British Rail in the early 1980s – The Swansong of Corporate Identity

Mervyn joined British Rail after university in September 1973 as a Traffic Management Trainee based in the Doncaster Divisional Management Office. His first two roles after training were Traffic Assistant at Shirebrook and then shift manager of freight operations on Tees-side based in Tees Yard. He moved south in 1979, becoming Area Passenger and Parcels Manager at Broxbourne and then Regional Parcels Manager South based at Liverpool Street. In 1983 he became Area Manager Shenfield, then Area Manager Stratford and finally Area Manager North Thameside (based at Southend Central).

He left BR in late 1985 and joined Deloitte Haskins and Sells as a management consultant in logistics, specialising in the defence sector. Merger and acquisition activity saw the firm become Coopers & Lybrand, Price Waterhouse Coopers and finally IBM. He retired in early 2012.