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Business & Entrepreneurs

Aldis, Arthur C W
1897
Inventor of the Signal Lamp, otherwise known as the Aldis Lamp. The lamp was a visual signaling device for optical communication (typically using Morse code) - essentially a focused lamp which can produce a pulse of light.

Ashley, Cedric
1954
Industrialist.

Bird, Alfred Frederick
c.1867
Chemist and food manufacturer, son of Alfred Bird, the inventor of Bird's egg-free custard powder and baking powder; proprietor of the family firm of Alfred Bird & Sons Ltd; MP for Wolverhampton West 1910-1922; Kt 1920, created Baronet 1922.

Brode, Andrew
1959
Executive Chairman, RWS Holdings plc (a leading patent translation and search company); donated £2.5 million towards the establishment of the Modern Language Department at KES

Collins, J E H
1939
Chairman of the Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance Ltd.

Cotton, Jack

1919

Property developer, who became the dominant figure in the world of property development in Britain. He was responsible for many large buildings in England as well as the Pan Am building over the Grand Central Terminal in New York.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Dawes, Edwin Sandys
c 1856
Kt, JP; founder of the shipping firm of Grey, Dawes & Co, associated with various other shipping companies in Australia and New Zealand, Director of the Suez Canal; created KCMG in recognition of his services in the development of Queensland.

Docker, Frank Dudley
1870s
Industrialist, working in the family varnish and paint business, and later a director of BSA (Birmingham Small Arms), arms manufacturer which grew into a leading cycle company; CB 1911; played cricket for Warwickshire; presented a boat to the Shackleton Polar Expedition of 1912, in which the party reached Elephant Island after their ship became stuck in the ice.

Ellerman, John Reeves
c 1876
Kt, baronet, CH; left KES at 14, did articles as chartered accountant and founded his own firm; began buying businesses and ultimately combined a number of shipping companies into Ellerman Lines, created baronet for his contribution to British shipping needs during the Boer War; also had substantial interests in collieries; at death, believed to be the richest man in England

Ensor, Arthur Hinton
1907
Vice-Chairman, Lloyds Bank (1955-1963).

Evans, Russell W
1939
Managing Director and Chief Executive, Rank Organisation (1975).

Garraway, Brian P
1946
Chairman of Regulatory Board of Lloyd's insurance market.

Genders, John Elton
1933
Chief Personnel Executive for Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance Ltd; Vice-President, Institute of Personnel Managers (1972-1974); chairman of the Central Committee of Help the Aged and of Brackenbridge House.

Goodman, Barney
1941
Co-founder of Mothercare.

Grierson, Duncan
1987
Entrepreneur; corporate lawyer; tennis blue at Cambridge (1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992) and Warwickshire county champion. He is the founder of a waste recycling and green energy company, Sterecycle (www.sterecycle.com).

Instone, Ernest Martyn Critchley
c 1890
Pioneer of the motor industry, joining Daimler in 1896 and later becoming commercial manager

Kington, Brian
1954
A long career with IBM, in their development laboratories and in their education and training operation and external relations with Education and Science; member of the Society of Industrial Liaison Officers; consultant in educational and business partnerships.

Laister, P
1946
Chairman and Chief Executive, Thorn EMI.

Lawley, Edgar E
1900s
Founded Lawleys, a chain of china shops later sold to Royal Doulton; friend of Sir Alexander Fleming, played key part in ensuring penicillin became available as a medicine by negotiating contract with manufacturers Beechams on Fleming's behalf

Lomax, David
1954
Foreign Office, subsequently Chief Economist, National Westminster Bank.

Lucas, Oliver
1907
Grandson of Joseph Lucas, became a director and ultimately managing director of Joseph Lucas Ltd.

Maltby, Colin C
1969
First-ever OE President of the Oxford Union (1973); Banker: Chief Executive, Kleinwort Benson Management Ltd

Osborn, John
1962
Former CEO of Alexon Fashion Group, donor of a large number of Assisted Places for musicians at KES

Perry, Percival Lea Dewhurst
1894
Kt; worked in motor industry from 1900s, established relationship with Henry Ford, head of Ford Motor Co in England as from 1911; raised to peerage as Lord Perry of Stock Harvard in 1938; served as deputy controller of food production in World War I, CBE 1917, KBE 1918; appointed business adviser to the Ministry of Food 1939

Plenderleith, Ian
1961
Second Deputy Chairman, London Stock Exchange; Director of the Bank of England; former Deputy Governor of the South African Federal Reserve; former member of Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (1997-2002)

Pugh, Charles V.
1886
Industrialist and automobile pioneer. Founded Whitworth Cycle Co, which later merged with Rudge Cycle Co. Chairman of the Lanchester Engine Co (later the Lanchester Motor Co) from 1899. Also Chairman of the Atco motor mowers company

Quincey, James
1983
CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, based in Atlanta, Georgia

Richards, Martin
1957
Executive Chairman of MVA Group, transport planning consultants; awarded OBE for services to transport planning; editor of the journal Transportation.

Ruddock, Paul
1976
Kt; Chief Executive of the Hedge Fund, Lansdowne Partners, which he co-founded in 1998; previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Schroders; knighted in 2012 for services to the arts and philanthropy. Chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum and a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; has supported a number of charitable causes including the V & A, the British Museum and, of course, the Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Performing Arts Centre at KES.

Scopes, Frederick
1911
Kt, Chairman of Solid Fuels Iron Works, Chairman of the Solid Smokeless Fuel Federation.

Southall, Stuart
1976
Co-founder of the Punter Southall Group in 1988 and Chairman of the Association of Consulting Actuaries 2010-2012. School governor from 2008 - 2019. Founding Trustee of the King Edward's School Birmingham Trust and major donor for the hockey pavilion.

Street, Andrew
1981
Managing Director of the John Lewis Partnership (2007-2016), when he resigned to run for Mayor of the West Midlands; Mayor of the West Midlands (2017-)

Walters, Peter
1949
Kt; Chairman or Chief Executive of Blue Circle Industries, BP, Midland Bank Holdings, Smith Kline Beecham, Glaxo Smith Kine and HSBC Holdings.

Williams, Peter
1992
Founder and Managing Director of the international clothing company, Jack Wills. 

Woolgrove, Tom
1989
President of Chartered Insurance (2013-2014)