Crisis , what crisis? The significance of the 1973 Oil Embargo

1. Crisis, what crisis? The significance of the 1973 Oil Embargo Jessica Gray PhD Candidate in the Department of History University of Leeds hyjg@leeds.ac.uk

2. Paper Outline Crisis, what crisis? The nature of crisis and the extent to which it was shaped by other considerations and concerns. “Common-Sense” conservation? The extent to which the existence of crisis was able to generate behavioural change. Marks and Spencer: A Retailers Response An evaluation of the significance of the commercial response, in particular the measures and attitudes of Marks and Spencer.

3. Crisis, what crisis? • S.O.S: The Initial Crisis • Save It: The 1975 Campaign • The National Trade Balance • Defining the Crisis • Domestic Energy Use

4. S.O.S: The Initial Crisis 15% reduction in oil supplies in the immediate wake of the embargo. - Dominic Sandbrook, ‘Doomwatch: 73 – 74’, The 70s, BBC 2, May 2012.

5. Save It: The 1975 Campaign ‘today, one third of the way to 1980, Britain is in…a most unexpected …energy glut which will last as far ahead as one can see.’ - The Economist, 1976.

6. The National Trade Balance The energy situation ‘has a disproportionately large effect on the national trade balance, and incentive for government to influence energy usage will be very great indeed’. - J.C. Davidson November 1974

7. Defining the Crisis Crises are more than the initial events themselves. Their constituent parts are made up of incremental factors which combine to shape our perceptions and our sense of crisis..

8. Domestic Energy Use Cited in George F. Ray and Jenny Morel, ‘Energy Conservation in the UK’, Energy Economics (April, 1982), p. 83.

9. “Common-Sense” Conservation? • The Government’s Energy Agenda • The Impact of Domestic Price Rises • The Proximity of the Crisis to the Individual • The Government’s utilisation of Marks & Spencer

10. The Government’s Energy Agenda ‘Its objective is to change fundamentally the attitudes and behaviour of all energy users, on the assumption that energy for the foreseeable future is going to become increasingly scarce and expensive.’ - David Fishlock, ‘Government launches drive to conserve energy’, Financial Times (1975).

11. The Impact of Domestic Price Rises ‘The real price of energy has risen since 1973 by a factor of five at the macro level and only by less than one at the micro level’ - Ray and Morel (1982), p. 84. ‘It will be necessary for prices to increase by much larger amounts, perhaps doubling or trebling again from now current rates’, if changes in behaviour are to take place.’ - J. C. Davidson November 1974

12. The Proximity of the Crisis to the Individual ‘Only Government can engender both the sense of urgency and the actual urgency that is needed’. - Central Policy Review Staff, Energy Conservation (1974).

13. The Government’s utilisation of Marks & Spencer Reproduced courtesy of The Marks & Spencer Company Archive

14. Marks & Spencer’s Response to the Crisis • Energy Costs and Savings • House Keeping Measures • Research and Development • Leading By Example • The Lexis of the Household Economy

15. Energy Costs and Savings Reproduced courtesy of The Marks & Spencer Company Archive

16. House Keeping Measures Reproduced courtesy of The Marks & Spencer Company Archive

17. Research and Development Reproduced courtesy of The Marks & Spencer Company Archive

18. Leading By Example ‘Marks and Spencer have taken the lead in the past. This is another occasion on which we should be able to set a valuable example to the country whilst benefiting ourselves.’ • Chairman Marcus Sieff, November 1974 ‘By making better use of energy they demonstrate social responsibility as well as financial common-sense.’ - Letter to Marcus Siefffrom the Master of Churchill College, Cambridge, The Times (1974)

19. The lexis of the household economy ‘Waste not want not’ – St Michael News, June 1974. ‘We can’t afford to rest on our laurels. Either at work or at home. We must not relax our efforts because we’ve got to save for our future now!’ – St Michael News, June 1977. ‘A switch in time – could save £½ million’ – St Michael News, February 1975. ‘“Save It” at home as well as at work’ – St Michael News, February 1980. ‘Which is why, just as a family does, M&S is always looking at ways in which it can keep the bills down’ – St Michael News, August 1987.

20. Summary • There was a clear sense of crisis in the wake of the 1973 oil embargo. • By 1975 this sense of crisis was increasingly shaped by wider factors and concerns. • The ability of crisis to generate behavioural change in the long term is limited without additional influence and conditioning. • Marks and Spencer visibly engaged with the topic of energy conservation and sought to place itself within the wider national trajectory. • The Company also made a clear effort to initiate wider behavioural change by cultivating a clear parallel between their own efforts and that of the householder.

21. Bibliography Primary Source Material: ‘Energy through pressure’, Economist, 26 June 1976 (London: England), pp. 62 – 63 The Central Policy Review Staff, Energy Conservation: A Study by The Central Policy review Staff (Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, July 1974) Archival collections: The Marks & Spencer Company Archive John Lewis Partnership Archive Collection Sainsbury Archive The National Archives Contemporary Literature: Ray, George F., and Jenny Morel, ‘Energy Conservation in the UK’, Energy Economics (April, 1982), pp. 83 – 97 Secondary Literature: Sandbrook, Dominic, ‘Doomwatch: 73 – 74’, The 70s, BBC 2, May 2012