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SALMON,
Anthony Montague Lawson (1916-2000). Anthony Salmon was
the eldest of four boys born to Julius Salmon and
Emma (nee Gluckstein) on 5 May 1916. He was
educated at Malvern School and left when he was 17
years old, traveling to Zurich to study German. His
father allowed him to start smoking when he was
only 7 years old and all the boys were encouraged
to take claret with their meals from the age of
five. As part of his education his father took him
on a luxury cruise visiting Rio de Janeiro and Cape
Town. When 18 he studied Italian in Rome and later
French in Tours. In 1934 his father opened a shop
(Hall Crown), near the Cumberland Hotel in London's
Oxford Street, in competition with Marks &
Spencer, where Anthony worked for a time. This was
not successful and the business was sold to a
Canadian company. He was put to work in the
Trocadero Restaurant kitchens until the outbreak of
World War II when he joined an infantry regiment as
a private but, because of illness (duodenal ulcer)
was discharged. He returned to Lyons as a tea
taster on the understanding of his doctor that he
would not taste tea!. He married Valerie nee Isaacs
in May 1940 and in 1942 took charge of Lyons'
laundry subsidiary, James Hayes & Sons. In 1943
he became Managing Director of Henry Telfer
Limited, a Lyons meat subsidiary. In 1944 he was
also given responsibility for the Tea Estate in
Nyasaland, a responsibility he kept until its sale
to Brooke Bond in 1977. He became Managing Director
of Leo Computers Limited on its formation in 1954
and a main Lyons Board director in 1955. Anthony
Salmon played an important and crucial role in the
marketing of the LEO II and LEO III computers,
using his considerable business contacts to
generate sales. He played a key part in the first
computer sale to W. D. & H. O. Wills through
his family's business connections with John Player
and others in the tobacco trade. Between 1958-1976
he was responsible for the Estates Division at Head
Office. Anthony had two children and among his
hobbies lists fly fishing in Scotland and bridge.
He was an honorary treasurer for the Protection of
Children and at one time was involved in the
Hammersmith Teenage Project, a unit run by the
London Borough of Hammersmith for delinquent
children referred to it by the courts. He died on
13 September 2000.
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SALMON,
Brian Lawson CBE, (1917-2001). Chairman of J. Lyons
& Co. between February 1972 and April 1977,
died on 28 May 2001 after a long illness. Born on
17 June 1917, he was the second of four sons of
Julius Salmon, and a grandson of one of the
founding members of Lyons, Barnett Salmon. The
Salmon & Gluckstein tobacco partnership had
started in 1863 when Barnett Salmon married
Montague Gluckstein's daughter, Helena. In 1887
this partnership started their exhibition catering
business at the Newcastle Exhibition taking their
name from a third partner, Joseph Lyons. The
business expanded rapidly so that by the start of
the 1900s they had established themselves as the
country's premier caterers operating teashops,
hotels and large food manufacturing businesses.
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SALMON,
Felix Addison, (1908-1969) was the second of three sons born to
Alfred Salmon and his wife Frances (nee Abrahams) on 16 July 1908.
He married Rosemary Estelle Lever on 22 July 1930. There were three
children of the marriage, Cherry Felicity, Vanessa Mary and Veronica
Jane. Vanessa married Nigel Lawson who became Chancellor of the
Exchequer but this marriage was dissolved in 1980. Felix Salmon
began his career with Lyons in 1926 in the Kitchens Department and
then the Trocadero Restaurant. After four years he went to Bakery
production. He then ran the Maison Lyons in Oxford Street and later
the Oxford Corner House. He Moved to Teashops in 1936 and returned
to that department after wartime service in the Army Catering Corps.
With the rank of major he was with the 2nd Army when the Belsen
Concentration Camp was liberated. Co-incidentally, his friend Maurice
Proserpi - also a Lyons employee and major in the Army Catering
Corps - was in the same unit when Belsen was liberated. Felix was
made a Director of Lyons in 1946. In 1961 he briefly took charge
of the Works Central Offices and in 1962 was in charge of Personnel
Functions. His sympathetic understanding of his fellow men fitted
him well for this role. During the last five years he was with the
company he was closely involved in the reorganization of the management
structure of the Group and played an important role in adapting
the management pattern to the growing complexities of the Group,
sometimes at odds with his fellow directors who resisted many of
the changes he put forward. He retired in 1969 having served 43
years with the Company. Felix Salmon died on 25 August 1969, shortly
after his retirement, when he was knocked down and killed by a bus
in Redhill, Surrey. Felix Salmon was responsible for the introduction
of lithographs into the teashops after the Second World War.
