Allan MacGregor Smith
Allan MacGregor Smith K.B.E. (1871-1941)
1941 Obituary [1]
Sir ALLAN MACGREGOR SMITH, K.B.E., M.A., LL.B., whose death occurred on 21st February 1941, rendered valuable service to the engineering industry during his distinguished career. Since 1887 he had been closely associated with the Engineering and Allied Employers National Federation, and during the difficult period, after 1918, and indeed until his retirement on account of ill-health in 1934, he conducted on behalf of the employers many difficult negotiations with the trade unions, and the number of agreements he arrived at were considerably more than those made before the war of 1914-18.
He provided industry with new material for bringing wage questions to the test of facts, by preparing statements showing the selling prices and details of production cost referable to the Employers Federation as a whole. During the war of 1914-18, he took active steps to accelerate the output of shells and fuses, and negotiated with the trade unions the Shell and Fuses Agreement. He was appointed by Lord Kitchener to serve on the War Office Armaments Output Committee and was also a member of a number of committees and commissions set up by the War Office, the Admiralty, and the Ministries of Munitions, Reconstruction, and Labour.
In 1918 he was created a K.B.E. in recognition of his public services. Sir Allan was born in 1871 and educated at Glasgow Academy and University where he graduated M.A. and LL.B.; and in the early part of his career he was in practice as a solicitor in Glasgow.
He was elected a Companion of the Institution in 1923 and was Unionist M.P. for South Croydon from 1919 until 1923.