Sir

John Banham
Born
John Michael Middlecott Banham

(1940-08-22)22 August 1940
Cornwall, England
Died9 August 2022(2022-08-09) (aged 81)
EducationCharterhouse School
Alma materQueens' College, Cambridge
OccupationBusinessman
Title

Sir John Michael Middlecott Banham DL (22 August 1940 – 9 August 2022) was a British businessman. He was the chairman of the major brewer Whitbread from 2000 to 2005, and also chairman of ECI Ventures and Johnson Matthey.

Biography

Banham was born on 22 August 1940,[1] and raised in Cornwall, where his father worked as a surgeon and his mother as a National Health Service (NHS) administrator, and was educated at Charterhouse School, and Queens' College, Cambridge, where he gained a first class degree in Natural Sciences.[2] He worked at the Foreign Office for two years before moving to Reed International and then McKinsey and Co.[2]

Banham was an avid sailor, participating in the 1979 Fastnet race, on a Contessa 34 when the yacht was hit by Force 11 winds some 90 miles off Land’s End. Of the 303 starting yachts, 80 had to be saved, 24 were abandoned (of which two were retrieved) at least 75 boats capsized and five sank. Running before the storm, and navigated by a submariner, the boat managed to make its way unaided to Milford Haven.

He was the first controller of the Audit Commission from 1983 to 1987,[3] and was then Director General of the Confederation of British Industry from 1987 to 1992.[2][4] In 1992 he became chairman of the Local Government Commission for England that led to a large-scale local government reform in England.[5] He was knighted in the 1992 New Year Honours.[6]

He was chairman of Tarmac from 1994 to 1999, and the chairman of Kingfisher plc from 1995 to 2001.[4][7] He became the chairman of Johnson Matthey in April 2006.[8] He has also acted as chairman of West Country Television and as a non-executive director of both National Westminster Bank and National Power.[4]

In 1987, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bath,[9] and an honorary fellowship from Queens'.[10] Banham was an active freemason.[11] He was a deputy lieutenant of Cornwall.[12]

Banham died on 9 August 2022, thirteen days before his 82nd birthday.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Birthdays", The Independent, 22 August 1994 (Banham was 54 on this date)
  2. ^ a b c Cope, Nigel (2001) "Sir John Banham: Is this the most confident man in Britain?", The Independent, 4 June 2001, retrieved 1 February 2010
  3. ^ "Sir John Banham obituary: Forthright industrialist who was a scourge of Whitehall overspending as chairman of the Audit Commission and later led the CBI". The Times.
  4. ^ a b c Cope, Nigel (1995) "Sir John Banham to head Kingfisher", The Independent, 16 October 1995, retrieved 1 February 2010
  5. ^ "BANHAM IN DERBYSHIRE DEAL WITH GOVERNMENT", Local Government Chronicle, 7 January 1994, retrieved 1 February 2010
  6. ^ United Kingdom list: "No. 52767". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1991. p. 2.
  7. ^ Griffiths, Katherine (2001) "Banham quits but denies Kingfisher rift[dead link]", The Independent, 7 May 2001, retrieved 1 February 2010
  8. ^ "John Banham", Chemistry & Industry, 1 May 2006
  9. ^ "Honorary Graduates 1989 to present". bath.ac.uk. University of Bath. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  10. ^ Honorary Fellows
  11. ^ "Time to lift the apron: Pressure is mounting for the Freemasons in big business to reveal all". The Independent. 19 September 1992.
  12. ^ "No. 55423". The London Gazette. 8 March 1999.
  13. ^ "Sir John DL BANHAM". FuneralNotices.co.uk. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
Political offices Preceded byTerence Beckett Director of the Confederation of British Industry 1987–1992 Succeeded byHoward Davies Business positions Preceded by Chairman of Kingfisher plc 1995–2001 Succeeded by Preceded by Chairman of Whitbread 2000–2005 Succeeded byAnthony Habgood
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