Sir Derek Bibby

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Sir Derek James Bibby was born at Hooton in 1922. He was the son of Major Sir Harold Bibby, who was created a baronet in 1959. [1]

Contents

Early life

From 1935 to 1969 Sir Harold was chairman of Bibby Line; he was also Deputy Lieutenant for Cheshire and High Sheriff in 1934-5. After Rugby and Trinity College, Oxford, where he read Economics, Derek Bibby joined the Royal Artillery in the New Year of 1942. He was commissioned a few days before his 20th birthday, and his unit was posted to 331 battery of 133 Field Regiment of the 53rd Welsh Division. For almost two years they were employed on exercises at artillery ranges around Britain. Bibby fought through Belgium and Holland, once getting lost in a minefield in thick fog, and on to Germany. After the war Bibby joined the family business and was the fifth generation to do so. On his first day his father called him into his office and told the new recruit: “Never borrow any money, so that you can never go broke”. But the young Bibby disagreed: in future years he was prepared to borrow money, a calculated risk which some believe secured the long-term future of the business. [1]

Career

Shipping has always been one of the world’s most cyclical industries, and Derek had often considered diversifying outside the company’s traditional shipping interests in order to reduce its exposure to this volatility. The crises encountered from the late 1970s brought extra urgency to this vision. The board of directors took the view that if Bibby Line wished to remain in shipping then there was more to be done than simply strengthening the company’s shipping business. Initially, however, the diversification strategy was constrained by lack of cash, and the focus had to be on businesses that did not require equity. Bibby Line had already developed a financial services business in the 1970s through its leasing activities, and in 1981 it moved into debt factoring with the formation of Bibby Financial Services (BFS). The business provided companies that conducted a substantial number of transactions on a credit basis with finance against unpaid sales invoices. This was a very unstructured sector of the financial services industry at the time. It was operated from small, sole-proprietor shops spread around the country, which were competing with rather than leveraging the banking sector. BFS bought up these small businesses and began incorporating them into a financial network. In the following year, 1982, Bibby Line decided to expand its maritime business to include “coastels” (floating accommodation) and jack-up platforms (mobile drilling platforms used in shallow sea depths). [2]

In a battle for corporate survival, Derek Bibby set about rebalancing the company’s business model, reorganising its ownership and restructuring its management. Derek had a four-point plan:

1. Diversifying the business in order to reduce its reliance on, and vulnerability to the cyclical shipping industry.

2. Professionalising the business, including recruiting a non-family CEO to take over prime responsibility for managing the company.

3. “Pruning” the ownership tree to ensure closer alignment between ownership and management.

4. Setting up an ownership trust so that owners of almost 80 per cent of the business became trust beneficiaries rather than direct shareholders. [2]

Bibby Line Group

In 1970, Bibby Line was awarded the highest honour that can be bestowed on a UK company – The Queens Award to Industry and again in 1976 and 1982 with The Queens Award for Export Achievement and in 2001 for Enterprise. He more than trebled its overseas earnings and the total tonnage of the Bibby Line and exceeded one million tons in the 1970s. In 1985 he employed non-family member Simon Sherrard as Managing Director, later becoming Chairman, of the newly established parent company Bibby Line Group. Bibby Distribution (BDL) was also formed this year, which now operates 2,300 trucks and trailers, with 90 depots around the UK, and more than two million square feet of warehousing accommodation. By 1992, the company moved its head office to 105 Duke Street, a building dating from 1800.  The building became Liverpool’s first public library until 1860. Michael Bibby, the eldest son of five children to Sir Derek and Lady Bibby also joined the business this year as finance director for Bibby Line, before becoming Managing Director of Bibby Line Group in 2000. [3]

Death

His death was reported in the Guardian and the Indepedent, with the Indepedent reporting the following: "Sir Derek Bibby, 80, president of the Liverpool-based Bibby Group, was suffering from prostate cancer and leukaemia when he ladled the rat poisonover hot coals to produce a toxic gas, aluminium phosphide. The inquest at Wallasey Town Hall was told that Sir Derek's daughter, Jennifer, arrived at the family home in Willaston, Cheshire, on 9 October to find a note warning her to stay clear of the sauna and call 999. Firemen in protective clothing broke in and found Sir Derek slumped on the floor, barely conscious. He had mixed the rat poison with water in an ice-cream tub, was taken to Arrowe Park Hospital, Birkenhead, but later pronounced dead. The hospital's casualty department at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral was closed for 12 hours because of toxic fumes from the body. Doctors were unable to examine the dead tycoon because of the toxicity, but the Wirral coroner, Christopher Johnson, used the evidence of doctors and the emergency services to conclude that Sir Derek died of respiratory failure caused by aluminium phosphide.

The inquest was told that Sir Derek repeatedly said he planned to kill himself if his illness affected the quality of his life. The coroner, Christopher Johnson, recording a verdict of suicide, said Sir Derek appeared to have made a "clear and conscious decision to end his life". He added: "The manner and circumstances of his death leave me in no doubt that it was his intention to and that he did take his own life." [4] [5] [6] [7]

Legacy

He won the Military Cross for his service in the Second World War and after leaving the Army set up a youth club in Birkenhead. [4] Each Spring, people who travel along Hadlow Road on the Wirral, UK, are treated to the spectacular sight of thousands of daffodils in bloom. The daffodils are there thanks to the dedication of one man - Sir Derek Bibby. [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 Magazine, Wirral Life (2017-06-12). "An interview with Peter Bibby". Wirral Life Magazine. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  2. 1 2 Bhalla, Ajay; Lampel, Joseph; Banerjee, Aneesh (2015). "Regenerating a family business bibby line group through diversification and ownership governance" (PDF). Institute For Family Business. Retrieved July 17, 2022 .{{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Our Story". Bibby Line Group. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  4. 1 2 "Tycoon who had cancer killed himself with poison in sauna". The Independent. 2002-11-29. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  5. ↑ "Sick magnate turned sauna into suicide gas chamber". the Guardian. 2002-11-29. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  6. ↑ "Bibby's death caused hospital alert". 2002-11-28. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  7. ↑ Echo, Liverpool (2002-10-10). "Hospital drama after death of Bibby boss". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  8. ↑ Ltd, Not Panicking. "h2g2 - Sir Derek Bibby - Businessman, Philanthropist, Gardener - Edited Entry". h2g2.com. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
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