A Distinguished Civil Service Career and Global Trade Expertise
School leaver
After Leaving Minchenden Grammar school in 1962, Barry Harding received a provisional place to study history at Leeds University. However, his A-Level results were stronger in languages, and Barry was offered a place studying French instead, which he declined. After working at a bank for a few months, Barry accepted the Civil Service Commission offer of a post as an Executive Officer (EO) in the Public Record Office (now the National Archives) in 1963, thus starting his career in the civil service at age 19 As a PRO EO, Barry got an extensive overview of Whitehall as a whole and its workings. He successfully applied for a job in organisation and methods (O&M) in the newly formed Ministry of Technology (despite failing a computer aptitude test!) When MinTech was dissolved after a year he was transferred to the Board of Trade O&M Unit where he was surrounded by colleagues who were a grade or two above him; his career was advancing at a fast rate when he was given Substitution Pay to HEO at 21.
Overseas Trade beginnings On substantive promotion, Barry started his specialisation on overseas trade, and began his love of foreign travel. The Country was broke in the late 60s and so the Government prioritised export promotion. Barry became responsible for U.K. trade fairs in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The job required Barry to travel behind the Iron Curtain and to the Middle East – challenging.
An amusing story during this time is when Barry was due to travel to the then Czechoslovakia (which the Soviets had just invaded). Barry’s wife asked him about his security briefing. Barry couldn’t go into details about the briefing; however, he shared that the KGB and Czech equivalent might try to compromise him with women sent to his hotel room for “favours”, whilst being covertly filmed. Newly married, Barry’s wife responded: “Good gracious me, you must go down to Marks and Spencer’s immediately and buy some new underwear if you’re going to be filmed!” The Middle East also had its moments. One time when organising a British trade pavilion in Baghdad, Baathist activists ( soon to be Saddam Hussain’s regime) stuck anti British posters with the regime’s propaganda over the Union Jack signage decorating the outside of the British Pavilion. Barry and his colleague started ripping down the posters with the Iraqis armed with Kalashnikov rifles looking on and flicking the safety catches on and off.
A big project that Barry worked on as special events manager was the British Week in San Francisco, in which the city centre went British for 10 days. He was in San Francisco for just under two years for the project with a tremendous number of resources thrown at it. Many prominent people attended the event, including Princess Alexandra. Furthermore, Barry had to organise, with his Vice Consular rank facilitating with the US authorities, 100 British Army bandsmen from the Royal Artillery and Royal Scots, alongside 12 English Policemen (Bobbies). The event included an exhibition of the City of London Gold Plate collection, a number of very expensive art pieces, two London buses and a fashion show from Mary Quant. Last year (2023) Barry and his wife revisited the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco which he had selected 50 years before for Princess Alexandra, for whom his wife had stood in at a rehearsal! A highlight in 1971 was being lent a Jensen Interceptor for 2 weeks to help project the British image.
Policy and PRU
After the tiring but very enjoyable San Fransisco event, Barry returned to the Department of Trade and Industry and took a policy job to gain the policy experience necessary for his career to progress. Barry eventually got a temporary promotion via the Civil Service Pay Research Unit (PRU), and his Assistant Secretary did not even offer his congratulations. Barry would use the negative experience with his boss to ensure that he was supportive of his staff as he progressed.
With the PRU, he was part of a team that went into to private companies all around the country to gauge how much people were getting paid and what type of other benefits employees received. This was part of the then Civil service system to ensure Civil Servants were paid fairly backed by factual data. On one occasion when visiting a water company a dozen or so condoms came out of the briefcase with the clipboard. After hastily explaining they had been a parting gift from the last company visited, namely London Rubber, the female Personnel Director didn’t say a word but left the room. Should he stay? Eventually she returned with a glass of water and the words “best I can do!” A change of government caused the PRU to be dissolved, leading Barry to return to the DTI.
Overseas Trade Policy
After another spell on trade promotion Barry earned a further promotion to work on Multilateral Trade Negotiations in GAT T, which would eventually be renamed the World Trade Organization. He would engage in negotiations regarding the Tokyo Round, something that was mentally taxing but very valuable in gaining skill and experience – and frustration with the EU Commission who were by then ultimately responsible for Britain’s trade policy. Eventually in 1980, Barry moved to Geneva – technically on loan to the Foreign Office to represent the UK implementing the trade agreements he had helped negotiate. He worked there with his family for 5 happy years although security fears because of the wretched IRA arose from time to time. His 2 daughters were mainly educated in English but conversed freely in French at the International School. In a restaurant on one occasion his younger daughter, then about 6, said “Daddy, Daddy there’s a man over there speaking French with an English accent, just like you do”.
