There have been many radical changes in the newspaper industry in the past six decades – but at the Birmingham Post there has been one constant.
The man sporting the second most recognisable pair of mutton chops in the region – just behind Noddy Holder – has now been associated with this newspaper for more than 60 years.
Winston Churchill was the prime minister when Russell Luckock, chairman of Birmingham pressings firm AE Harris, first saw his name printed in the Post.
He has now written his weekly column on business and civic matters for decades but it was actually a photograph taken by him in Libya on September 24, 1954 which first introduced him to readers.
It is a remarkable achievement in a remarkable career – he is still working at the age of 80, no less than 38 years after he was advised to retire because of kidney problems.
But the industrialist, who started working for AE Harris in 1955, does not believe in retirement and plans to continue writing for as long as his mind and body allow it.
“I love that when you write something it immediately becomes a first – nobody has ever done it before,” he said.
“I had regularly commented for the Birmingham Post and Mail but then about 25 years ago former Post business editor John Duckers rang me and asked me to do 500 words on something or other.
“From then on he rang more and more and eventually it became something I did 50 times a year.”
Mr Luckock was in Tripoli with the Royal Core Signals when he was first published in the Post.
He had joined because of his interest in radio, but it was to be other media where he made his mark.
He actually tried to return to Libya three years ago but was turned away because of his journalistic links – he has often contributed to ITN, the Broad Street Journal in Barbados, and to this day remains a regular feature on Sky News. He describes himself as “the only teetotal journalist in the UK” and claims it was his exposure on Midland television which led to him keeping his trademark whiskers intact.
He explained: “When I was at ITN, Jon Riley threatened me with the sack if I shaved the whiskers off.
“He said people were comfortable with what they got used to seeing – which is why Vera Lynn never changed her hair.
“The whiskers were a total accident. I had a huge cyst which I kept having to go and get drained at Dudley Road Hospital.
“One day the nurse there said ‘I have had enough of doing this’ and scooped it all out and said I wouldn’t be able to shave for six months and it was just at the time when I was starting to get involved with the TV station.
“I also had young children at the time – they wouldn’t recognise me if I shaved them off.”
The longevity of Mr Luckock’s dual career is something of an achievement considering he was told he would be consigned to a wheelchair in the early nineties because of severe osteoporosis. At the time, he had decided to slow down and moved to live in Hope Cove, in Devon. But, unsurprisingly, his life of leisure did not last long and he was soon back as the face of Midlands industry.
Looking back on his years in industry he identifies the strikes and three-day week of the early 1970s as a key period, while Dr Beeching’s railway revolution was also of major significance. “The last recession was by far the worst, but the three-day working week was devastating to cashflow,” he said.
“Dr Beeching was very unhelpful. What he did affected so many companies in this area.
“And a lot gets said about the effect of unions but we have had some very bad management, like that leading to the demise of Rover and LDV.
“What happened at Rover should never have happened. If they had taken the opportunity with Jon Moulton, Rover would still be here today.”
Of all the city leaders the father-of-three and grandfather-of-seven said he best remembers those who spoke from the heart.
He said: “I suppose with my journalistic hat on, the people in high places I thought were sincere were Shirley Williams and Clare Short.
“That has nothing to do with politics – I thought they really believed in what they had to say.
“I think Albert Bore is a very sincere person. He upsets as many people in the Labour back benches as he does the Tory back benches, but he means what he says.”
Mr Luckock may be the longest-serving employee at AE Harris, but the Jewellery Quarter firm boasts many other long-term members of staff. Deputy chairman Jean Lowndes has been with the firm for almost as long. The business has 50 employees but once saw staff numbers as high as 175. It now makes four out of five bus drivers’ seats in the country and has previously supplied more than 300 parts to Rolls-Royce.
“I came in for a fortnight to help them out in 1955 and I am still here,” Mr Luckock said.
“Jean came in as a press operator, damaged her finger in the press, came up to the office and we haven’t been able to cope without her since.”
He added: “I have never believed in retirement. I could have sold this business time and time again.
“In the 60 years I have been here we have never had an overdraft – everything here is bought and paid for.
“We haven’t grown to great heights, but the one thing you can’t make is land. I bought the factory when we moved from Camden Street in 1965.
“Because we own three sides of the street my daughter said to me we could claim the street, so I wrote to Birmingham City Council and now we own the street.”
The AE Harris factory has made it a favourite with television producers being used to film Father Brown, Doctors and the final scene of Hustle.