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SALMON, Geoffrey Isidore Hamilton CBE (1908-1990) was the second son of Harry Salmon and the grandson of Barnett Salmon, one of the founding members of Lyons. He was born on 14 January 1908 and was educated at Malvern and Jesus College, Cambridge, joining Lyons in 1926. By 1931 he had completed his 'apprenticeship' at the Trocadero Restaurant and a spell in the bread and cake businesses at Cadby Hall and was ready to take charge of a Lyons department or subsidiary. Aged twenty-three, Geoffrey Salmon had a particular desire to manage an independent business in order to gain more experience outside Lyons and took charge of what became Henry Telfer Ltd. During the war he served in the Army Catering Corps (he was the Area Catering Officer in York) reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Faced with a regime which had changed little since Waterloo, he created a specialist department staffed by those with skill and aptitude for the job of catering. By the end of the war he had become Chief Inspector of Training. He returned to Lyons in 1945 running the Bakeries and was appointed a director at this time. He renewed his link with the Army Catering Corps and in 1959 was appointed Honorary Catering Advisor to the Army, a post he held for 12 years. He was made a CBE in 1954 for public services. In March 1968 Geoffrey Salmon was appointed Chairman of the Board when Sir Samuel Salmon retired. By that time the company faced increasing competition. Rising inflation also made severe inroads into the economics of a business as labour-intensive as Lyons. In order to adapt Lyons was restructured and some members of the family had to change jobs which created some difficulties amongst them. He was a keen fencer at school and in his earlier days at Lyons was involved in the Dramatic Society of the Lyons Club. However, he preferred the quieter atmosphere of bridge. On his retirement in 1972 he became President of Lyons. Geoffrey Salmon had two sons and one daughter; his wife, Peggy, pre-deceased him. Geoffrey died on 29 April 1990 aged 82.
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SALMON, Lena (1882-1953) was not an employee of Lyons but her unstinting work in modelling the Lyons industrial welfare facilities more than justifies an appearance in these obituaries. Lena was born on 7 June 1882 and was daughter of Isidore Gluckstein. She married Harry Salmon (Managing Director of Lyons) on 3 November 1903 and died on 14 November 1953. There were three children of the marriage. During the First World war Lena Salmon, voluntarily took on the task of helping the wives and dependants of employees who were serving in the armed forces. When women began replacing men in the factories during the First World War, she opened a creche that could accommodate fifty children, and within a short time it was enlarged to take a hundred. It was a huge success. Then she found that the poor quality of clothing and the high price of material during the war, not to mention rationing, prompted her to form what was known as the Drapery Club, where employees could obtain clothing for themselves and their children at reasonable prices, if necessary by paying in flexible installments. This proved so successful that Lena Salmon persuaded the directors to open a Staff Stores in 1915 for the convenience of staff working at Cadby Hall. It soon became apparent that people living in the area would use Lyons' Staff Stores if they could, and so the shop was later opened to the public, though the name remained unchanged until 1956, when it was converted into a self-service shop and called Lyons Supermarket. In parallel with these developments she pressed her husband to establish a first aid department, staffed with nurses and furnished with all the equipment necessary for dealing with any unexpected injury within the large factory complex at Cadby Hall. The department, staffed twenty-four hours a day, had its own ambulance on constant standby to transport seriously ill or injured employees to hospital. Lena Salmon visited prisons and assisted in the rehabilitation of offenders by persuading Lyons managers to provide jobs when prisoners were paroled or released from their custodial sentences. She persuaded her family to establish welfare administrators specialising in such matters as financial help and loans, illness of dependants, hospital treatment, convalescent homes, health advice and payments for treatment, since the National Health Service had not yet come into existence. Sick visiting was also considered a vital part of the firm's welfare work: several experienced visitors were employed full-time to call upon staff in every part of London and sometimes delivered baskets of fruit and other items. During 1926 the number of visits to sick or injured staff exceeded 350 per month. Before the start of the Second World War Lena Salmon organized 'safe' housing and education, for many Jewish children escaping from Europe. She was a sincerely compassionate woman and best remembered for her positive achievements associated with the Lyons medical and other welfare services. They were provided at her instigation by quiet but forceful diplomacy and, it must be said, without her seeking any credit or limelight. These welfare services were a benchmark that other organizations replicated. Her work in providing shelter for Jewish children is also widely acknowledged.
