ed Cusak who is the Manager and Lead singer of The Joe Loss Orchestra. Ed has been presented to the Queen on 17 occasions and many Royal Command Performances. He is a very likeable modest man and he always beats me at tennis doubles.
I have suggested to him that he ought to write his memoirs because he has had a great career as a lead singer for the Joe Loss Orchestra. He has met many famous people in his time and he mus havet many interesting stories to tell.
In April 2013 I went to the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe to see the musical about the music of Don Black. He wrote the words for many songs such as Diamonds are Forever and Thunderball from the James Bond Films and Aspects of Love. One of the guest singers was Ria Jones. Ria had been Evita in the West End Production and Fantene in Les Miserables. She had sung with Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey and she was without doubt one of Wales's top artists. I had known her mother Avril Thomas in my Swansea school days. I met Ria after the show and told her how I had known her mother. She was delighted and had a photo taken of the two of us to show her mother. I told her that I was a composer too. She gave me her telephone number and then texted me with her address. I sent her some of my my CDs and suggested that she might perorom my song - Everytime. Watch this space.
Ria has since said - " Your songs are terrific." I am having lunch in London with her soon.
At the Remembrance Day 2014 Service in Beaconsfield , I had the pleasure of meeting The Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.. He had read my Poem about the new Flag in the Service Programme. I had donated a new flag to St Mary's Church for the past 18 years. Some weeks later, I was surprised to be told that he had recommended me to The Queen, who invited me and my wife to Buckingham Palace for the Royal Garden Party in May 2015. What an honour !
My son Michael used to ne Captain of Wycombe Wanderers Schoolboys football team. He also played for Wyemead Rangers. I used to frive him and a friend called Ivan Gazidus to all the matches over a 3 year period. Today, Ivan Gizedus is the Chief Executive of Arsenal FC.
We were invited to have lunch with Ivan in his office at Arsenal Executive Offices/ It was a great reunion. Ivan gave us a wonderful lunch, showed us the Board Room and we had lots of photos taken with him. His mother still remembers me and and me her thanks for taking her son to football matches 35 years ago. My son Michael has published his first book - DO BREATHE - it is on Amazon Online. It is how to improve your life. See my comments on this Blog. He presented a book to Ivan when he recently had coffee with him. Karen PA to Ivan Gazidus attends some of my sons Yoga classes in London. What a small world this is !
In Janaury 2013, I was in Queenland Australia. At Redcliffe in Moreton Bay they were planning to erect a memorial to the Bee Gees who started their careers at Redcliffe in the Speedway arena.
I was interviewed by Channel 7 Television Brisbane about my views on the Bee Gees and appeared on the Nationwide 6pm News Programme. I was also interveiwed by The Redcliffe and Bayside Herald. They wrote about my praise of Robin Gibb who raised millions of pounds for the Bomber Command Memorial in London 2012. The sister of the Bee Gees sent me a thank you for my praise of her brother - she said she was moved by my comments.
It appears that my past Economics Lecturer for my MA Degree is now the Mayor of High Wycombe - Shafique Chaudhray. He invited us to the Remembrance Day Ceremony and afterwards to the reception at the Bristish Legion.
As a member of the Flackwell Heath Lawn Tennis Club, I often play against Ed Cusak who is the Manager and Lead singer of The Joe Loss Orchestra. Ed has been presented to the Queen on 17 occasions and many Royal Command Performances. He is a very likeable modest man and he always beats me at tennis doubles.
I have suggested to him that he ought to write his memoirs because he has had a great career as a lead singer for the Joe Loss Orchestra. He has met many famous people in his time and he mus havet many interesting stories to tell.
In April 2013 I went to the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe to see the musical about the music of Don Black. He wrote the words for many songs such as Diamonds are Forever and Thunderball from the James Bond Films and Aspects of Love. One of the guest singers was Ria Jones. Ria had been Evita in the West End Production and Fantene in Les Miserables. She had sung with Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey and she was without doubt one of Wales's top artists. I had known her mother Avril Thomas in my Swansea school days. I met Ria after the show and told her how I had known her mother. She was delighted and had a photo taken of the two of us to show her mother. I told her that I was a composer too. She gave me her telephone number and then texted me with her address. I sent her some of my my CDs and suggested that she might perorom my song - Everytime. Watch this space.
