The Jobbing System of the London Stock Exchange: An Oral History

Ref.No.:   1	Playback No.:

Interviewee's surname:   Bisgood	Title: Mr
Interviewee's forenames:  Cecil James	(Jimmy) Kirwan
Date of birth: 2 January 1916	Sex: Male

Date(s)  of recording: 12 December 1989, 15 January 1990

Location of  interview:   Home
Name of interviewer: Bernard Attard
Type of recorder: Marantz CP 430
Total no.   of tapes:  4	Speed:
Type of tape:   TDK SA 60	Noise reduction: DBX
Mono or stereo: Stereo	Original or copy:   copy
Additional material: Copyright/Clearance : No Restrictions

SUMMARY  OF  CONTENTS:

The first part of the interview was accidentally erased. The unerased portion starts at 389 
on the counter of tape 1, side 1 (the point indicated in the summary). The first part of tape 1, side 1 takes up from tape 2, side 2. The material that was re-recorded is on tape 3, side 1.

Tape 1, Side 1

Contangos; 'cash and new';jobbers as a source of market intelligence example of broker asking James Bisgood's opinion; jobbers creatures of instinct and feel; contrast with analysts; case of jobber dealing in the wrong stock; Harold Strachan; story of Strachan challenging a jobber he disliked; Kit Hall; Charles Purnell; Col. Side of de Zoete; put through to establish a tax loss; Jeffrey Perkins of Grieveson Grant: explanation of method used by a client to establish a tax loss; market officials; main strengths of the jobbing system; strength of the people, always able to make a price. Markets in which Bisgood Bishop dealt during the 1930s; relationship with "shunters"; absorb firm run by Williams; typical day as a dealer in the late 1930s.

Tape 1,  Side 2

Describes typical day during late 1930s; atmosphere when walking into Stock Exchange; explains 'limits'; describes mechanics of dealing; dealer who comes to deal with James Bisgood for first time; story of broker requiring assistance of Bank of England as example of goodwill in the Stock Exchange; assistance to jobbers given by Esmond Durlacher; characterises the Stock Exchange; resumes description of a typical day (now from the perspective of a partner); partners' meetings; relations with staff; Director of a company who tells his girlfriend to sell the shares he has given her; Coal & Allied's spurious coal to oil conversion system; final stages of a typical day; dealing after hours; making a market in Ford shares on a Saturday; dealing in a rights issue at the squash club on a Sunday; wartime experience and military service; returns to Bisgood Bishop at the end of the War; senior partners in Bisgood Bishop until James Bisgood becomes Senior Partner; Stock Exchange during the war; digression to Monopolies and Mergers Commission's investigation of proposed merger between Bisgood Bishop and Smith Brothers; post-war development of Bisgood Bishop; Bisgood Bishop's dealing team; James Bisgood1 s responsibilities as a partner; what made a jobber; Esmond Durlacher; dealing - post World War II contrasted with pre-war; changing type of client; effect of decimalisation; early experiences as a partner.

Tape 2,  Side 1

Expansion of Bisgood Bishop; assistance of the banks (National Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland); stock borrowing; the expansion of the firm; growth during the 1930s; growth post-World War II; difficulty of getting into new markets eg. breweries; objections to jobbers trading outside their previous stocks and sectors; relations with other jobbing firms; relations with brokers; growth in the size of the firm, 1960-1980s; problems caused by the retirement of elderly partners who took their money out of the firms; leads to change in Stock Exchange rules to allow firms to become unlimited liability companies; five-year cycle of good and bad years; planning by , partners at the beginning of each year; merger with a shipping firm (Philpott Jupe) (Cowper); possible merger with Smith Brothers; general description of jobbing system; contraction in the number of firms; the reason for the large number of firms; the uses of the smaller jobbers in the gilt market; functions of small jobbers; case of a partner who decided he wanted to become larger, but still expected the privileges of a small jobber; decline of small jobbers; Bisgood Bishop always a market maker; originally undid a lot of business in Birmingham; reminiscences of Bertram Bisgood and Harry Bishop: Coventry and Birmingham start to go to Bisgood Bishop; characteristics of firms which survived with reference to Bisgood Bishop; case of dealer who returned from holiday and discovered that his firm had closed down; Bisgood Bishop becomes incorporated; problem of capital; outside shareholders regard Bisgood Bishop as purely an investment.

Tape 2, Side 2

Involvement of shareholders in Bisgood Bishop; capital problems of jobbing system not as great as thought; retirement; changes in Stock Exchange during his career; importance of the senior dealer in broking firms (Charles Purnell, Perkins); case of senior partner who had gone on dealing for too long; type of people who became jobbers; qualities required to be a successful jobber; digression to 'positions', "running a position1, 'cutting a position'; the Ford deal and cutting positions in Ford shares; mechanics of dealing; sources of information, with reference to the Ford deal; shops and shop brokers; limits; partners from the 1930s made their way through the ranks; description of various markets; gilts, gold, Americans, leisure, oil, industrials, breweries, open outcry markets; necessity of brokers having experts in every market; Poseidon; relations with brokers; case of broker taking advantage of James Bisgood when he was a young dealer; contangos.

Tape 3, Side 1

Birth on 2 January 1916; parents; family background; education; career prospects; how he obtains a job with Bisgood Bishop; establishment of the firm by his uncles; partners and markets during the 1930s; characterises Bisgood Bishop; markets are central during 1930s; describes various offices of Bisgood Bishop; argument between Harold Bishop and Strachan; tensions caused by the absence of members of firms during World War II; first jobs in Bisgood Bishop/becomes a blue button and attaches himself to Strachan; waiters; unauthorised dealing as a blue button; becomes an authorised clerk; outbreak of war; the Morris deal.

Tape 3, Side 2

The Morris deal and importance in the development of the firm; general description of jobbing system;  importance of confidentiality; checking by letter;   small  jobbers and niche markets;  effect of political climate during the 1930s; effects of a crisis on dealing; Post World War II history of Bisgood Bishop and jobbing; Joint books; unmarketable stocks;  value of a board member as a source of shares in his company;  shops;  minimum spread agreements.

Tape 4, Side 1

Minimum spread agreements; decimalisation; price agreements; put throughs; relations between jobbers towards the end of single capacity; attitude of jobbers to the jobbing system; brokers; pressures on single capacity; work as a market official; Stock Exchange examination board.