Small Business, Education, and Management

The Life and Times of John Bolton

Andrew Thomson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781138340077
• eBook ISBN: 9781317654483
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This book examines the life and times of John Bolton, a Cambridge graduate who graduated as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School, and returned to Britain to quickly chair Solartron, one of the outstanding of the early British electronics companies in the 1950s.

John Bolton also enjoyed a career of public service and private good works. He led the founding of the Foundation for Management Education, which had an extremely influential role in the development of management education in Britain, and chaired the 1968-71 Committee of Inquiry on Small Firms, resulting in what is now generally called the Bolton Report. The Bolton Report became and continues to be the starting point for analysis of the sector at a time when small business is again being seen as a major contributor to the British economy and has revolutionized attitudes and policy towards the small business sector at all levels.

Bolton's career covered a range of different dimensions of mid to late twentieth century industrial and public life in Britain, and the history is as much about these as it is of the man himself. The intention of this book is to illuminate the institutions in which Bolton worked as well as to paint a picture of his own role.

1
Formative Years

Family Background

Schools

Accountancy Articles

World War II

Cambridge

Marriage

Harvard Business School

Research in Britain

Family Background

John Eveleigh Bolton, often known as JEB, was born on 17 October 1920, the middle of three children, Nigel being almost five years older and Ethelwyn Mary some three years younger. The unusual name ‘Eveleigh’ was a family name from some two generations previous when John’s grandmother had a half-brother called ‘Eveleigh’. His parents Ernest and Edith both came from Wednesbury in the West Midlands. His father was associated with railways, in part because his stepmother thought that a railway company was a better place to work in than a factory, while his mother was the daughter of a coachbuilder, Mr. J. B. Duckhouse. Ernest entered railway service for the London and North Western in 1898 and was appointed assistant delivery clerk at Wednesbury in 1900. In 1910 he was made staff clerk at Great Bridge before being transferred to the staff department at Wolverhampton in 1917. In 1927 he was appointed staff clerk to the Leeds district goods manager in the London Midland and Scottish and in 1932 was promoted to the position of cartage assistant. He had been a prominent member of the old Wednesbury YMCA and a keen cricketer. He was also prominent in ambulance work, being district secretary of the LMS ambulance competition and in recognition of his work was made a serving officer of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in England. Another of his interests was life-saving, in which he was at one time an instructor at the West Bromwich baths. After taking up his appointment at Leeds, he continued his ambulance and sports activities and served on the Executive Committee of the Burley-in-Wharfedale Sports Club. At his death the LMS Magazine noted that ‘he was a man who never spared himself and by his death the Company has lost a loyal and conscientious servant’.

In 1929, after the move from Wolverhampton to Yorkshire the family went to live in Burley-in-Wharfedale, an attractive village on the banks of the River Wharfe and close to the Yorkshire Dales, about 20 kilometres from the centre of Leeds. They moved into what had once been the stationmaster’s house; John’s sister remembers those early days with nostalgia:

A positive factor was the beautiful countryside which was wonderful for children. There were always so many interesting things to do. John taught me to climb trees and to walk along the tops of five-bar gates and dry-stone walls. He showed me how to ‘tickle’ fish in the streams and taught me the names of the many wildflowers in the fields. On one occasion he took me to play with his friends who were all boys: their immediate response was ‘oh! she’s a girl!’ John’s response was ‘she is alright; I have trained her!’ These idyllic early years—for both of us—came to an abrupt halt when after a short illness my father died on 15 October 1933.

Their father’s death in Leeds Infirmary at the young age of 49, just two days before John’s 13th birthday, left their mother to bring up the three children. Fortunately, they were a close, friendly family and all of them had to be very strong and courageous, helping each other as much as they could. Mrs. Bolton was not a tough or bossy woman but very generous and gentle, dedicated to the well-being of her children. The important factors were her intelligence and her very strong character—very determined and dedicated.

The family moved back to Wolverhampton in 1935 but these were difficult times for them without a traditional breadwinner, while the economy was still feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Nevertheless Mrs. Bolton’s family of five sisters was very helpful and they were surrounded by many other friendly people, which was an influence for the good. All three children did well at school. Nigel went on to become a doctor and Ethelwyn Mary, who was a gifted mathematician, became a scientific officer in the Scientific Civil Service working in munitions quality control and later guided projectiles. It would have been unusual for all three children to achieve this level of academic success in those days, when very few children went on to secondary school examinations; perhaps one child in a family but not all three. It says much for Mrs. Bolton, especially in the circumstances of her husband’s death. John, like his mother, was a strong and determined character. His sister remembers him as being a leader not a follower, not bossy but with an uncanny knack of making the right decisions.

Schools

After the move to Leeds in 1929 John and his sister went to Burley Wood-head School on the edge of the moors and close to Ilkley. It was an interesting little school, founded in 1832 to serve the hamlet of Burley Woodhead as well as the village of Burley-in-Wharfedale and the surrounding area. Miss Swithenbank was the wonderful headmistress; when John moved on to Ilkley Grammar school the mathematics master wrote to Miss Swithenbank to congratulate her on the way she had taught mathematics to John.

