A TRIBUTE TO LEN RAWLE
Len was many things in his lifetime, Student, Soldier, Consultant, family man,… but I believe one of his greatest contribution was to be responsible for the setting up and development of UCSL - Unilever Computer Services.
UCSL was what was known as a Service Bureau, - a company that provided computer based services to customers for a fee.
The seeds of UCSL began in 1968/9 in a consultancy exercise carried out by Len for Unilever on the desirability of amalgamating a number of Unilever computing departments so as to achieve economies of scale and increased professional competence. The “Powers that Be” accepted his recommendations and invited him to be Chairman of such a company. He called it Unilever Computer Services. They also accepted his recommendation that such a company should sell its services to third parties, as a way of ensuring product excellence.
So in 1970, UCSL came into being with the amalgamation of three Unilever Computer Centres in Blackfriars, Merseyside, and Welwyn. It based itself at Station House in Wembley.
UCSL was to exist for 15 years before it was taken over by a company called EDS. It was very successful! The number of people working for it rose from 150 to 600. Revenues increased every year until by 1984 they stood at £16M, ( that would be £44M in today’s money). It made a profit in every year after the first one.
During the 14 years between 1970 and 1984, Len brought his considerable persuasive skills to the task of acquiring some complementary businesses,
This last one was a different development. Some of you might have been the victims of traffic wardens who enter your car registration numbers and time of arrival in such a device and issue you with a ticket if you exceed your allotted time. That might be one of Len’s less popular legacies.
In 1984 Unilever decided that it would concentrate on its Core consumer goods business, and sell off all those businesses deemed Non-Core. It subsequently disposed of some thirty businesses, including UCSL. In the event UCSL was sold to EDS, a large American service company, and became the spearhead of its European Operations. Many of the staff stayed on and became very successful. EDS was itself later bought by General Motors, and then the GM operation was bought by Hewlitt Packard. One or two UCSLers have followed all this change and are still there.
UCSL was a vibrant, young and exciting company. I was its Marketing Director and at the age of 35, and was regarded as one of the old hands. Many of its alumnae prospered both within EDS and without. There is now an active UCSL web site with 77 former employees exchanging reminiscences, and arranging meetings. All of this was done spontaneously by former employees, and I think reflects the affection they had for UCSL.
So Len created a memorable business which has affected the lives of many of us. Certainly, mine would have been very different if I had not gone to that interview at Station House on 9 June 1970.
So what did Len “bring to the party?” I think this can be summarised under three headings.
Leadership.
He had a clear and ambitious vision of where he wanted the company to go, and how to get there. He made this clear to all of us. His negotiating skills were legendary.
Determination.
He was never discouraged by initial rejection, or temporary adversity. He was masterful at persuading Unilever to support us.
Charm.
He was never overbearing, (an unfortunate trait in many Chairmen). He was eminently approachable and he was always calm and impeccably well mannered.
When I told my German Tymshare colleague that Len had died, he replied in a one line E-mail,
“Len, he was a Gentleman”. Indeed, Len was a Great Man who achieved much.
Peter Jones, 23 August 2012.