The Prof: A life forged in nuclear

John Fyfe is one of the friendliest people you could ever wish to meet. Stood outside his house, a beaming smile across his face, waving excitedly, he greets me like an old friend. This is my first time meeting John – or The Prof as he’s affectionately known – but it feels like we have known each other for years, such is the welcome. By the end of the afternoon, it is me who is left with the broadest of smiles, in awe of a man who has helped shape so many communities at home and abroad.

To many in the nuclear industry, The Prof needs no introduction. He spent several decades driving socio-economic development in the North West and Scotland, was heavily involved in the establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, building into it their socio-economic responsibilities, and was also the very first patron of the Nuclear Institute’s Young Generation Network, which he describes as one the “proudest moments in my life.”

He is best known, though, for his four-decades long regeneration work in West Cumbria, which he started in the mid-1980s and which would earn him a CBE. John was instrumental in setting up what was at the time a radical model of community partnership, which is now the standard practice of ensuring all stakeholders, including government, businesses and local authorities, are working as one for the greater good of the community.

It’s a model with its roots in the communities where the young Prof grew up, with his early years in Dunfermline heavily shaped by the coal industry, and which would shape his politics too. By the age of 26, he was a trade union leader, with stints in several mining communities, including Aberfan.

“The South Wales pits had a big impact on me, especially when they were closing,” he says. “I could see my childhood rearing its head again. But what do you do when the pits close? Nobody was thinking about when you closed this pit or that pit, what happens to the community?”

The British Coal Enterprise (BCE) was hastily set up to assist in the economic regeneration of coalfield areas, with John on the board, but it was too little, too late to help the pits, so with a fire in his belly and a renewed sense of purpose, he went about trying to fix things.

He recalls a conversation with the Deputy Prime Minister, Willie Whitelaw and Sir Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher’s Press Secretary, at which Whitelaw said, “ ‘Haig Colliery, the last coal mine in Cumbria, is going to close. Have you tried out any of these mad ideas of yours on partnerships and community regeneration?’ I said yes, so he asks me to go have a look up there. That was 40 years ago this September. And the big conclusion I came to then was that the nuclear industry had an opportunity to do what coal never did. It had time, time to do regeneration properly.”

From then on, John vowed to do all he could to promote greater harmony between those in power and the communities they governed. He sees industry as a force for good, sustaining jobs and livelihoods, but stresses that a long-term vision is needed to give these communities certainty and hope.

“Energy policy is at the heart of economic development,” he tells me, “Successive governments haven’t done enough of a long-term view.” It’s a statement as true today as it was sixty years ago, and it goes to the heart of the Prof’s thinking.

John’s plan for West Cumbria, centred around the area’s strong nuclear links, consisted of five key actions: Set up a science park, establish a university, attract funding, especially from Brussels, regenerate areas like Whitehaven and Workington, and establish a West Cumbrian development agency which would re-skill workers leaving the sector, including helping them to set up businesses. It was UK’s first fully fledged community partnership.

“There were problems in the community, something had to be done which hadn’t been done before” he told Whitehaven News in 2010. “Instead of giving a bit of money to a running track here, a bit to the rugby league club there, was there not a better way to harness the BNFL input for the benefit of the whole community? I came up with a suggested solution which was a partnership approach.

“It’s very important we diversify through research and development along with other aspects of energy and environment. Nuclear new-build has to be a catalyst. We have a wonderful opportunity to get that ship moving so quickly – it will transform this community over the next five years. The opportunities are there and we must not look a gift horse in the mouth.”

It led to the creation of the Westlakes Science and Technology Park, which now houses the University of Central Lancashire’s Westlakes Campus. Last year, the main building was renamed the John Fyfe building, a fitting tribute. Whilst he is grateful for the accolades, what he is most proud of is the shift he saw in people locally.

“Getting people to believe in themselves, irrespective of politics has been one of the big challenges in my life,” he says, and I can see that he really means it.

It’s a mantra John has taken all over the world, including in his work in helping to drive developing countries towards self-sufficiency. He was responsible for parts of the Government’s Aid Programme which supported the Commonwealth countries, shaping new and radical aid policies focussed on tackling inequalities. Such was his influence that he found himself taking on the training of new leaders to have a greater responsibility for their socio-economic policies, including Nelson Mandela.

“My wife Liz never saw me! Six months every year I’d be in the South Pacific or in Africa, in Tanzania or Zambia, or in jail with Mandela in South Africa.” John used textbooks from the Open University – an institution he helped set up as a trade unionist in the 1960s – to teach Mandela on Robben Island and the two formed a very special bond. Go to Robben Island today and you will still be able to see the material John took out of the prison library.

John was given three students to train by Mandela, among them Cyril Ramaphosa, now the President of South Africa. “His background was coal – he was a trade union leader, and he still very often calls me on a Sunday to catch up” he tells me. He points to a framed picture of him and Liz with Ramaphosa which was taken when the leader came to the UK on state visit, but he made sure he arrived a day early, so he could take the pair out for lunch.

In 2010, he said: “After [Mandela] was eventually released from Robben Island I would still see him (in one or two more comfortable prisons) to talk and tell him about the work I was continuing for the ANC outside South Africa, including London where I helped Labour ladies like Barbara Castle and Judith Hart with the peaceful rallies and the lighting candles. I also made the soup and handed out the teas, but again it was preaching partnership. It worked in South Africa.”

From Cumbria to Cape Town, John has spent his life helping people and communities in need of support and guidance and has taken his learnings and socio-economic policy thinking all over the world. He has imparted his wisdom on students at several universities including Harvard, Manchester, Amsterdam and Oxford, where he first met a young Tony Blair, with the pair striking up a close friendship that is still going strong today.

It is easy to see why John is so admired among his peers – he has a trusting demeanour, a warm heart and an inquisitive nature. It is a joy to be in his company. For the Prof, his friendships are sacred and have allowed him to accomplish a great deal throughout his life.

“You can achieve things with other people if you work with people who have similar values and similar thoughts,” he says, “but never think you can do it on your own because if it’s something big then you need support, whether it’s in a marriage, or developing a science park, peace in South Africa or to get tribes to work together in the South Pacific. No individual can do that. It needs to be a team effort.”

I could have stayed and chatted to John for many more hours, and when the time comes to leave he tells me that his door is always open for a chat or a cuppa, and I encourage anyone who has ever crossed paths with him, to take him up on that offer.

Now in his 80s, the Prof spends his days enjoying the nature that surrounds his home, which he does in between collating his life’s work on partnerships for socio-economic development, in the hope that his experiences could be used by current or future generations. “That,” he says, “is what keeps me going.”

Iolo James is the NIA’s Head of Communications. 

This article was first published in the summer issue of Industry Link.