Sir Alex Jarratt

Life President

Sir Alex Jarratt - Life President

Sir Alex Jarratt C.B. D.L., was educated at the Royal Liberty Grammar School, Essex.

After War service in the Fleet Air Arm, Sir Alex attended the University of Birmingham, where he graduated with First Class Honours as a Bachelor of Commerce.

Sir Alex joined the Civil Service in 1949 as an Assistant Principal, and served in various departments, including the Ministry of Fuel and Power, the Treasury, the Cabinet Office, the National Board for Prices and Incomes and the Department of Employment and Productivity. He resigned from the Civil Service in 1970, by which time he was a Deputy Secretary, and entered industry as a Managing Director of the International Publishing Corporation, subsequently becoming Chairman and Chief Executive. He was also appointed in 1970 to the board of the parent company, Reed International Limited.

From 1974 to 1982, Sir Alex was Chairman and Chief Executive of Reed International. He relinquished the post of Chief Executive in October 1982, but remained as Chairman until August 1985. Between 1985 and 1991, he was Chairman of Smiths Industries plc and then continued as the senior Non-Executive Director until he retired in November 1996.

Amongst his other activities Sir Alex is Life President of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution. He is also involved in a number of charitable activities, including the Rank Prize Funds Trust, St. Francis Hospice, Haveringatte-Bower. He is president of the Mid-Essex Medical Academic Trust and is a Friend of the College of Physicians.

Previous activities have included being Director of Goodyear (UK) Limited, Associated Communications Corporation, Imperial Chemical Industries PLC, Midland Bank (Deputy Chairman), Prudential Corporation (Deputy Chairman) and Thyssen Bornemisza; Member of the National Economic Development Council; Chairman for the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution; Chairman of the CBI’s Economic Policy and Employment Policy Committees; Chairman of the Industrial Society; Chairman of Henley Management College; President of the Advertising Association; Vice President of the Institute of Marketing; Chancellor of the University of Birmingham and President of the Periodical Publishers Association.

Sir Alex was knighted in 1979 and awarded the Companion of the Bath in 1968. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Essex in 1995. He holds the following honorary degrees: D.Sc. (Cranfield), D.Univ., (Brunel), LL.D., (Birmingham), D.Univ. (Essex).

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Companion of the Institute of Management. He has the Hon. Insignia of the City and Guilds Institute, is an Hon. Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and is Hon. Vice President of the British Red Cross (Essex).

Sir Alex is married, with two daughters and a son, and lives in Fryerning in Essex.

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