After working in Geneva, Barry returned to the DTI in London in the mid-1980s to head the section responsible for trade relations with Southern Africa. His brief was to endeavour to maintain trade with South Africa, whilst keeping strong commercial relations with other nations in the region, most of which he visited. The job came with considerable pressure due to the political tensions and departmental differences. Barry earned few friends in the FCO and Cabinet Office! In one day, his team received a record 11 parliamentary questions. Barry even had his name read out in Parliament during his time for promoting trade with
South Africa
After his work on Southern Africa, Barry was promoted to Assistant Secretary and was loaned to the British and South Asian Trade Association and visited Pakistan and India regularly. He then returned to the DTI in London to head a task force with diverse industry responsibilities including the Redundant Steelwork Scheme in Sheffield. He attended numerous Brussels EU meetings to try to protect the U.K. steel industry against unfair subsidised competition from within the EU but felt undermined by Europhile ministers. The unease which he felt about the EU increased.
Privatisation!
Becoming disillusioned with certain parts of the work he was doing, Barry opted for early retirement at the end of 1995 at age 51. Upon retirement, Barry decided, after securing agreement from the DTI, to set up a consultancy in overseas trade, specialising in broadening the market for British businesses worldwide. Furthermore, Barry was also heavily involved in a charity helping to look after spotted cats (mainly cheetahs and leopards) across Southern Africa, particularly in Namibia, which he visited regularly. Barry and his wife Margaret, Thomas Cook trained and with her own tour operation complete with an ATOL, also arranged wildlife tours in the region, particularly through building relationships with zoos across England. They found rhino tours particularly popular and could not imagine how endangered these magnificent creatures would become with the changes of governments in the region.
No longer a political eunuch (friends quipped they did not realise it was reversible!) he worked initially with Sir James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party and later Nigel Farage and UKIP where he advised on international trade, especially with William Earl of Dartmouth when he was an MEP. Barry unsuccessfully ran for Parliament in 2010 and remained fully active to secure the Brexit result in 2016. The largest commercial contract Barry won was through the Crown Agents for the Asian Development Bank to head up a consultancy team in Pakistan with an office in the Pakistani Ministry of Commerce in Islamabad. An interesting and challenging project but Barry decided not to bid for a second phase after a car bomb destroyed much of the hotel he lived in when he was in Islamabad. Fortunately he was in England at the time. On one occasion he was asked for his passport so he might be introduced and because of his Hertfordshire place of birth was introduced as the Bishop of Stortford!
Real Retirement
After some time, Barry would wind down his consultancy work and he and his wife would sell their travel business and build a house in Georgia, USA on the coast and become long distance snowbirds with their U.K. base in Somerset. Barry and his family enjoyed the Georgia house for five and a half years, but eventually moved back full time to the UK after the location became unfeasible from a family perspective Their worldwide travels continue, often letting the cruise ship take the strain. The DTI continues to have an annual retirees lunch in London and Barry endeavours to attend and encourages any retired Board of Trade or DTI staff to come along.
The advice Barry gives for retirement is to enjoy the activities which you never had sufficient time to indulge while you were working full time. Charity work can be particularly fulfilling and smaller charities can be especially in need of administrative and fund-raising help. Barry built the model railway he had always hankered after and never had time to build. YouTube link https://youtube.com/@barryharding1842si=ZBlGS_ritUycKEBG
If you want to bring in a little income, consultancy can be remunerative using the skills you learned in your Civil Service career. But ensure you secure the necessary agreement from your former department if there might be any conflict of interest and be fully up front. Regarding consultancy, he advises to charge high initially and negotiate discounts to get the best rate for yourself. Furthermore, general retirement advice, includes the obvious such as taking exercise, staying on top of your health and getting your jabs, as well as keeping the brain engaged and not becoming a vegetable in front of daytime TV.
He hopes that doesn’t sound too preachy!