Scots businessman who saved troubled Ratners chain from bankruptcy

Born: December 10, 1930;

Died: October 31, 2017

JAMES McAdam, who has died aged 86, was an influential businessman who made his name in the British textile industry but was also known for saving the jewellery firm Ratners from bankruptcy following its chairman Gerald Ratner's notoriously disparaging remark about some of their products.

His was an extremely unusual achievement in business, having joined the industrial thread manufacturer J&P Coats after the war in 1945 as an errand boy. From there, he rose through the company and 40 years later was appointed chief executive of what by that time had become Coats Patons.

He was born in Cumbernauld, the son of a forester and a strong Highland mother, and loved the country life; he was happiest working with Clydesdale horses but even happier when tractors arrived. He left school when he was 14 without telling his mother to take up a permanent position on the estate where his father was a forester.

However, his independent Highland mother (she was from Lybster) was furious and did not want him working full-time for the laird in a feudal system. She pressurised her daughter Jean to find him a job in Coats where she worked and the young James started there running errands. At the end of his first week he was heard to pronounce "They're paying me this for just running the messages!"

He went on to run the wages from Glasgow to Paisley every week and was spotted by a couple of kindly ladies in the Paisley mill who lobbied for him to be given a chance in the costing department as he was quick with figures. He was forever grateful to them. Years later when he was involved in an advisory capacity with Paisley Technical College he was a keen advocate of vocational training and people being given a chance to work themselves up from the bottom irrespective of their backgrounds

James was quickly flourishing in the cost department which is unsurprising: he had a formidable facility with numbers, and a remarkable attention to detail. Having served in a financial capacity in Portugal, Spain, Chile and India, he came back to a senior management position in Glasgow in

1970 following an investigation that he successfully and doggedly carried out in the Philippines, undeterred by an earthquake.

From there he progressed to become chairman of Coats Patons UK, was appointed to the main board in 1975 and became chief executive in 1985. This was no mean achievement given that most of his contemporaries who might have challenged for the top position were Oxbridge graduates. He had moved to London in 1986 and into the prestigious offices in St George St and then Savile Row when the company later became Coats Viyella.

From 1991 to 2008, he was chairman of the British Clothing Industry Association where he was instrumental in re-invigorating it, and in 1993 he also became the first chairman of The British Apparel and Textile Confederation, again with a very positive impact. This work led to him being awarded the CBE in the 1995 birthday honours for services to the British textile industry.

There were sometimes difficult times for the company, in what was the beginning of the end of the British textile industry as we knew it. As a result, as chief operating officer, Mr McAdam now had the unwelcome and daunting challenge to retrench with multiple factory closures and redundancies.

After his move to Ratners, he went straight into a battle with activist shareholders, better known at the time as vulture funds. These were tough and uncompromising people, but they met their match in James McAdam and his new board, who, following extensive and difficult negotiations, were able to salvage better than expected terms for the shareholders. Mr McAdam played a dominant role in this achievement and subsequently displayed great leadership and judgement in chairing and rebuilding the company.

Part of this process involved cutting out unnecessary costs. Gerald Ratner, in his autobiography, described James McAdam as being akin to the jailer, Fulton MacKay, in the sitcom Porridge as he swept away the excessive executive perks like the helicopter and the limousines. Soon after becoming chairman, Mr McAdam took over from Gerald Ratner as CEO before retiring finally in 2006, leaving the business, now renamed Signet Jewellers, in rude good health.

Mr McAdam was also the successful and highly respected non-executive chairman of Bisley Office Furniture for many years, even after he retired from Signet.

He was a proud Scot and a man of principle, integrity, drive and presence, who was true to his roots. He never lost his accent, he never lost his interest in anything to do with Coats or Signet.

His last 10 years have been difficult both for him and the family. Latterly, he also had to care for Maisie, his wife of over 60 years, who was partially bedridden for a number years before her death earlier this year.This stimulated his personal involvement with the Carers Trust.

Sadly, he started to suffer from loss of his valued memory and the onset of Alzheimer's about nine years ago, which was to cause him enormous frustration. Nevertheless, with the constant and dedicated support of his daughters Catherine and Fiona he soldiered on bravely.