Obituary


Sir Matthew Goodwin 1929 - 2012


Publisher Robert Aplin pays tribute to an industry legend.


It is with huge sadness that we have to report that Sir Matthew Goodwin, the leading and most respected figure in the entire history of the plant hire industry, passed away on Wednesday, 10 October, at the age of 83.


When I first had the monumental privilege to interview Sir Matthew Goodwin at the end of 1989, he told me that his move into plant hire started by accident in 1961. At the time, Matthew Dean Goodwin was a partner at a Glasgow firm of chartered accountants. ‘A client and old school friend Alan Stewart, who ran a building company, came to me and suggested that together we bought a machine and hired it out when he didn’t require it himself for his own business.We bought the machine from Frank Jamieson and it went on hire and stayed there for the best part of two years, at the end of which I couldn’t understand why everybody hadn’t got involved with the hire business.’


The name Hewden came from putting together the last three letters of Matthew and adding Den, which Sir Matthew told me was a common mis-spelling of Dean. In this way Hewden (Plant Hire) was formed in 1963. At almost the same time Ronnie Stuart started his earthmoving plant hire business in Cambuslang and moved into crane hire. ‘It was in 1968 that I met Ronnie Stuart on holiday and suggested that we put the two companies together. It was a remarkable deal. Nobody argued over price because it really didn’t matter.’


After the merger Sir Matthew became Financial Director and was appointed Chairman in 1980. In the 1989 New Year’s Honours List, he became the first - and only - plant man to be knighted. Having indelibly stamped his own accounting principles on Hewden Stuart, the company became the undisputed leader of the plant hire industry, building its business upon a rock of Scottish granite. His emphasis on cash generation and the wisdom of his approach was exemplified by the comparative ease in which Hewden Stuart not only rode out the early 1990s recession, but used it to assert and expand its market leadership.


Interviewing Sir Matthew again at the time of his retirement in June 1995, he reiterated, ‘right back to time immemorial, our philosophy has been based on the fact that cash is king.We had to be able to pay the wages a year out and, from day one, we were always looking longer term than most people.’


5


It was to be another eight years before I heard from Sir Matthew Goodwin again. Following my interview with the then senior management at Hewden Stuart in April 2003, Sir Matthew wrote a hand-written letter, which clearly expressed his anger at the way his beloved company was now being run.


‘For many years there was a slogan in my office that read “the only thing that matters is people”. How true, especially in a service industry like plant hire. It is the people in the depots who run the machines, know their customers and the problems associated with a breakdown in the middle of a December night on a Welsh mountain. I find it difficult to accept that the wholesale destruction of an experienced management team makes for a successful hire company.


‘In conclusion, I can only express my sympathy to all those (many of whom were known to me personally) who have lost their jobs and careers in Hewden Stuart. I am, however, certain that their training and experience in Hewden Stuart will be welcomed by many of the smaller units in the industry, who, if they maintain their flexibility, common sense and dedication to service of the customer, will continue to prosper.’


I last heard from Sir Matthew in December 2007, when he sent us a cheque for a substantial amount of money in response to EHN nominating Marie Curie Cancer Care as our chosen charity for the 2008 Executive Hire Show.


My interviews with Sir Matthew were the highlights of my publishing career. To be able to spend several hours both times in the presence of this industry legend are unforgettable experiences. Over the last 30 years, I have had the privilege to interview many of the leading executives in our hire industry, but none come close to matching the stature of Sir Matthew.


Sir Matthew made a phenomenal contribution to the development of the plant hire industry. Without a shadow of doubt, Hewden Stuart has never been the same since he retired. As a true industry legend, he will be sadly missed.


We send our condolences to his surviving family and to those in the wider Hewden Stuart ‘family’ who are grieving at this time.


• See also Catherine Stratton’s comments in City News on page 15.


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