St eph tuth Robson
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IF he had not been introduced to me as a South Shields man, and if he had never uttered a word in my presence, I would still have said with confidence: "This man comes from Up North." But when he told me he had been with Hann and Newby for 30 years and then aswered my questioning directly, without frills or fanfare—why then there was full confirmation of my initial impression that here was a true son of the north country. And no nonsense about him, mind—none at all.
Stephen Smith Robson is a transport man. He's been at it all his working life, from the day he joined the firm of William Mathwin and Son, Ltd., which still flourishes up there in the North-east. With these coal exporters and shippers he remained about four years and then joined his present company.
"Of course, we were only in a small way, way back in 1932," he reminisced, "though the firm was a fairly old one, dating back to horse and cart days. There was nothing very grandiose about the job I held, either. Mr. Hann died about the time I joined and four years after that I was appointed to the board, becoming managing director just over 20 years ago."
The business of Hann and Newby, Ltd., has developed into that of coal and coke merchants, builders' merchants, road transport contractors and tyre distributors—a substantial variety of interests in all conscience—but Stephen has extended his activities even more widely, for he is a director of three other companies. Long gone are the horse and cart days, the days of struggle and foundation laying. Gone too, are the days when the heaviest vehicle (one of the few owned by the company, as he pointed out to me in recalling the beginnings) was a two-tonner. Today his firm has a fleet of 20 vehicles under A, B and C licences. Respected in South Shields as a successful businessman, he is just as highly thought of throughout the transport
industry for his devoted work in the Traders Road Transport Association.
Outside road transport the initials " T.R.T,A. " may be as puzzling as that proliferation of letters and titles which since the war has followed in the wake of international reorganizationW.H.O.. FAQ., 0.E.E.C. and many much More complicated. But inside the transport world the association is recognized as one of the most active and influential institutions of its kind in Britain. Stephen Robson has been bound tip, with its affairs virtually from its birth—an old hand, therefore, although still in his forties. Ever since 1946 he has been an active, wise, forceful national vicechairman, one of four, and year after year has faithfully made valuable contributions to discussions on all matters affecting C licence operation. It is well known that. the national council is no mere rubber stamp set-up. It has a mind of its own and fetches a vigorous punch when occasion demands. Nor is it possible to imagine this particular national vice-chairman as a mere rubber stamp Member. He's what the Americans call a straight-shooting guy, though not with bluster or the faintest implication that he's the "Great 1 Am." On the contrary, he struck me as a quiet, plain-spoken man who has the interests of the whole industry at heart.
This then, is his principal national job. But he is also a long-standing member of the national executive committee who brings to that work 16 years' experience of the office of chairman of the northern division—one I imagine to be not among the softest. spoken.There are some-forthright people up there—tough businessmen who recognize the toughness and wisdom of Stephen Robson.
It is always a source of wonder to me how men who head flourishing businesses can find time and (just as important) energy to attend so many committees and councils, a lot of them involving long and wearisome journeys from the distant provinces to London. Of course, they know how to be comfortable on long-distance trains. Dining car attendants and barmen soon get to recognize them and give the kind of service they like to have. But even so. . .
These transport labours are by no means the limits of his out-of-office-hours activities, however. He is not unknown on the golf course. He is chairman of the South Shields Football Club. He is a Rotarian of long standing and has been a member of the South Shields Rotary Club since 1939. His family appear to lead equally full lives, Mrs. Robson is Inner Wheel President, his daughter is a school teacher and his son is in the business.
The energy and wisdom he brings to T.R.T.A. finds another outlet, a social one. Nobody would describe him as anything of a busybody or an annoying do-gooder. What he does for less fortunate people is direct and practical, devoid of moralizing and theorizing. Close to his heart is his work for old-age pensioners as president of the South Shields Branch of the Federation of Old Age Pensioners. Regulations controlling old-age pensions and other kinds of State financial aid are not always at simple to understand as they ought. to be. Moreover, our old folk are not often eager to make their straits known. Sometimes they forgo through misunderstanding or plain ignorance the benefits to which they are morally and legally entitled. Stephen delights in fighting their battles for them, asserting his personality on tardy public servants, unravelling some of the complications which beset our" senior citizens " striving to make both ends meet and doing his best to ensure that injustices and anomalies are avoided.
So if you meet him and, as in my brief interview, want to make him talk with knowledge and enthusiasm, get him on to the subject of old-age pensioners and, to vary the topic, pass gently from that to dipped headlights and diesel fumes. I promise you, you'll be in for an interesting chat. H.C.