Ria has since said - " Your songs are terrific." I am having lunch in London with her soon.
At the Remembrance Day 2014 Service in Beaconsfield , I had the pleasure of meeting The Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.. He had read my Poem about the new Flag in the Service Programme. I had donated a new flag to St Mary's Church for the past 18 years. Some weeks later, I was surprised to be told that he had recommended me to The Queen, who invited me and my wife to Buckingham Palace for the Royal Garden Party in May 2015. What an honour !
My son Michael used to ne Captain of Wycombe Wanderers Schoolboys football team. He also played for Wyemead Rangers. I used to frive him and a friend called Ivan Gazidus to all the matches over a 3 year period. Today, Ivan Gizedus is the Chief Executive of Arsenal FC.
We were invited to have lunch with Ivan in his office at Arsenal Executive Offices/ It was a great reunion. Ivan gave us a wonderful lunch, showed us the Board Room and we had lots of photos taken with him. His mother still remembers me and and me her thanks for taking her son to football matches 35 years ago. My son Michael has published his first book - DO BREATHE - it is on Amazon Online. It is how to improve your life. See my comments on this Blog. He presented a book to Ivan when he recently had coffee with him. Karen PA to Ivan Gazidus attends some of my sons Yoga classes in London. What a small world this is !
Thursday, 4 March 2010
RADICAL CHANGE IS NEEDED IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE SECTOR 2009 - 2014
For decades now, Government and the Public Services Sector seem to have forgotten that their prime role is to make life better for the citizens of the United Kingdom.
Few people would deny that they have made the lives of ordinary citizens far worse over the last 10 years.
In Britain Today, we live in a society of escalating unaffordable costs in the Public Sector - A devastating thirst in Central and Local Government for more money, better gold plated pensions, job security, vociferous Trade Unions against change, Consultants being paid £ millions, surveys that prove the need for higher salaries with the argument that otherwise the Public Sector will not recruit good people, hierachical organisational structures and general resistance to radical change.
Where will it all end ? Who will make some radical changes – for the benefit of the citizens of the United Kingdom as a whole ?
As a good citizen, I feel that it is my responsibility to at least make some contribution to the debate about the future of controlling and lowering expenditure in the Public Sector. The radical ideas listed below are just a few suggestions.
ELIMINATE FULL TIME CHAIRMEN & CHIEF EXECUTIVES
It is time to make attitudinal changes towards the organisational structures in the Civil Service and Local Government. It is doubtful that external Management Consultants would recommend the drastic action of eliminating the role of full time Chairman and Chief Executive. They have their fees to protect. In any case our Business Schools still live in a non radical, traditional mind set when it comes to the role of the Chairman and the Chief Executive. It is crazy that the taxpayer has to pay salaries up to £200,000 per annum and more for Chairmen and Chief Executives plus the costs of gold plated pensions.
So, eliminate all full time positions of Chairman & Chief Executive in both the Central Government Civil Service and the Local Government Authorities and Agencies. Change Management attitudes and structures so that the Senior Management and Executive Directors do the jobs that they are paid to do – Manage, Work as a Team and Control activities and budgets as a Cohesive Executive Team – with a Rotating Chairman with a casting vote. We do not need full time Chairmen and Chief Executives.
ELIMINATE MOST OF THE QUANGO ORGANISATIONS
We live in an over- regulated society and an over-quagoed society. We must get rid of most of the Quango organisations – perhaps 90% - there may be some who are worthwhile. What exactly would we lose in real hard cash terms if most of the Quagos disappeared ?