Ilkley Grammar School, which John attended from 1930 to 1935, was an old foundation. An endowment of £100 was made by George Marshall in 1601 to fund the salary of a schoolmaster—at the time, one William Lobley. Payments to Lobley were fitful, and the executors of Marshall’s estate had to go to law to rectify the situation; the date of settlement of the issues—1607—is now taken as the date of origination of the school. On the 2 January 1635, a group of townspeople signed an undertaking to erect a dedicated schoolhouse, and records indicate that by April 1637 this had been built. The building, in Church Street, still exists and is now a listed building, converted into a shop. John had always been good scholastically, and by the end of his stay in 1935 he had passed the Northern Universities School Certificate.

From 1935 to 1937 he attended Wolverhampton Grammar School and continued to do well scholastically, as well as being active in sports. Wolver-hampton Grammar School was one of the ancient grammar schools, a century older than Ilkley, founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who was also Lord Mayor of London in the year of Henry VIII’s coronation. Jenyns was born in the city of Wolverhampton in 1448. In the year 1519 he was one of the wealthiest men in the country and is reported to have paid more tax than any other person in that year. In 1875, the school moved to its present site on Compton Road from its previous site on John Street in the centre of Wolver-hampton. It is also not without other famous alumni, Lord Normanbrook, head of the British Civil Service in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England from 2003–2013, being two of the most notable.

Whilst at Wolverhampton Grammar School, John distinguished himself in physics and mathematics, taking the Cambridge Higher School Certificate in both subjects, although his reference from the senior mathematics master, Mr. Sheen, was somewhat bland:

John Eveleigh Bolton has been my pupil during the past two years. His work has been at all times neat and careful and he has shown himself to be capable of sustained effort and of good work. His manner is pleasant and in my dealings with him I have found him honest and trustworthy.

In addition, John was an active sportsman while at school, being best at cricket (as might be expected given his father’s interest), winning his 2nd XI colours, and also tennis.

Accountancy Articles

When John left school in 1937 he became articled to a firm of accountants, Bernard S. Richardson of 195 Wolverhampton Street, Dudley, to train as a chartered accountant. At that time articles were for a period of five years, and included attendance at Wolverhampton Technical College and further study through the Accountancy Correspondence College. However after starting his articles in September 1937 the War intervened and in December 1940, at the age of 20, he joined the Royal Navy. Just before doing this, however, he had taken the Intermediate Examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, which he passed with distinction, with his name appearing high on the list of successes, placing him 40th out of 260 candidates. At this time the examinees were graded in order and the results published in the newspapers. Moreover, Mr. Richardson, the principal of the firm, was later to say of him:

From the commencement of his service with me, Mr. Bolton showed considerable promise of being able to undertake responsibility, so that in less than the usual time he was doing work of a senior clerk though young in years, and was able to acquire a varied experience in relation to the accounts of different types of businesses, including those of a Local Authority, namely, the County Borough of Dudley.

Mr. Bolton always impressed me as a gentleman of outstanding ability with a strong personality and a manner both engaging and frank. His character is excellent.

This experience was undoubtedly extremely valuable in later life. And to be a senior clerk, supervising audits, by the time he was 20, was an indication of a rare skill.

World War II

John joined the Navy, not because he was a natural sailor but probably because the Navy often appeared to offer a more interesting, varied, and adventurous life than either of the other two services. He also caustically noted that drowning was the least traumatic way to die in war. He joined as an Ordinary Seaman in December 1940, but was commissioned in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in November 1941 and gained promotion to Lieutenant in October 1943, serving as Executive and Navigating Officer in destroyers until mid-1946.

The three main destroyers on which Bolton served were the Bedouin, the Wilton, and the Childers. In these ships, mainly used on convoy escort duties, the manoeuvrability and speed of the destroyers was their greatest strength. As an officer he gained experience in the management of men from all stations of life. And like many men in similar situations, his wartime experiences were very important to him throughout the rest of his life. He was on the Bedouin as an Ordinary Seaman until he was commissioned. The Bedouin was mainly involved in operations in Northern waters against enemy shipping, but was also engaged in the hunting of the Bismarck, and was slightly damaged in the Battle of Narvik. The Bedouin was sunk in the Mediterranean in August 1942 after John had left her.

His main ship, from February 1942 until March 1945, was HMS Wilton, a Type II HUNT-Class Escort Destroyer launched in October 1941. This large class of destroyers had a length of 279’ 10”, a beam of 31’ 6”, a draught of 8’ 3” and a speed of 27 knots or 31 mph, with a complement of 164. The Wilton was named after a hunt in Dorset. One of the lessons learned at the expense of many lives and the loss of many merchant ships was that the survival of Great Britain in war depended on the safe passage of shipping to and from the United Kingdom. This requirement was satisfied when after much reluctance the convoy system was introduced in 1917. Ships in convoy then had to be escorted by warships able to counter the threat of submarines and surface craft. By 1938 it was clear that the Royal Navy did not have sufficient suitable ships to meet this obvious threat, to which a third dimension had also been added. The use of aircraft by any enemy to attack shipping simply made the need for escorts of even greater importance.

