[Mifnet đź›° 74433] Re: Oct 4 in history

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 03:17:33 -0700

I had the pleasure of working with both Lord King and Sir Colin during the years when Heathrow and others were being privatized. Tried to have them sold individually. After a few years we ended up with Luton as consolation. Observed their success at improving BA close up. Marshall was a true professional. 

Viggo 
Sent from my iPad

On Oct 6, 2025, at 11:49 AM, Simon Brown via Mifnet <[email protected]> wrote:



Barry, Many thanks for that. More details than I’d known or remembered from his heyday but I don’t recall him ever being, or coming across, as posh. The image I held of him was an industrialist who had done well and hence was “poached” by the Thatcher regime to oversee BA’s intended privatisation, which he did. Your summary confirms this. Those King-Marshall years were fairly iconic in the UK’s aviation history, I think. Or maybe it’s just my own nostalgic perceptions from the many news items, both good and bad, surrounding BA.

 

Simon

 

 

 

From: Barry Humphreys via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Sent: 06 October 2025 15:50
To: [email protected]
Cc: Barry Humphreys <[email protected]>
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74420] Re: Oct 4 in history

 

Simon, I never met King (he had resigned from BA a couple of years before I joined Virgin Atlantic), but I did once attend a meeting which was held in his (empty of course) office in London. He always gave me the impression of being very 'posh', but in the light of your comments I looked him up on Wikipedia:

 

King was born in  Brentford,  Middlesex. His father, Albert John King, had fought in the  First World War, and later worked as a postman; his Irish-born mother, Kathleen King, worked as a seamstress. He was the second of four children. He was reared on a small property attached to a public house in  Dunsfold, Surrey. He left school in 1929 at the age of 12 without qualifications and started work in a local factory which produced vacuum cleaners, where his work included machining clamping stays, earning him the nickname "Clamping Stay King"...........

 

After the war King, moved to Canada for a time, before returning to England and building a factory on wasteland in  Ferrybridge,  West Riding of Yorkshire  to establish Ferrybridge Industries. After renaming it the  Pollard Ball and Roller Bearing Company  and producing millions of ball bearings per year, it grew to become a major operation spanning several continents (the third-largest ball-bearing business in the UK). After being forced to merge the business with another manufacturer,  Ransome & Marles, as part of a government reorganisation of the ball bearing business, King sold it for ÂŁ10m in 1968, netting some ÂŁ3m personally.

 

So not so posh. A real self-made man, albeit an imperfect one. Incidentally, he was also a pilot with his own aircraft, which his wife also flew.

 

 

  

Barry Humphreys

 

 

------ Original Message ------

From "srbrown via Mifnet" <[email protected]>

Cc "srbrown" <[email protected]>

Date 06/10/2025 15:17:13

Subject [Mifnet đź›° 74419] Re: Oct 4 in history

 

I gather Thatcher liked King's previous business acumen but yes, King brought in Marshall as the CEO to get stuff done. 

 

The rewards were that the King became a Lord (technically a demotion) but the Marshall became a Knight, which is definitely a step up.

 

Simon

 

-------- Original message --------

From: Tom Windmuller via Mifnet <[email protected]>

Date: 06/10/2025 09:34 (GMT+00:00)

Cc: Tom Windmuller <[email protected]>

Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74416] Re: Oct 4 in history

 

He was a friend of Margaret Thatcher, but it still isn’t clear to me how much of that turnaround was due to King.  At the time, it seemed much more of it was coming from Colin Marshall. (Sorry, SIR Colin Marshall.). 

 

tom w. 

 

On Mon, 6 Oct 2025 at 10:20 srbrown via Mifnet <[email protected]> wrote:

Yes, but he started out as plain old John King, which is much less regal. He was only made Lord King (of Wartnaby) after turning the dog's dinner that was BA into a profitable enterprise and occasional purveyor of dirty tricks against innocent Virgins.

 

Simon

(Still a commoner)

 

-------- Original message --------

From: Tom Ronell via Mifnet <[email protected]>

Date: 06/10/2025 07:06 (GMT+00:00)

To: The Mifnet <[email protected]>

Cc: Tom Ronell <[email protected]>

Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74413] Re: Oct 4 in history

 



Then there was BA Chairman Lord King.

Now there's a name....

From: Rohan Garnett via Mifnet <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
CC: Randal Craft <[email protected]>; Rohan Garnett <[email protected]>
Date: 2025-10-06T04:36:54Z
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74412] Re: Oct 4 in history

And SIR Basil to you all if you don’t mind! SOP for all BOAC CEO’s back in the day 

 

Rohan W. Garnett

Executive Manager Commercial Airports & Leasing

+61 423 023 106

From: Randal Craft via Mifnet <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 6, 2025 5:50:20 AM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Cc: Randal Craft <[email protected]>
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74409] Re: Oct 4 in history

 

University of Texas Professor Goodenough received the Nobel Prize. I guess he was. Bob Sent from my iPhone Randal Craft Email: randalrobertcraft@ gmail. com Mobile: 646-226-2299 (USA) On Oct 5, 2025, at 2: 33 PM, Tom Ronell via Mifnet <mifnet@ lists. mifnet. com>

University of Texas Professor Goodenough received the Nobel Prize. I guess he was. 

 

            Bob

Sent from my iPhone

 

Randal Craft

Email:  [email protected]

Mobile:  646-226-2299 (USA) 



On Oct 5, 2025, at 2:33 PM, Tom Ronell via Mifnet <[email protected]> wrote:




What a name: Basil Smallpiece.

Right up there with the woman on LinkedIn with the surname Goodenough.

TR

From: Jack Keady via Mifnet <[email protected]>
To: David Wardell via Mifnet <[email protected]>
CC: Jack Keady <[email protected]>
Date: 2025-10-05T18:07:08Z
Subject: [Mifnet đź›° 74407] Oct 4 in history

<image003.png>

Lee Cross

 

Oct 4, 2024 8:02 AM

EST

DALLAS â€” Today, in 1958, British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC) launched the world's first jet-powered transatlantic flight.

<image004.png>

Using the de Havilland Comet 4, BOAC beat rival Pan American to the post by just three weeks, operating the first jet service across the North Atlantic to New York. This was despite Pan Am launching a high-profile advertising campaign, announcing their intention to begin their service with the Boeing 707 on October 26.

G-APDB operated the eastbound flight, and G-APDC operated the westbound. The two aircraft passed about 300 miles apart at 47°W and 1335°Z. Sir Gerard d’Erlanger, BOAC’s Chairman, aboard the westbound aircraft, and Basil Smallpiece, Managing Director, in the eastbound aircraft, exchanged messages during the flights.

<image004.png>

 

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