ELIMINATE BUSINESS LINK ORGANISATIONS
There is plenty of help for Small and Medium sized businesses without paying £Millions to the Business Link Organisations throughout the country with their structure of overpaid Chief Executives and Executive Infrastructure. Small and Medium sized Businesses can receive advice from the Internet, other Government Departments and the Private Sector.
ELIMINATE WASTEFUL EXPENDITURE
It would seem that it is the Conservative Party that has the right approach to eliminating waste in the Public Sector. It is appauling to read of the £Millions wasted on IT Projects, massively inflated pricing by the Drug Companies who seem to get away with the excuse – we need the money for research and investment –true in many respects but an hopelessly inadeqaute excuse in many respects.
There is a fear syndrome within Government Circles that makes them impotent to eliminating waste in the Holy Grails of Healthcare and Education to name 2 examples because the Public will not like to see cuts in Public Expenditure in Healthcare or Education – We might lose votes. We must be ruthless to eliminate waste but whatever Party is in power, they must have the courage to act and explain to the Public and the Media the rationale for taking such actions. They must do the right things for the people and not for the goodwill of the Party.
FREEDOM TO PERFORM IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER
We, In Britain Today have a stark choice – Do we let the Government tell us what to do or Do we tell the Government what to do ? It is a monumental question that needs an answer from each of the political parties. It is my belief that the answer should be Let the people free and Trust the people – We tell the Government what to do.
The consequences will be great – Teachers can get on with their job with the reduced interference of the Government. The Head Teachers should monitor performance, the School,Governors should check results, the Parents should and will complain to the school if they are dissatisfied. Professionals will make mistakes from time to time but the Government will make mistakes all the time. Reduce Government interference and reporting with burdensome and unecesary paperwork. This applies to the Police, Healthcare and other professional groups.
A radical overhaul of communications between Government and the professions is needed with the remit – Give more power and freedom to the practitioners and not to the Government officials.
PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY OR PARLIAMENTARY DICTATORSHIP
We need a new attitude to the role and function of Parliament.
Here are some suggestions –
The role of the Member of Parliament should be a full time job. It is not right that with the salaries and expenses of MPs so high, they should be allowed to have lucrative second jobs such as Solicitors, Accountants and Company Dircetors. You are either a Representative of the People or you have a career elsewhere. This does not mean that Parliament should comprise of only the Professional Politician – candidates who have little practical knowledge of the real world of business, the legal profession, accountancy, education and so on. Parliament needs people who are streetwise and who have years of practical experience to offer. However,once elected as an MP. they should devote most of their working time to Parliamentary and Constituency affairs.
The role of the Whip as a servant of Party Dictatorship or Cabinet Dictationship should be changed. Free voting in the Parliamentary debates should be encouraged on most occasions. The MP needs to be free to reflect the wishes of his constituents and his own judgement and beliefs rather than to be a slave to Party Dictatorship.
Yes – proportional voting / representation should be introduced throughout the United Kingdom. It is crazy that in a so called Democrocy a party with say 20% of the national vote could end up with about 20 MPs. What kind of democracy is that ?
The role of Parliamentary Committees should be widened and they should have stronger powers to scrutinise in depth Public Departments and key sectors such as Banking, Utilities and Defense. They should co-opt specialists to help them examine and question Senior Management. Does the ordinary MP have all the expertise knowledge to scrutinise responses – would they have understood what was happening in Banking Sector during the Credit Crunch fiasco for example ? If they did have the knowledge, how did they let the Financial Sevices Agency fail to recognise what was happening ?
50 years ago, a typical examination question for University Degrees in Political Science was – Should there be a reform of the House of Lords ? Is it not amazing that all these years later our politicians are still talking about whether there should be a reform of the House of Lords ? I am convinced that the British people would vote Yes to an elected Upper Chamber but what say do they have in this matter ? None. A reform of the House of Lords is well overdue and in the future – perhaps as early as 2015. only elected by the people Members should sit in the Upper House.
Britain can be better served by a House of Commons and an Upper House of fewer numbers – say, 330 MPs and 200 Upper House Members.
