Peter Spendlove, like many P&I club managers of his generation, trained as a barrister after graduating from Cambridge, while Tom Bowsher went straight into the West of England Club after attaining a degree in a maritime business and law from Plymouth University.

There have been hints that Bowsher was being groomed to be the West of England Club’s top manager for some time, with TradeWinds suggesting in July that there appeared to be significance in his appointment as senior director.

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