For this reason a new class of Escort Destroyers was authorised. These ships were needed to be available for service without an inordinate delay and had to be armed to deal with the submarine, surface, and air threats. They were designed to carry two or three twin, four-inch gun mountings capable of dealing with the submarine, surface, and aircraft threats. For anti-submarine attacks the design called for 60 depth charges with two throwers and two sets of rails. The speed requirement called for in the build specification was between 28 and 30 knots. In all, 86 HUNT Class were built and, apart from the differences in gun and torpedo fits, had the same type of propulsion machinery with a shaft horsepower of 19,000 driving two shafts. A larger complement of 168 was required in the ships with three twin mountings or with the torpedo tubes.

Once in service the HUNT Class played a vital part in sea operations. Their four-inch armament with a dual purpose anti-aircraft and surface capability made them effective escorts. All types did however have the disadvantage of requiring frequent fuelling during long voyages, as for example when used for escorting Russian convoys. They were not comfortable ships and their accommodation was cramped. The first ships completed were used for coastal convoy escorts but as more became available the HUNT Class were deployed in the Mediterranean and in the Arctic. A heavy price was paid for the contribution made. Nineteen ships were lost in action and a further six damaged beyond economic repair with 17 others being out of operational use due to action damage which needed many months under repair.

With the Wilton Bolton participated in some of the most intense naval operations of World War II. The Arctic convoys to Russia were particularly gruelling due to the extremely cold conditions, which got down to 60 degrees below freezing. John once told his sister that there was no point in taking a hot drink up to the bridge as it would have frozen before getting there; she made him a pair of silk gloves to go underneath his normal pair to help keep out the cold. The cold was not just a problem for people; it was critical to keep the upper deck clear of ice and snow by means of axes and steam hoses or the ship could become top heavy. Moreover in the frequent gales the seas became violent with huge waves, making the ships roll as much as 30 degrees to port or starboard, with some even turning over.

Of the Russian convoys which Wilton escorted as part of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla, namely Convoys 13, 14, 17, and 18, Convoy PQ17 in June–July 1942 was one of the worst maritime disasters of the War, in that of 36 merchant ships which set out, only two returned. The largest of the German capital ships including the Tirpitz were located in the north of Norway, and for fear of them the Admiralty decided to withdraw support from the convoy when it was above the North Cape, ordering it to disperse, with disastrous results. Roger Hill DSO, DSC, RN, in command of another destroyer, HMS Ledbury, admitted that he had never come to terms with leaving the convoy without protection, echoed in his excellent book Destroyer Captain (1975):

There were 23 ships sunk in that PQ17, 190 seamen killed, 400–500 aircraft were lost, about 300 tanks and 100,000 tons of war material. That’s what resulted from that Admiralty signal. It was really terrible, even now I have never got over it, because for the Navy to leave the Merchant Navy like that was simply terrible. The American cruiser people ashore, of course they just said ‘The Limeys are yellow’ and they all had fights and had to have leave on different nights and so on, and the Tirpitz was not within three or four hundred miles of the convoy. She came out eventually, but not that day, the next day I think, or the following day. She was sighted by a submarine which made a signal, the Germans intercepted that signal and called her straight back to harbour. There was no threat to the convoy at all except from the air and all these poor merchant ships, one merchant ship signalled ‘I can see 7 submarines approaching me on the surface’ and there was continual air attack. It was simply awful.

It would be very surprising if John Bolton and the crew of the Wilton did not feel exactly the same as Hill.

Almost immediately after this, in August 1942 the Wilton participated in Operation Pedestal to force supplies through to save Malta from having to surrender. Malta had had a very difficult time due to its strategic location, and in April 1942 had been awarded a collective George Cross for its courage and determination during the siege in the early part of the War, which Operation Pedestal was designed to break. Fourteen of the fastest merchant ships available were supported by the largest task force for any convoy during the War, including two battleships, four aircraft carriers, seven cruisers, and 33 destroyers. In spite of this support, the Germans and Italians also realized the convoy’s significance and relentlessly attacked with aircraft, surface ships, and submarines, with Wilton herself being dive-bombed nine times on August 11–12, although only receiving superficial damage. The aircraft carrier Eagle and two cruisers were lost, as well as nine of the merchant ships...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Photographs
• Prologue
• Preface and Acknowledgements
• 1 Formative Years
• 2 Solartron
• 3 The Foundation for Management Education
• 4 The Harvard Programme in Britain and Other Management Education
• 5 The British Institute of Management
• 6 Public Service Roles
• 7 The Committee of Inquiry on Small Firms
• 8 Small Firms after the Committee of Inquiry
• 9 Mentor, Facilitator, and Non-Executive
• 10 Personal Life and Evaluation
• References
• Index