A Referendum should be used on issues such as – Reform of the House of Lords and Membership of the European Union
REGULATION OF MONETARY INSTITUTIONS AND FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY
The recent Banking crisis and the fiasco of MPs expenses claims must have convinced our leaders – or has it ? - that we need tighter controls of our banking sector and financial institutions and scrutiny of public expenditure at all levels. Clear lines of responsibilty must be established so that accountability becomes an asset and not some foggy role that will enable officials and MPs to claim – It was not my responsibilty. The Financial Sevices Agency has proved itself to be totally irresponsible and the Bank of England needs to be more active in the scutiny of the the Banks and Financial Institutions.
THE ROLE OF THE COMMON CITIZEN
If we want Britain to have a better tomorrow, we all have a role to play.
The Media needs to be less sensational and more factual, our MPs need to provide more regular feedback to their constituents – the MP for High Wycombe Paul Goodman is a good example of a MP who tries very hard to give the people of High Wycombe well presented feedback on what he is doing in the House on their behalf.
We need more MPs like Paul Goodman. It is sad that Paul Goodman has expressed his wish not to seek re-election at the next General election – he will be missed – he is a very good man and an excellent MP.
We need an awakening of civil and national involvement in Politics – Participation and not Pacification. However, it it so difficult for ordinary members of the public to become MPs because of the selection process of the Political Parties. David Cameron’s recent innovation of reopening the Candidates List is good but does not go far enough. In future, candidates should be chosen by the people of a constituency and not by the local party activists. The notion of Primary Elections is one which I support. It will give more transparency in the selection process and enable the ordinary citizen to make a judgement as to the suitability of a candidate.
AND SO – IS ANYONE LISTENING ?
In Britain Today, there is a yearning for better times. Most citizens are fed up with the Labour Government and they want a change which will improve their lifestyles but they are sceptical about the ability of Politicians in general to deliver the radical and creative change for the better.
I believe that the Conservatives under the leadership of David Cameron can deliver and want to deliver but, can they make the radical changes that are needed ? That is the big question. We need a really radical overhaul of expenditure in the Public sector and Parliament and not a tinkering at the edgewith many here. But – is anyone listening ?
IN BRITAIN TODAY - A HAPPIER PLACE TO LIVE ?
DEFINITIVE CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
Some Proposals to make Britain a happier, more democratic and fairer society in the 21st Century
Most of us In Britain Today want change that will improve our standing of living and give us hope for a happy and enjoyable future. The trouble is that most of us have good memories and we are sceptical about any real promises from Politicians - we doubt that their promises will make much difference. It is macabre that the Labour government have found billions of pounds to prop up the Banks and the Economy whilst a few years ago Gordon Brown as Chancellor in one of his budgets found 7p – that’s right – seven pence per week to add on to the state pensions. Macabre is an understatement.
The British people are often blamed for not participating in the political process – not that they have much chance in our current Democracy. At least the Conservative Party are trying to engage the public in a dialogue but will it count in the long run ?
Here are some concrete proposals to make Britain a better place to live in the next 10 years. We have to deal with the deficit but this should not be an excuse to delay making changes that really matter and make a difference.
PENSIONERS
The State Pensions should be tax free. Do not tell me that they are. The State Pension might be paid free of tax but the Inland Revenue deduct the pension amount from Personal Allowances. So, if you have worked for say 47 years and your company and you have paid into a State Pension scheme, you do in effect get taxed on your State Pension. This is grossly unfair on those people who have retired.
The second step that should be taken is to increase the level of State Pension by at least 50 %. Ask yourself, what will they do with this extra money. Answer – spend it. Good for the Economy and good for Britain. More tax revenue from VAT and other taxes.
No pensioner should have to sell their home to pay for Healthcare. Politicians talk about this – so do something about it. This is Change that matters.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
A home should not be the prerogative of the young, unemployed, poor, single parent, immigrant, asylum seekers or just for those on incapacity benefit. I am not, repeat not saying that these groups should not be catered for. However, there are other worthy groups such as pensioners, those who have suffered financially from divorce – particularly later in life, healthcare staff and other key groups. But, you will hear the Politicians say, we do not have the resources. Rubbish ! Here are some creative if not controversial ideas to increase the affordable housing stock.
