By Jim and Guy Loveridge
2024 review by Autolycus
Once again, Jim and Guy Loveridge have brought into the limelight an unsung hero of the British motor industry – following their books on such important but lesser-known personalities as Lionel Clegg of Mintex, Alan Hess of Austin, Roger Nathan and Mike Wilds.
Reg Bishop was the publicity man behind the launch and worldwide promotion of a string of famous products of the Nuffield Organisation – and later of BMC. But his career contained an even more fascinating mix of motor industry experience. Born in 1904 in Leyton in northeast London, from the mid-1920s he worked in sales, service and publicity for Guy Motors and the Star Motor Company. During the 1930s he managed publicity and press relations for Singer, Morris and Standard. With very little demand for these skills during World War II, he turned his management gifts to the highly effective running of a Repairable Equipment Department of the RAF. After the war he resumed his advertising and publicity work for the Nuffield Group marques of Morris, Wolseley, Riley and MG and in November 1951, with the merger of the Nuffield Group with Austin, became General Publicity Manager for the whole group.
The strength of this book is that it was essentially written in the first person by Reg Bishop; Jim and Guy Loveridge discovered, through their extensive network of contacts in the industry, Bishop’s draft memoirs, written by him after his retirement in 1963 but never published before his death in 1980. It is not clear how much they have edited those drafts, but the result is an outstanding piece of work. It is beautifully written in a highly readable style. It gives the sort of detail that only the person who was there, and lived every moment, could give. Bishop worked closely with some of the most famous people in the British motor industry, not least Lord Nuffield (William Morris) and Sir Leonard Lord. Just one example of his work is a press visit to Australia that he organised in 1955 for Sir Leonard, by then BMC’s chairman, to publicise the group’s investment there. The list of journalists who went with him is in the book and shows that he pretty much knew everybody in the motoring press, newspapers and society periodicals.
It is impossible to summarise here all the stories, backed up by facts and figures, that are told in the book from Bishop’s first-hand experience both in the UK and in major export markets. I can only heartily recommend that anyone with any interest in the history of the British motor industry should read the book. It is modest in size (roughly A5) and pages (216), but it packs into this small volume an enormous amount of information and insights into the planning and execution that went into launches and continuing publicity in a fascinating period before and after World War II.
The book is illustrated by photos and reproductions of publicity material and correspondence. The restricted size of the pages makes some of these difficult to read, but print quality is excellent – so you can use a magnifying glass!
Publisher: Douglas Loveridge Publications, Moss View, 85 Warburton, Emley, Yorkshire, HD8 9QP
Price: £30.00 plus p & p direct from the publishers or from many outlets.
Description: 216 pages, hardback with illustrated covers. 220mm x 140mm. Illustrated in black & white and colour.
ISBN: 978-1-900113-22-9
Leave a Comment