Sir John Laing (1879 - 1978)

In the early years of the twentieth century, building workers had a hard time. There were no machines like cement mixers, cranes and diggers, everything had to be done with muscle power and in all sorts of weather. Very few employers thought about their workers. Businesses operated on the principle of buy cheapest, sell dearest.

John Laing realised that this was not what Jesus taught. Jesus' instruction was "Do for others what you would like them to do for you." (The Bible, Matthew chapter 7 verse 12). So he always looked after his workers.

A workman on a building site was hard at work winding a crane by hand. Although working well, his thoughts were not really on his job.

John Laing came by. "You're not looking well. What is the trouble?"

"My wife is ill, and has been in bed for several days. I have to see to the children each morning and do all the housework before I start work here at 7am."

"Where do you live?" asked John Laing, who then left the site.

An hour or two later, he came back. "You are needed at home," he said, "take two weeks off with pay". When the man went home, he found that John Laing had been there and left five pounds on the table.

Building sites are very dirty places, and the men have to eat where they can.

Two men were having lunch in a canteen on a Laing site. "Do you really expect us to eat this stuff?" they jeered as they queued for their food. Dodging the rain which came in through holes in the roof, they found a table and started to eat.

"The old man is visiting the site today. I bet he won't be sitting in this rotten canteen eating this rubbish," said one.

They took no notice of a man in an old raincoat who was sitting nearby, but he listened carefully to what they said. The next day, a new roof was put on the canteen and better food was provided! The man in the raincoat was John Laing, finding out how his men lived, and doing his best to improve their lives.