Joseph Mason And Co: Paintworks boss was the perfect gentleman

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Peter Ayre, the kindly boss of paint manufacturers, Joseph Mason & Co, died at the age of93. He was the last of three generations of Ayres who had run the company since 1871 and was described by friends and family as “the perfect gentleman”. He was also an astute businessman. Pat Parkin looks back at his life.

KINDLY ENTREPRENEURS: The Joseph Mason Paintworks, which was run by the Ayre family for more than a century

BENEFACTOR: Peter Ayre, of Joseph Mason Paintworks, who died last month

From left, Guy Copestake, Peter Ayre and Eric Copestake

ACTION MAN: Peter Ayre when he was a Lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals

THE days when factories were often run by kindly entrepreneurial bosses, who knew their employees by first name and took a personal interest in their welfare, were recalled when friends and family of Peter Ayre paid tributes at his funeral at St Alkmund’s Church, Duffield.

For the well-known Derby paint manufacturing business, Joseph Mason & Co Ltd, which his family ran for more than a century in Nottingham Road, Derby, was one of those types of places to work.

And for more than 30 years, when he was managing director and chairman, he was highly respected for his kindness and consideration to everyone.

Peter Ayre, who died at the age of 93, was the third generation of Ayres in the company, which was bought by his family in 1871. While he was always described as kind, generous and “the perfect gentleman”, he was also an astute businessman.

In 1958, he went to Lusaka where he established Joseph Mason Paints (Rhodesia) Ltd (later Zambia Ltd). Before leaving for Africa, he approached Royal Crown Derby to produce a sample crest for each company he was to visit, which brought so many orders for the china, it paid for the air fares for his family to accompany him.

During his tenure with Mason’s, the company gained a reputation as a technical paint specialists, with five depots covering the country.

Against tremendous competition, Joseph Mason Black was used by Rolls-Royce for all its black cars and, in Scotland, the Royal Family’s carriages were all painted with the company’s paint, bringing Peter a Royal Warrant.

The factory was one of the oldest in Derby, having been established in 1800 by the Mason family. It was bought by the Ayre family in 1871 and was sold 110 years later. Its well-known headquarters in Nottingham Road closed in 2002.

Peter Ayre was born at The Limes, Mickleover, and, after leaving Cheltenham College, he joined the family firm.

Typical of the company, a lavish party was held at Derby Assembly Rooms to which all Mason’s employees were invited to mark his 21st birthday in 1934.

There was a similar event in 1979, but this time it took the form of a farewell dinner-dance for Peter after the company had been sold and he had completed 15 years as chairman.

In between there had been other company get-togethers and staff trips, including one to London in 1950, to mark the 150th birthday of Mason’s, when they had a celebratory dinner and a visit to a West End show.

Peter Ayre was a man who usually managed to get his own way without offending anyone.

Before the war, when he had been forbidden by his mother to ride motorbikes, he got around the order by joining the TA North Midlands Royal Corps of Signals and becoming a despatch rider.

When the war came, he went to France in 1940, then the Middle East, before being taken prisoner of war for four years.

He was a lieutenant and must have been one of the few British PoWs to be bombed by his own side when the German submarine in which he was travelling, on the way to Italy, came under attack in the Mediterranean.

A quiet and retiring man, he was well-respected in the Derby business community and became well-known because of the countless charities and organisations in which he took an interest. They included St Christopher’s Railway Orphanage, the DRI Convalescent Fund, Toc H, Marriage Guidance, Derby Cathedral and Derby Canal Company.

He was also a JP and president of the Chamber of Commerce in its centenary year.

For many years he was a non-executive director of Derbyshire Building Society and a General Commissioner of Income Tax in the Appletree Division, as well as being the longest serving member of Derby Rotary Club. In 1977, he was awarded a Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal.

He spent his retirement fishing, travelling and gardening at his Duffield home, and leaves a widow, Phyllis (91), daughter Sally Woodward, and two grandsons, Christopher (28) and Paul (26).

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