Roy Earnshaw

Roy Earnshaw
Roy Earnshaw Photograph: PR

My father Roy Earnshaw, who has died aged 91, was an industrialist in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, and the author of a campaign in the mid-1970s that became known as Export Year.

At that time, the reputation of British manufacturing abroad was being damaged by industrial disputes that led to poor productivity and delays in completing orders. In 1968, Harold Wilson, the then prime minister, had endorsed a national campaign entitled "I'm Backing Britain", and Roy ran an exercise aimed at boosting exports at Turner Brothers Asbestos Company, where he was divisional general manager.

The entire staff was encouraged to understand their individual roles in achieving export targets and to take responsibility for ensuring the targets were met. It proved very successful and productivity was increased. Roy was appointed OBE in 1971.

He was then seconded to the British Overseas Trade Board advisory council, where he proposed an Export Year campaign. The idea was enthusiastically embraced by Lord Limerick, president of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, and Roy was seconded to the Board of Trade as adviser to the national campaign, which began in 1976.

The campaign lasted five years and involved Roy working with the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Edinburgh, Jack Jones, Len Murray and the prime minister, James Callaghan. Roy was promoted CBE in 1978. Export Year engendered a spirit of co-operation that improved the atmosphere as well as the competitiveness of the firms involved.

Roy was born in Liverpool, the son of a businessman. When his father's company failed in the early 1930s, Roy left school and took a job as a junior clerk at a firm of Liverpool shipbrokers. He soon realised that he would do better in one of east Lancashire's flourishing manufacturing firms, and in August 1939 he answered an advertisement for an export clerk with Turner Brothers in Rochdale.

Shortly after he took up this new post, war broke out and he was called up, serving with the Liverpool Scottish Regiment, and later, the Lancashire Fusiliers. He rose through the ranks and trained as an officer. He was eventually promoted to major, and spent the latter part of the war in India before returning to Turner Brothers, where he remained until retiring in 1976. The following decade the firm began to decline, faced with increasing numbers of claims from victims of asbestos-related diseases and the dramatic slump in the market.

In the 1970s, needing to be nearer London, Roy moved with his family to Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. There, in retirement, he was involved in local charities and organisations and enjoyed walking and cycling in the countryside. He was known for his winning smile, his cheerful and positive attitude and his ability to make other people feel special. He is survived by his wife Edith, myself and my sister Hilary, and five grandchildren.

Today's best video

Today in pictures

More from Other lives