Men Who Make Transport-44
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Geoffre r:ott Sutcliffe
ALTHOUGH its importance in terms both of local employment and world trade is considerable, the factory of Ferodo, Ltd., at Chapel-en-le-Frith, is unobtrusive. Controlling this large and virile organization there is also a somewhat retiring figure, Geoffrey Scott Sutcliffe, 0.B.E., T.D., whose business career has been devoted exclusively to Ferodo. He joined the organization in January, 1932, as a trainee.
Immediately before this, in the sixth form at Renton, he had started reading law, and the logical approach and faculty for critical analysis which were then acquired proved valuable assets in the years to come. For a variety of reasons the young man elected to pursue a commercial, rather than a legal. career. He was accepted by the Turner and Newall Group and only the luck of the draw directed to the Ferodo headquarters the trainee who was later to become the company's chairman.
For several years he went through all the departments of the works and offices. His training on the production side was completed as a foreman, after which he was transferred to the home sales field. Various more or less junior jobs came his way before appointment as sectional manager for the sale of fan-belts which Ferodo began to manufacture in 1937.
Already the shadow of war could be seen on the horizon and, becoming a Territorial, 2-Lt. Sutcliffe found himself mobilized immediately on the outbreak of hostilities. Thus started a journey that led to France in 1940, through the evacuation at Dunkirk, back to England for renewed training and later to North Africa with the appointment of Brigade Major in the famous First Army. After taking part in the Tunis operations until the Germans surrendered he was transferred as Lt.-Col. Sutcliffe to the staff of Allied Forces H.Q. The trail that had started in 1939 finished in Italy just about six years later.
After the stresses of wartime activity the Ferodo factory was getting back into normal gear. For a while Mr.
• Sutcliffe served as home sales manager, but in 1947, when there was still much to do in realigning -production, he was appointed works director. Five years later, at a time when more competitive conditions were making themselves felt, he returned to the distributive side as home sales director. The managing directorship followed in 1955. Mr. Sutcliffe became chairman of the company on May 1, 1956, and was appointed a director of Turner and Newall, Ltd., just 18 months later.
His keen personal interest in research on. automotive braking matters means that he has a close knowledge of the many problems that beset the .operators and drivers of heavy vehicles. Looking back over the past five years he thinks that probably the most important development in transport braking has been the introduction of the disc brake, and especially the work that has been performed in this connection by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co., Ltd.
From the Derbyshire village where Ferodo linings have always been made the company's products are exported to all countries of the Western World, a fact that has led Mr. Sutcliffe to study the impact of automotive braking on a global scale. His company have manufacturing organizations in Canada, India, Brazil and France. The origin of the French company goes back to the 1920s and it has developed with the object of meeting the requirements of the French vehicle industry.
Mr. Sutcliffe's most recent overseas tour was to Australia, where there are now more than 2.6m. motor vehicleOto 10m. people. In 10 years the human population has risen by 25 per cent. as the joint result of a high birth rate and the Australian immigration policy. Thus, the market presents important possibilities for both enterprising manufacturers and enterprising young people.. Mr. Sutcliffe's view is that as both political parties are agreed on the future immigration policy, and there is a high. standard of living, the vehicle total must rise rapidly. He observed a marked improvement in conditions since the time of his previous visit to Australia in 1947, and regards that continent as one of Britain's most promising export markets.
Leaving commercial considerations aside for the moment, Mr. Sutcliffe believes that the whole of his team are extremely conscious of the contribution their company are making to the development of safety on the roads. On the braking side there still remains much to be done in this connection, for, referring to a paper given before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, he is able to quote. figures which show that 90 per cent. of vehicles in a recent independent test revealed varying standards of efficiency, all of which would be regarded as dangerous by the braking boffins.
When he feels entitled to a break from braking, Mr. Sutcliffe's favourite relaxation is sailing. His boat is moored at Abersoch in North Wales, and if times does not permit the 140-mile journey, either tennis or gardening provides a change from the many questions associated with his life's work •in the retardation of road vehicles, large and small. A.T.