He keeps the wheels moving

OUR Administration Controller, 55-year-old LESLIE LEWIS, is the man who keeps the wheels turning for ATV.

“I suppose administration is something I have always liked. Probably because I’ve got a methodical sort of mind,” he says reflectively.

Mr Lewis was born in London and was educated at Highgate School. He left school early to study in Switzerland and is bilingual in French and English. He started his career in his family’s business of woollen merchants.

This gave him many opportunities to travel — to France, Belgium and Germany. But work was not the only thing that occupied him at that time. In 1926, he joined the Territorial Army and served in the Honourable Artillery Company until 1936.

Then he found a new leisure interest — motor racing at Brooklands. “I shared a succession of cars with a friend. We had an Alta, an M.G. Magnette and an E.R.A. [English Racing Automobiles – Ed] And we won some races,” he recalls.

But after a time another sport beckoned — “I decided to take up flying”. And it was while he was learning to fly at Hatfield that he met his future wife. Mr Lewis’s wife, Andrée, is French, and they were married in 1937.

In August 1939, he was recalled to his regiment and in February 1940, commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Welsh Regiment. After some time, when he had reached the rank of Major, he was seconded to a War Office experimental training scheme.

Then he was posted to the Middle East where he joined the Forces Broadcasting Service as administration officer. “We were just setting up the service then — starting it from scratch” he says.

When he came home he returned to the family business but on the death of his father in 1955, Mr Lewis joined ATV.

“It was pretty hectic in those early days” he says. “I was a jack-of-all-trades — I looked after personnel, insurance, the maintenance of our various buildings.

“I even worked the teleprinter and on occasions I serviced duplicating machines and moved furniture.

“Our most chaotic period was when we moved into Television House while it was still being adapted for our use. Nothing was working properly, no heating, no water and at times no lighting, except Tilley lamps and candles!”

His Philosophy

His philosophy about administration is simple: “The Administration Department of any large company should function as a team, with every member pulling his weight no matter how heavy or light. Unless everyone does his job, the internal organisation could very easily break down”.

He does not believe in an accumulation of charts and statistics for their own sake. He uses them only when they are functional. He describes the job of the Administration Department as “servicing all the other departments of the Company”.

He has never regretted joining ATV. “I enjoy working for this company,” he explains. “It’s exciting — I never know what I am going to cope with next.”