Arthur was from a large family of 10, and in his earlier years, life was a huge struggle for all of them. However, he managed a good Grammar School education and became interested with (then still relatively new) radio/wireless. During World War II, he was one of a secret team making concealed radios/transmitters for use by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the airforce.
Following the war, he was asked to set up a new loudspeaker factory in Wales (Truvoice - part of Phillips) and instigated the first flow-line assembly, along with various test procedures. In 1957 he moved back to London area and was the service manager for Goodmans Loudspeakers in Wembley.
In 1966, I met Arthur for the first time when collecting some 12" and 18" speakers, which had been reconed by him, for the band I was in and a friendship developed (like that of a favourite uncle). The journey over to Wembley for recones was a regular feature of the band and explained why we were all broke most of the time!
In 1971, Goodmans moved to Havant and Arthur (given his full retirement package early) started a small recone/repair company and called it Wembley Loudspeaker. The first year was spent in a temporary shed in Goodmans' car park, after which it moved to a grubby little basement right on Shepherds Bush green. It was at this time I met up with Arthur again and started to help out whenever possible.
Arthur was an amazing man, always wanting to help people and always becoming the centre of attention with his wonderful sense of humour. He also liked a song - many a time he could be heard - one of his best being "Bridge over troubled water " which he always related to urgently-needed repairs. Many of his 'showman' and 'sound system' customers remember him fondly - and many of them are still going strong.
Arthur was one of those special people who it is an honour and a privilege to know.
(Paul MacCallum, managing director, Wembley Loudspeaker)
