Ian MacGregor

Sir Ian Kinloch MacGregor,

He was soon to be disabused of the purported classlessness of US society when a proposed takeover of a Connecticut firm fomented strike action. MacGregor was reputedly threatened by the Mafia and had his car overturned by pickets while he was inside. His takeover went ahead.^[3]

He became chief executive of American Metal Climax in 1966, diversifying the company into mining. He developed a reputation for shrewd, no-nonsense negotiation in various strands of American business, and an uncompromising attitude towards trade unions accompanied by something of an appetite for confrontation.^[2] His method was to "always get your ducks lined up,"^[1] and he often referred to his "Department of Economic Warfare". During the British miners' strike he nostalgically observed:^[5]

I never thought the day would come when I wished I had some of my scruffy, sometimes ill-disciplined, sometimes loud-mouthed American police by my side in this country, and some of the curious ways of the law to back them up.

In later life he explained:^[3]

Management is a calling and people ought to be dedicated to it. British managers have far too much security. A poor manager should be dumped. What's at stake is the happiness of society, not the comfort of managers.

He went on to become a director of Lazard and chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce.^[2]

Return to the UK

During his chairmanship at American Metal Climax, in 1971–72 MacGregor helped lead a high-level US–EEC Businessmen's Conference at Versailles. MacGregor served on the Steering Committee, and delivered a speech which reassured Europeans on American commitment for trade expansion. This was during heightened concerns following the Nixon Administration's decoupling of the dollar's linkage with gold and the threat of Labor-backed legislation (the Burke-Hartke Bill) with protectionist quotas and investment curbs.

British Leyland

He was brought back to British industry by

His next role was as head of the

MacGregor's approach to turning the NCB into a profitable concern was similar to the line he had taken at British Steel: cut jobs and close unprofitable pits. This led to the protracted and increasingly bitter 1984–1985 miner's strike. Despite many meetings between the two opposing sides no agreement was ever reached, and the UK coal industry continued its decline when the strike finished.^[2] Only 15 deep mines remained at the time of privatisation in 1994, although some briefly reopened; fewer than 10% of the figure 10 years earlier, when 170 collieries had still been operational.^{[citation needed]} As of 2013^[update], there were three deep coal mines operating in the UK; by the end of 2015 they had all gone with the closure of Kellingley, the UK's last deep colliery.^[7]

Later life

MacGregor retired from the NCB in 1986, rejoining Lazard's as a non-executive director. In the UK, there were campaigns to appoint him as head of the

Outside the boardroom, some found him "a benign and rather avuncular man, whose Scottish burr was distinctly audible beneath the overlay of his American accent."[3] Others saw him as "affable and stimulating: with his tongue partly in his cheek"^[1] and as "emotional and often unpredictable. He thought of himself as a creator; he returned to the UK out of a sense of patriotism as much Scots as British; and the large fees he earned were less for consumption – certainly not of any conspicuous kind – as to sustain his ceaseless world travels."^[1] Scottish miners' leader Mick McGahey described him as "viciously anti-trade union and anti-working class", claiming that he had worked "to destroy trade unionism not only in mining, but in Britain."^[4]

Margaret Thatcher herself felt that he had handled the public relations aspect of the miners' dispute poorly, failing to empathise with the British public's widespread sympathy for the miners and their communities, and the pair were on cool terms following his departure from the NCB.^[4]

Ian MacGregor was inducted into the Junior Achievement US Business Hall of Fame in 1979.

Death

MacGregor died of a heart attack, at Taunton, Somerset and was cremated.^[2]

On his death, many involved in the 1984-85 strike expressed great bitterness against him.^[9] NUM vice-president at the time, Mick McGahey said, "It's no loss to people of my ilk. MacGregor was a vicious anti-trades unionist, anti-working class person, recruited by the Tory government quite deliberately for the purpose of destroying trade unionism in the mining industry. I will not suffer any grief, not will I in any way cry over the loss of Ian MacGregor." Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, "He brought a breath of fresh air to British industry and he had such a genial personality. He had a tremendous way of putting things. He made a real difference and I was very grateful when he came back to this country."^[10]

Honours

• John Fritz Medal, (1981);^[11]
• Bessemer Gold Medal, (1983) ^[12]
• Knighthood, (1986);^[2]
• Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, (1972).^[2]

References

Bibliography

• Obituaries:
  • Daily Telegraph
    , 14 April 1998;
  • The Times, 14 April 1998;
  • The Independent, 15 April 1998;
  • The Scotsman, 14 April 1998;
  • The Guardian, 14 April 1998;
  • Financial Times, 14 April 1998, p.8
  • New York Times
    , 15 April 1998.

• Kirby, M. W. (2006) "MacGregor, Sir Ian Kinloch (1912–1998)",
  Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, online edn, May 2006, accessed 14 September 2007 (subscription or UK public library membership
  required)
• MacGregor, I.; Taylor, R. (1986). The Enemies Within: The Story of the Miners' Strike, 1984–5. London: Harper Collins.
  ISBN 0-00-217706-4
  .

• "Ian MacGregor: Coal warrior". BBC News. BBC. 5 March 2004. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
• "Sir Ian: loved and hated". BBC News. BBC. 14 April 1998. Retrieved 15 September 2007.

Sir Ian McGregor, inductee National Mining Hall of Fame. www.mininghalloffame.org