Campbell Adamson

Sir William Owen Campbell Adamson (26 June 1922 – 21 August 2000) was a British industrialist, who was best known for his work as director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) from 1969 to 1976.

In 1945, he married Gilvray Allan (d.1988), a sociologist: they had four children.

Once trained he became general manager of the Spencer Steelworks at Llanwern; the steel industry was undergoing major changes at the time due to nationalisation and Baldwins merged with Richard Thomas in 1948 as part of the 'Steel Company of Wales'.

Adamson was in charge of labour relations and his method of fair negotiation with the trade unions gave him a reputation which extended outside the steel industry.

Although the Conservative government from 1951 wanted to privatise the steel industry, it was unable to sell the Steel Company of Wales due to its size; however, it tried to operate as though in private ownership.

Adamson became a Director of Richard Thomas and Baldwins in 1959, and in 1960 he was appointed to the council of the Iron and Steel Institute.

His position made him politically prominent.

Adamson was not a supporter of the Labour Party (claiming that hearing Herbert Morrison speak of the party's virtues had put him off), but he was known to be a 'liberal capitalist with a profound social awareness'.

After the Labour government created the Department of Economic Affairs, Adamson was invited to take a role with the civil service.

He rose through the steel industry, where he was in charge of labour relations, and worked as a government adviser during the late 1960s.

Coming to the CBI at the peak of political controversy over the Labour government's attempt to reform trade union law, Adamson held the difficult role of representing industry through the complex struggle over Edward Heath's Industrial Relations Bill.

Adamson had already been named as a member of the BBC General Advisory Council in October 1964.

He became Industrial Policy Co-ordinator and the head of a team of industrial advisors from July 1967.

However the post offered little opportunity for Adamson.

The whole steel industry was renationalised, and the chairman Lord Melchett wanted to give him a senior role but nothing came of it.

At the end of April 1969, Adamson left the Department of Economic Affairs, just as rumours circulated that the department would be abolished.

He intended to seek another position in the steel business.

In the meantime he decided to take a long holiday and go on a three-month safari drive across the Sahara with his wife.

Just as they were about to depart, John Davies telephoned to tell Adamson that he was about to leave his job as Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry and to suggest that Adamson put his name forward.

The Adamsons went on their holiday as arranged, leaving poste restante addresses in Algiers and Cairo, and it was at the latter where Adamson received the letter formally inviting him to take up the post.

Adamson accepted his new post, declaring as he did so that he was firmly supportive of the Government's application for membership of the European Common Market.

In his first major policy speech he stressed the need for investment in modern plant and equipment.

In his first year, he opposed plans by the Labour government to merge the Monopolies Commission and the Prices and Incomes Board, plans which were dropped when the Labour government was defeated.

During the 1970 general election campaign, Adamson presented a "hastily-prepared" paper on wage settlements to the CBI council, and issued a warning to the major political parties that the new Government must do something to restrain wage increases, including a new prices and incomes policy if needed.

Late in the campaign, Adamson held talks with Trades Union Congress general secretary Victor Feather to negotiate a voluntary productivity, prices and incomes policy.

Adamson felt that the CBI ought to be fundamentally engaged in attempts to secure industrial peace.

After the Conservatives took power, Adamson welcomed the abolition of the Prices and Incomes Board and the requirement for companies to give "early warning" of pay and price increases.

Adamson generally welcomed the Government's policy of non-intervention in industry, but made Ministers (including his predecessor John Davies, who had become Minister of Technology) aware that there would still be a role for the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation and that investment grants should not be altered too speedily for industry to adjust.

Throughout 1971, Adamson worked with CBI members to persuade them to restrain pay rises; it was revealed in April 1971 that he had talked personally with Vic Feather of the TUC about an agreement between them, which Adamson thought "much nearer than it was before".

Remarks he made about Government policy on the eve of the February 1974 election were blamed by Heath for the Conservative Party's loss of the election.

Adamson was able to unite industry to support the British application to join the European Communities.

In later life as Chairman of Abbey National, Adamson led the move to demutualise and convert it from a building society to a bank, and saw an overwhelming majority of the society's members support the move.

Also interested in family policy, he set up the Family Policy Studies Centre.

Adamson was born in Perth, the only son of John Adamson who was a chartered accountant.

His father was a strong Scottish patriot who was said to dislike "even the idea of living south of the border", but was persuaded by an attractive job offer to do so.

Campbell Adamson was sent to Rugby School, and then went up to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where he read economics under John Maynard Keynes.

They divorced in 1984.

He married secondly, in 1984, Mimi Lloyd-Chandler.

Due to hereditary night-blindness, Adamson was rejected for military service during World War II, despite his efforts to offer his services; instead he joined the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

As the war was coming to an end, Adamson took a post in industry as a management trainee for steelmaker Baldwins based in south Wales.