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SALMON, Neil Lawson (1921-1989). was a grandson of both Montague Gluckstein and Barnett Salmon who, with Joseph, founded the Company in 1887. He was born on 17 February 1921 and died on 8 August 1989. In 1969 was made Managing Direct followed by Chairman in 1977. Neil Salmon joined the company as a trainee in 1938 starting his career in the kitchens of the Trocadero Restaurant as was normal for all the 'family'. He also spent some time at the Cumberland Hotel, Coventry Street Corner House and the kitchens at Cadby Hall. In 1946 he became responsible for the Ice Cream Department and soon afterwards the Oxford Corner House. Over the next twenty years he retained responsibility for the Ice Cream Department and built it up, by merger and acquisition, into one of the two largest ice cream businesses in the UK. In 1941 he joined the Army Intelligence Corps. After the war he was responsible for the Wimpy Bar development, Group Research & Development, Alperton Carton Company and Central Personnel. As head of Personnel he was responsible for the conversion of Lyons Mail, a magazine for members of the Lyons Club, into a Group newspaper for everyone working in Lyons. At the end of 1967 the first steps were taken to implement a plan, worked out over the previous two years, to alter the way in which the Group was run. The intention was to change from a family owned and controlled business to one of open managerial and entrepreneurial talents wherever they should be found. Neil Salmon, who had been appointed to the Board in 1965, became a Managing Director 1969. It was the start of a period of growth such as the company had not known before, even in its earliest years. In 1973 came the OPEC oil crisis and soaring interests rates on the world money markets and the Groups fortunes began a downward turn. In 1977 Brian Salmon retired as Chairman and Neil took his place. Eighteen months later Lyons were acquired by Allied Breweries Limited. Neil worked as deputy Chairman until February 1981 helping to integrate Lyons into Allied Breweries as the food division. He also master minded the reopening of the Corner House in the Strand which opened on 22nd June 1981. He also found time to participate in many outside activities, not least the British Industry of Management as well as being an active member of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. His appreciation of the arts and sciences ranged over a wide field. At the Annual General Meeting of Allied Breweries Limited on 21st July 1981 the meeting approved a change of name to Allied-Lyons plc. Neil Salmon was last of the family to serve J. Lyons & Company Limited at a senior level. He left a wife Yvonne and two children, Roger and Zoe.
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SIMMONS,
John Richardson Mainwaring, MA (1902-1985). Born on 19
March 1902 in Colombo, Ceylon where his father was a missionary
for the Church Missionary Society. After graduating from Cambridge
University in 1923 with a first class degree in mathematics he joined
J. Lyons & Company Limited as a statistician and management
trainee. He was put to work to improve clerical and accounting procedures
and reported to the Company Secretary, George Booth. In 1926 he
married Muriel Hare at the parish church of Wilton in Somerset,
the service being performed his father. An expert on management
systems, John Simmons was totally dedicated to improving management
information and revolutionized clerical procedures at Lyons during
the 1930-1940s which won him wide acclaim both inside and outside
the Company. He became Chief Comptroller in 1946 (a title used in
Lyons then to identify the one responsible for management accounts
and other economic information) and in 1950 was appointed an Employee
Director. In 1965 he was given ordinary Director status. John Simmons
is remembered for initiating and driving the LEO computer project
in 1949 against all odds but with the active support of his peers.
This project was brought to a satisfactory conclusion at the end
of 1953. In 1962 he was persuaded to write a book, LEO and the
Managers, Macdonald, which was subsequently adopted as part of
the Lyons' management training programme. John Simmons also played
a dominant role in the Institute of Administrative Management (founded
in 1915 as the Office Machinery Users Association). He joined the
organisation in 1933 and was a member of its Governing Council from
1934 until 1968, Chairman from 1938 to 1950, President from 1944
to 1950 and honorary Vice President until his death. The Institute
hon¬�ours his 52-year membership record with an annual lecture
in his name. John Simmons applied high standards to his work and
demanded the best from those working for him. He retired in September
1968 and died on 14 January 1985 in St Mary's Hospital, after a
series of strokes, aged 82 years. There were no children of the
marriage.
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STAMPER, Gordon MBE (1887-1948). Gordon Thomas Harwood Stamper was Manager of the Tea Factory at Cadby Hall and Greenford. He was born in 1887 and died after a short illness on 15 August 1948 aged 61. He was first appointed manager of the Cadby Hall Tea Factory at Cadby Hall in 1915 and subsequently moved to Greenford when that opened in 1920. He was actively involved in political and social activities and first joined the Hammersmith Conservative Association in 1905. In 1912 he won a seat on the Hammersmith Borough Council and remained a member until 1919. He subsequently served again in 1922 and 1925. In 1923 he became a Member of the Greenford Parish Council serving for three years. Immediately afterwards he was elected to the Ealing Town Council and was a member there for three years. He was Honoury Secretary of the Lyons Golfing Society when it was formed in 1919. In 1937 he was included in the King's Coronation Honours List and was awarded the MBE for his political and public services. He was a member of the Council of the Institute of Certified Grocers and for many years a Fellow and Chairman of the finance committee. He played a immense part in recruiting men for the Territorial Army and was founder Captain and Adjutant of the 20th Hammersmith Volunteer Regiment. His other public offices included the Vice Chairmanship of the Council of the Institute of Works Managers. He was a member of the Council of Federation of Management Association, British Management Council, the Industrial Coal Consumer Council, Ministry of Fuel, and the Industrial Welfare Society. He was also Chairman of the local transport group No. 2 London Transport Executive. He had two sons and one daughter all of whom work for Lyons.
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