TO HIS horror, Alf Sutton, a born Tory supporter, found his company A B Sutton & Sons with its 44 vehicles nationalised under the Labour party’s widesweeping changes in 1948.

May 10 2008 by Peter Elson, Liverpool Daily Post

Although he claims he never took the voluntary purchase, he procured £387,000. Aged 41, he briefly considered retiring on this very substantial sum, but his wife, Ada, would not hear of it.

Instead he drove the business forward as part of British Road Services and it was regarded as the best division.

After road haulage was denationalised in 1954, supported by Pilkington Glass, Alf bought a fleet from BRS and set up Sutton & Son (St Helens) Ltd. Initially he had 18 vehicles, but by 1968 Suttons had 222 vehicles

The traditional local industries continued to thrive and Suttons carried huge loads from the leading local companies such as Pilkingtons and ICI.

However, Suttons usually bought capital equipment outright and this fast expansion over 14 years caused a severe cash-flow.

This led to big changes and the company’s bank insisting on a chief executive and non-family senior managers.

However, it also ended Alf’s micro-management and one man’s instinctive ability to sense trouble and resolve it.