Written
in 2005, Maurice Clegg’s A Life is a book that will help ambitious business
people to make a success of their commercial lives – and perhaps their family
lives too. One thing that is remarkable about Clegg is his ability to make decisions and
then to follow through.
In his
foreword, Clegg says that he is writing a history of his life for his children.
Born in 1930 in Merseyside into a family of local traders, he determined
to become a seaman and was trained for the merchant navy.
His first
assignment took him to India and post-war Japan but he suffered from
seasickness and at the age of 20 he persuaded his uncle to give him a job in
the family laundry business. The book briskly deals with the next 53 years of
his business career in which he bought out his uncle and moved into the
workwear rental market, competing successfully against major PLCs.
Across
100 of the 160 pages, Clegg describes with great honesty his business ideas and
how his values helped his company to thrive. While some readers may object that
his key business decisions were made in a different time, the fundamentals of
dealing with staff, with customers, with banks and with regulators have not
changed that much.
“I loved
my work, each and every part of it,” he writes. “Even the crises…for a crisis
overcome leaves an afterglow of exhilaration. Building and development is
tremendously satisfying. Whether it is a new factory, or a house, or a block of
flats, the sense that it is happening because one started the ball rolling,
took the initiative, is hugely stimulating. But it was the laundry, later
workwear rental business, that was the most satisfying. It was a
people-intensive game, and it is always people that matter, that are
interesting, and that are challenging.”
Taking
part in the family business, Clegg immediately set about introducing financial
discipline. He noted that his father and uncle were taking far too much out of
the laundry and putting little back. The market was saturated with competition
and the core business was likely to soon disappear. It was all held together by
the loyal manageress, who was also very resistant to change.
However,
he immediately started to reorganise tasks to generate profits. Remarkably,
when the staff came to him and proposed to organise as a union, he accepted.
The 2,500 other owners of laundry businesses ostracised him. Years later, his
decision would produce a huge bonus when his company won work from the National
Coal Board. Few companies bid for the work because they feared Arthur Scargill.
However, his unionised staff told the miners to behave and they did.
Two of
the factors that helped motivate his staff were the profit share scheme he
devised and the fact that the company offered them mortgages. Other strategic
decisions he had to make were to move into dry cleaning, to invest in new
technology and then to move into workwear. He bought his uncle out and as other
laundry businesses closed he bought their goodwill.
His
discussion of how he sought money from his bank, the NatWest, and was refused
but continued to develop the relationship is important. A smaller bank was
happy to lend him money. Together they profited from a number of development
deals. But when the banking crisis of 1973 hit, the smaller bank threatened to
bankrupt him.
The brief
description of his court case against the bank is instructive. His legal team
picked up the drift of the judge’s mind on the first day and wished to
compromise. He said that they had been confident that they would win, so they
should continue. The judge found for the bank. Leaving court, his solicitor
said: “Morris, you are finished.” But he said he had 14 days to sort something
out. His solicitor replied that the bank could get an order from court and
could wind his business up in two days.
“My mind
has seldom been as concentrated,” Clegg recalls. He phoned the area manager of
the NatWest from the courthouse corridor and asked to see the regional manager
who he knew had the authority to lend the sum he needed. This was agreed. The
next morning he was introduced to the regional manager and presented his case. “At
the conclusion of my case, Burgess didn’t speak to me but turned to his
subordinate and said, ‘Get a firm grip of everything he has got and wire the
money today.’ That moment is burned in my memory and will never be forgotten.”
Clegg writing style is precise and accessible. This is a book packed with ideas. His situational analysis is
remarkable and will help any person running a business to understand the
dynamics at play in their world. His values are clearly set out and underpin the success of his
company and in life. His gift is a book that will inspire you and help you
ground your decisions.
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