My uncle, Bill McNally, who has died aged 89, was an industrial chemist whose leadership and work in pipeline protection helped gain two Queen’s Awards for Export and Technology (now known as the King’s Awards for Enterprise) for Metrotect Industries, the company in Bootle, Merseyside, where he worked for nearly 40 years. Bill was also a devoted husband, a proud father figure, and a quietly remarkable man.
Born in Bootle, to Owen McNally, a Liverpool docker, and Eva (nee Rimmer), Bill was raised with a strong work ethic and a sharp mind. He attended Bootle grammar school for boys and the Liverpool Institute for Boys, before joining the local tar works in Bootle (which later became part of Lanstar Coatings Ltd) as a lab technician. He began studying for further qualifications while working full-time – an early sign of the determination that would define his life – and eventually gained a licentiate in chemistry.
