John Norman Romney Barber (22 April 1919 – 21 October 2004) was a British businessman who held senior director positions at

Ford of Britain Ford of Britain (officially Ford Motor Company Limited)The Ford 'companies' or corporate entities referred to in this article are: * Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, incorporated 16 June 1903 * Ford Motor Company Limited, incorporat ...

, AEI and at

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

Business career

John Barber served in the British Army during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, rising to the rank of captain. He joined the Ministry of Supply in 1946 before leaving in 1956 to take up the role of assistant controller at

. By 1962 he had risen to finance director, taking on its consumer credit wing in 1963. Barber introduced a company graduate scheme in the finance department and the company became a nursery for British business management. He had also been instrumental in the development of the

Lotus Cortina Lotus Cortina is the commonly used term for the Ford Cortina Lotus, a high-performance sports saloon, which was produced in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1970 by Ford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. The original version, which was based on t ...

due to his passion for motorsport and because “You must assess where motor sport can help in areas where your company is weak. For example, in 1959, Ford had the Tin Lizzie image and young people were buying the Mini". In 1965 Barber left Ford due what he saw as "creeping Americanisation" and joined the conglomerate AEI as finance director. This business was taken over by GEC in 1967, and Barber rejected Arnold Weinstock's offer of a job. In 1968 he was offered a job by Donald Stokes at Leyland as its director of finance and planning. This was in the midst of the merger with

British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named. ''The Times'', Friday, 29 February ...

, which he was accredited along with chairman of the Government's Industrial Reorganisation Corporation, Sir Frank Kearton of the rapid agreement of the merger. Barber became joint managing director of the newly formed

in 1971, a role he held with George Turnbull. After a power struggle with Turnbull, Barber would eventually go on to become deputy chairman of the company in 1973, but was seen as a Ford man constraining the company with Ford ideas. In 1974

run out of money and the government took over, commissioning the Ryder Report. Barber was not included in preparing the report on the future of British Leyland, in which he was heavily criticised, a report he called "hopelessly optimistic", and he was sacked in August 1975 after refusing to resign. Barber sued the British government and was given a six-figure compensation sum in 1976. After leaving

he worked as an occasional writer for the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' on automotive subjects, as well as working as an unpaid consultant for

Jensen Motors Jensen Motors Limited was a British manufacturer of sports cars and commercial vehicles in West Bromwich, England. Brothers Alan and Richard Jensen gave the new name, Jensen Motors Limited, to the commercial body and sports car body making busi ...

during their financial collapse. He then went on to work as chairman of Pullmaflex, Aberhurst, AC Engineering and Cox & Kings Financial Services, and served on the board of several companies including Spear & Jackson, Acrow, John E. Wiltshier and the Communications Group.

Personal life

Barber was born in

Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a town and civil parish in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011, it had a population of 22,509. Geography Leigh-on-Sea is on the northern ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, attending a school in nearby

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

. He went on to read economics at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Barber was married to Babette (died 2003) and had one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, John 1919 births 2004 deaths British Army officers People from Southend-on-Sea British Leyland people British Army personnel of World War II Alumni of the University of London Leyland Motors 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from Southend-on-Sea