Key figure who banged the drum for Telford in town's early days dies at 94

A key figure in the Telford story who led the charge to bring jobs and industry to the new town in its difficult early years has died at the age of 94.

Bob Tilmouth was also a director at Telford United in the 1970s in a period in which the club attracted a prestigious player-manager - England's 1966 World Cup hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst.

Mr Tilmouth was appointed the commercial director of Telford Development Corporation in 1971. The corporation was tasked with developing the new town which had been created in east Shropshire in 1968.

His role involved banging the drum for Telford, highlighting the benefits to business of the new town, with a pitch which included the offer of low-rent factories, a stable workforce, good communications and readily available housing.

It was a challenging decade in which traditional metal-bashing industries were disappearing and unemployment rose. Mr Tilmouth's successes in promoting the town to industry and attracting new businesses were against a backdrop of closures and job losses.

He would leave to return to his native north east in 1980, having put in the hard yards as Telford welcomed in a new decade which would see a flood of foreign investment.

In Bob's penultimate year in Telford the corporation dealt with a record number of industrial inquiries, both from overseas and the UK, and was letting on average one factory a week. In 1979 it let over 500,000 square feet of factory space, and around 70 companies either came to the new town or expanded out of existing premises, creating 872 new jobs.

During his time at Telford United the Bucks Head hosted almost the entire 1966 England side in a match celebrating the club's centenary in 1976.

After leaving Shropshire Bob was general manager of Washington Development Corporation, and was part of the team which successfully attracted Nissan to Sunderland. He was awarded the OBE in 1994.