Saturday, August 16, 2025
I first met Graham over fifty years ago when he and his colleague, Peter Mills, invited a fledgling group of shipbuilding engineers to plan the redevelopment of Cammel Laird shipyard. Over the next six years we often caught the red eye flight from Newcastle arriving in time for his famous full breakfast meetings held in the shipyard canteen. The large Construction Hall, built as a part of this work, latterly gave birth to the RRS Sir David Attenborough, a fitting tribute to Graham's vision. I have had the privilege of his friendship and experienced the kindness, humour, honesty, transparency and sheer competence which was the mark of the man and such a breath of fresh air. He and Peter introduced me to Nova Scotia and its shipyards where we carried out a number of studies for the Department of Development and I have loved Nova Scotia ever since. I later worked with Graham during his chairmanship of British Shipbuilders. Subsequently, when four of us bought out Swan Hunter during privatisation, it was Graham negotiating on the other side of the table. He was my mentor and something of a father figure and I miss him dreadfully. My wife, daughters and I joined Graham and Ann for lunch at their house in Hantsport, sampling their wonderful hospitality - and of course Nova Scotian lobster. Graham was a great man and a great Canadian.