I was a director of Thomas Tilling, and was on secondment as an Industrial Advisor to the Department of Economic Affairs in the Wilson Labour Government. During this period I was asked to join the Shipbuilding Industry Board, which had been formed as a result of the Geddes Report to restructure the British shipbuilding industry through grants and loans to encourage grouping of yards. There were three members, the chairman, William Swallow from Vauxhall Motors, Joe Gormley from the National Union of Mineworkers, and me. I was assigned to the Clyde by the SIB and in particular to see whether I could form the five shipyards on the Upper Clyde into one group. This was the formation of UCS out of Fairfield, John Brown, Connell, Stephen and Yarrow. When the company was formed the problem arose as to who would be chairman? There were no other candidates so I took the job on the basis that there would be a Managing Director with shipbuilding experience appointed. Unfortunately, we were unable to find such a person, but we did find Ken Douglas eventually. He came from Austin and Pickersgill on the river Wear, and was basically a shipbuilder, which I was not.

I was at UCS for the whole of its life from 1968 to 1971, a total of three and a half years. I was the only chairman of UCS, and my involvement in the shipbuilding industry ceased the day that I left UCS. As soon as I became Chairman, the SIB said that I had to leave them. At the same time Thomas Tilling, who were paying me, took me off their payroll.

On the SIB, the Geddes Report was the bible; after all, we were formed to implement Geddes recommendations. At the time I accepted it as being a well researched Report. In the final analysis I realised that it was not researched in the depth it should have been, and in fact that the problems with the shipbuilding industry were far deeper seated that the Geddes Report ever revealed. Had I known that, I do not think I would have become involved. Geddes did not get to the heart of the problem.