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BADHAM, Leonard (1923-1992) was the first person outside the two founding families, the Salmons and Glucksteins, to be appointed Managing Director of Lyons. He was appointed to the board in 1965 and served until his retirement in 1987. Len Badham was born in west London on 10 June 1923 and was educated at Wandsworth Grammar School. He was one of the first teenage trainees brought into the company as 'fast stream' management potential. His career began in the Stock Department in 1939 when he was sixteen and his ambition at that time was to become a tea-taster. He soon showed an aptitude with figures and became involved in the form-filling bureaucracy of wartime rationing. He was conscripted into the Royal Artillery and soon received a commission He served in Burma and later transferred to the Royal West Kent Regiment. By the end of the war he had been promoted to major. On his return to Lyons in 1947 he became an office supervisor with Hayes Laundry in Peckham then transferred to the Statistical Office working with directors and John Simmons in virtually every part of the business. Management accounting on the restaurant side occupied much of his time (as well as the development of the LEO computer under Simmons) during the 1950s and he helped to make the Corner Houses profitable for the first time since the war. In 1960 he moved back to Cadby Hall as assistant chief comptroller and within five years was appointed to the Lyons board. There followed a difficult period for the board when the decision was taken to change Lyons from a family run business to one having professional management. Badham played a pivotal role in the implementation of these difficult decisions and he eventually became executive director finance and administration. In 1971 he was made assistant group managing director at a time when Lyons was embarking on its ambitious expansion overseas. This expansion was to lead, in part, to the downfall of the business. Len Badham became responsible for the hotel and catering operations, US based companies and those in Europe. In 1975, following a management reshuffle, he was appointed deputy group managing director and in 1977 group managing director. By the mid 1970s soaring interest rates and a falling pound caused financial meltdown at Lyons and by 1978 discussions had started with Allied Breweries Ltd. After the Allied takeover Len Badham continued to work under the new chairman and chief executive, Alex Alexander, until his retirement in 1987. He died on 11 June 1992 and his funeral took place at Mortlake. He left a widow, Joyce, whom he met at Lyons in the early days of the war and married before embarkation, and two daughters. Len Badham was a humane man with an affinity to the 'ordinary' man. He was approachable, a good listener, and was not overawed by the big occasion. He was liked and well respected.



BASSAM, Richard (????-1975) joined Lyons in 1930 and died on 10 February 1975 following ill-health. He started as a carpenter's mate in the Construction Department at Cadby Hall where he worked on teashop maintenance and alterations. In 1934 he became a qualified carpenter and moved to Teashop Maintenance at Herne Hill. Between 1941-1946 Richard Bassam was with the RAOC and REME first as an armourer and then as a clerk. He was promoted to sergeant and served in north Africa, India and with the Chindits in Burma as a special duty clerk with General Wingate. After a short spell with Teashop Maintenance after the war, he returned to Cadby Hall as clerk to Charles Fenn, then building manager. He then moved to Cadby Hall Building Department where he was secretary/clerk to the building manager. From here he progressed to Cadby Hall Works Control as a building progress clerk. When Works Services separated from the Works Department in 1965 he became a planned maintenance and records clerk. In 1969 he took on the role of production scheduling clerk with Lyons Bakery's Manufacturing Division..

 

 


BECKLEY, Frederick Richard (1907-1997) was a Secretary and Director of Strand and Cumberland Hotels having spent 45 years with the company. He was born on 18 January 1907 and when he left school started as a trainee in the Account Department at Cadby Hall. The first five years were spent in the Private Ledger Office. From here he transferred to the Wages Department where he introduced some mechanisation and worked on time study in the bakeries. In 1934 he joined the hotel companies, initially as a Manager of their Wages Department and introduced mechanisation here. In 1939 he became Secretary of Cumberland Hotel Ltd and became a Director in 1951. In 1959 he was appointed Secretary of Strand Hotels Ltd and in 1966 was made a Director of that hotel company also. He died on 1 March 1997 leaving a widow and two sons. His home was at Moor Park, Hertfordshire.

 


 


BLIGHT, John A. (1893-1947) died from a heart attack in Blantyre Hospital, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) on 1 March 1947 aged 54. He joined the Checking Department direct from school in 1907 and was transferred to the Tea Buying Department the following year. He served with the Royal Artillery during the First World War and on his return to civilian life continued his career with Lyons in Tea Tasting. In 1926 he was appointed Indian Tea Buyer and in this position he represented the company in Calcutta during 1928-29, supervising the buying and creating an understanding between both Houses, which proved of inestimable value over following years. At the time of his death he was acknowledged to be one of the leading authorities in the tea trade, as borne out by the many letters of sympathy received, according him a high tribute