My father, Jim Gardner, who has died aged 94, was a leading light in local government in the north-east of England from the early 1970s until the 90s, particularly as chief executive of Tyne and Wear county council from 1973 until its dissolution in 1986.
In that role he became well known locally for leading the negotiation team that helped to bring two big Japanese firms, Nissan and Komatsu, to the region – an achievement for which he was dubbed “the job finder general”, or alternatively “Tokyo Jim”.
