In the 1970s I trained in insolvency and at the time Laurence Crowley was the doyen of the banks when it came to liquidation. So I honed my training as an accountant basically learning how to close down businesses with Laurence as my boss. He had a certain charisma in an unusual job. People listened to him and he had a way of disarming people. And obviously in a situation where you have people basically losing their jobs you needed a certain amount of style and compassion.

What was his management style?

He absolutely gave you your head. He gave you responsibility. He basically put you in charge and held you to account. He met us once a week. He was always well prepared, had excellent notes from the previous meetings. Yes, we checked back with him, but only to the extent that we needed to. It wasn't that he was abdicating making decisions, but basically he had a team around him and he knew how to use that effectively.

How did it feel to be given such responsibility?

He was tough as nails. You could be balled out of it for not performing, but the next day it was all forgotten about. Basically you felt chastised but motivated to move on. It was a great experience for me. I was a first year junior who in another situation would have been a ticker and totter, making the coffee. But I sat with him and basically learned at his knee. I felt like I was unworthy, yet he treated me with the same respect he treated the big business leaders of the day.

What do you remember most about that time?

That people were understandably emotional. We had situations where our people were locked in offices. We had pig slurry poured on cars. We were in high crisis situations and Laurence was the public figure. He certainly was not the most popular person when he arrived in a rural town and the major employer was about to go under. But he had the ability to calm situations and to bring a rational approach to all concerned. He exemplified the old maxim that if you can keep your head when everyone around you is losing theirs then you'll be a man my son!

So in conclusion?

I and the twenty or so others who worked there, to a man and a woman would share the view that he was the most influential businessmen that anyone of us every worked with. We all learned more from the few years spent with him than in any other job.