John Egan (industrialist)

Sir John Leopold Egan DL FIC (born 7 November 1939) is a British industrialist, associated with businesses in the automotive, airports, construction and water industries.[1] He was chief executive and chairman of Jaguar Cars from 1980 to 1990 and chairman of Jaguar plc from 1985 to 1990, and then served as chief executive of BAA from 1990 to 1999. He is also notable for chairing the construction industry task force that produced the 1998 Egan Report (Rethinking Construction) and the follow-up report, Accelerating Change, in 2002. In 2004, after completing two years as president of the Confederation of British Industry, he was appointed chairman of Severn Trent.

Career

John Egan was born in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, the son of a garage owner.[2] The family moved to Coventry where he went to Bablake School.[3] He studied petroleum engineering at Imperial College London and subsequently from 1962 to 1966 worked for Shell in the Middle East. After further studies, this time at London Business School, he moved to AC Delco in 1968 and then British Leyland where he played a part in boosting the fortunes of its Unipart business.

After a four-year spell as Corporate Parts Director of Massey Ferguson,[2] Egan was appointed chairman of Jaguar Cars in 1980, turning round what had been a struggling business. A carmaker worth around £300m when he took over was sold ten years later to Ford for £1.6bn,[4] at which time Egan moved to become chairman of BAA.

Egan then assumed a variety of non-executive business roles and served as president of the CBI from 2002 to 2004, when he took on the chairmanship of Midlands water company Severn Trent.

Roles

His other major roles include:

• non-executive chairman of motor distributor Inchcape plc
• non-executive chairman of Harrison Lovegrove
• chairman, Asite Ltd (2001–2004)
• president, Confederation of British Industry (2002–2004)
• chairman Central London Partnership
• chairman, London Tourist Board (September 1993 - December 1997)
• president, London Tourist Board
• deputy chairman of London First
• vice-president, Marketing Council
• member of Council, Institute of Directors
• president Institute of Management
• Chancellor, Coventry University (2007-2017)[5]

Honours

Honours include:

• Honorary Graduate, Doctor of Laws, University of Bath, 1988[6]
• Bicentenary Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1995
• Honorary doctorate, Brunel University, 1997[7]
• Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Warwickshire
• Knighted in the 1986 Birthday Honours

References

1. Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 1278. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
2. Mennem, Patrick (1991). Jaguar: An Illustrated History. Marlborough, Wiltshire, United Kingdom: The Crowood Press. p. 221. ISBN 1852235101.
3. Harrison, Michael (31 July 2004). "Sir John Egan: Monopoly man gets ready to pass go for second time". The Independent. London.
4. Verdin, Mike (20 May 2002). "Egan roars into business leadership role". BBC News.
5. "Margaret Casely-Hayford named new Chancellor of Coventry University". www.coventry.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
6. "Honorary Graduates 1989 to present". bath.ac.uk. University of Bath. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Academic offices
Preceded by Henry Plumb, Baron Plumb	Chancellor of Coventry University 2007–present	Succeeded by Incumbent