Jim had ran Acme since he & Peter founded the company in 1965. After 40 years at the helm, he decided that the time had come to hang up his hat and play golf a bit more. Jim handed over the reins to Alan Lowe, the then Operations Director, who had worked for Acme since 1970.

In reality, Jim had taken a reduced role for several years before that, giving Alan further responsibility in the lead up to the transition. The transition was seamless.