Farm Land
Release some farm land where it is cheaper to import food and more socially beneficial to build homes.
National Parks
We need to protect most of the National Parkland but a proportion of Parkland can be released – look at the National Forest – it is vast and you would not notice some carefully constructed eco friendly New Villages.
Crown Land & Historical Land Clawback
Crown land is another source of land for creating Eco Friendly Villages. A certain amount of Crown Land and Historical Aristocratic Lands should be subject to National Clawback. Most of these lands were gained and inherited from the wars of history and the gluttoness
mis -appropriation of land by past Monarchies and they have no moral justification in the 21st Century world we live in. A new equilibrium needs to be established and that means freeing up some of these lands for affordable housing and not speculative building projects.
National Trust Land
The National Trust own many sites where there are extensive lands which could be used tastefully to build Eco Friendly Villages. People would still be left with ample space and opportunity to visit Country Houses and gardens. The National Trust could be the spearhead for the creation of many EcoTrust Villages throughout the country. Many are near towns so communications and social infrastructures would be easily maintained. The New Trust Villages would have character and they would blend into the nature of the National Trust property. The land cost would be nil for building so as to keep the cost of National Trust homes low and affordable.
Role of Local Councils.
Lands designated for Eco Friendly Villages should be given to Local Councils for nil cost building land to contruct affordable housing. There should be no hidden taxes on these new build houses. Nor should any apartment blocks be permitted to be built on these lands. The Government should provide reduced company tax incentives to builders who participate in these new home schemes. Housing Associations should be encouraged to work with local Authorities and tax incentives should also be offered.
Brown Sites & Regeneration Schemes
These new ideas are additional to brown site schemes, inner city and suburban regeneration schemes which are already in existance and in the planning stages.
What an outcry these new ideas would cause from special interest groups. My submissiom is that it would make little difference to the enjoyment of these groups. It would make a massive difference in the increase of affordable housing stock throughout the country and it would recreate the Village Life of Britain which is so badly missed in today’s countryside. Perhaps it may also increase social harmony and the wellbeing of Britain’s citizens. At least these ideas are worthy of a full investigation and appraisal by Government and interested parties.
NON RESIDENT TAX STATUS
Anyone born in Britain and deemed to be a British National should pay UK taxes wherever they live in the world. There should be no tax exemptions for the non domiciled – end of story! This applies to personal income, investments, company shares and overseas homes.
DEFENSE EXPENDITURE
Many people believe that the United Nations is a costly and wasteful organisation. In future, wars such as currently in Iraq and Afgansitan should be financed by the United Nations and not by individual countries like Britain and the United States of America. We are wasting billions of pounds in defense expenditure and the burden should be spread more widespread across the United Nations.
A SMALLER PARLIAMENT
The House of Commons should be reduced in number of MPs by 50%.
The House of Lords should be an elected Upper Chamber and reduced by 50%.
There have been enough talk for over 50 years or more. Now, change is needed and it has to be radical and more dynamic.
Local Authorities should have more widespread powers to serve the people.
The Scottish Parliament and The Wales Assembly should have greater powers of autonomy including more widespread tax raising and spending powers.
QUO VADIS BRITAIN ?
People do want change and not tinkering at the edges. These are just a few radical suggestions. They need to be studied in detail of course but unless we have Real Leaders for Change that Matters we will not see any material changes – not on this Earth.
So, Quo Vadis ? Where do we go from here? Not far whilst there is an Election on the horizon. We cannot alienate the voters.
However, if a Party wishes to win a good majority in the new Parliament, I suggest they promote one change as a priority – win over the Over 50 Plus vote - offer a real change – be adventerous – and make this group the flagship and example of making lives better in the near future and not in Neverland. Go for it whoever is listening !
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)