Gerry Robinson
Encyclopedia
Sir Gerrard Jude "Gerry" Robinson (b. 23 October 1948, Dunfanaghy
, County Donegal
) is an Irish
businessman. He is the former non-executive Chairman of Allied Domecq
and the ex-Chairman/Chief Executive of Granada.
at Castlehead, Grange-over-Sands
, Lancashire
. He began a career in accounting in 1965 as a clerk with the Matchbox Toys company. After achieving his Chartered Management Accountant qualification, he was promoted to became a chief accountant at a Lesney
factory in east London.
as a management accountant. He then rose through the company before being appointed finance director. In 1980, he joined the UK franchise of Coca Cola, owned at that time by Grand Metropolitan
. In 1983 he was appointed managing director of Grand Metropolitan's international services division. In 1987 he led a £163m management buyout of the loss-making contract services and catering division which was later renamed Compass
.
Robinson joined Granada as chief executive in 1991 and ousted Granada's chairman, David Plowright
in 1992, which led John Cleese
to call Robinson "an upstart caterer". Robinson steered the company through various mergers, and hostile takeovers including London Weekend Television
(1993) and Forte Group
(1996).
In 1999 Robinson was the subject of a biography, Lord of the Dance, written by business journalist William Kay
and published by Orion Business Books [ISBN 0752810480]. In 2005 he made an unsuccessful attempt to oust Doug Flynn as CEO of Rentokil Initial
and install himself as Executive Chairman for a 5% stake in the company, then valued at £56M.
's Troubleshooter
show, originally fronted by Sir John Harvey-Jones
in the early 1990s. Titled I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss and co-produced by the Open University
, in 2004 he went into struggling businesses to try to turn them round by advice and mentoring.
In January 2007 following a similar format, he presented a three-part series, Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS?
as he attempted to reduce waiting lists at Rotherham
General Hospital. He returned a year later for a sequel, Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS? One Year On.
In June 2009 he presented a special edition of The Money Programme
entitled Gerry Robinson's Car Crash investigating the history and future of the British motor industry
. He regularly appears on British TV as a celebrity businessman. In July 2009 he started a TV series called Gerry's Big Decision, in which he reviews struggling companies and decides whether it is worth investing his own money to save them.
From 14 January - 18 February 2011 he presented BBC2 show Can't Take It with You, which helps people to write their will
s.
for six years from 1998, in which capacity he was on one occasion one of the many victims of a spoof by British comedian Ali G
.
, West London and also owns a Georgian country house in his native Donegal near Raphoe
; he established a botanical garden with a narrow gauge railway - the Difflin Lake Railway - which is open to the public.
supporter, he supported Tony Blair
and starred in a Labour Party
election broadcast
, saying that "... frankly, there's only one party that can represent Britain best, getting business right, and that's New Labour".
In June 2008, Robinson was one of four Labour donors who expressed their concerns with Gordon Brown
's leadership and stated he would not be contributing any more money to the Labour party until there was a change of leader. He had donated some £70,000 to the party between 2001 and 2005
Dunfanaghy
Dunfanaghy is a small village, formerly a fishing port and commercial centre, in County Donegal, Ireland....
, County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
) is an Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
businessman. He is the former non-executive Chairman of Allied Domecq
Allied Domecq
Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, UK that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard.-History:...
and the ex-Chairman/Chief Executive of Granada.
Early life
The ninth of 10 children, Robinson moved with his family to England from Ireland in his early teens. He briefly trained to become a Catholic priest at St. Mary's Seminary of the Holy Ghost FathersHoly Ghost Fathers
The Congregation of the Holy Spirit is a Roman Catholic congregation of priests, lay brothers, and since Vatican II, lay associates...
at Castlehead, Grange-over-Sands
Grange-over-Sands
Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish by the sea – with a wide tidal range, hence the "sands" name – in Cumbria, England. Historically, Grange-over-Sands was part of the County of Lancashire until 1974, when Cumbria was created under Local Government re-organisation which absorbed the area...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. He began a career in accounting in 1965 as a clerk with the Matchbox Toys company. After achieving his Chartered Management Accountant qualification, he was promoted to became a chief accountant at a Lesney
Lesney Products
Lesney Products & Co. Ltd. was a British manufacturing company responsible for the conception, manufacture, and distribution of die-cast toys under the "Matchbox" name.-History:...
factory in east London.
Career
In 1974, he left Matchbox to work for Lex Vehicle LeasingLex Vehicle Leasing
Lex is the United Kingdom's largest vehicle leasing business with a fleet of circa 260,000 vehicles. Formerly known as "Lex Vehicle Leasing" it is now owned 100% by Halifax Bank of Scotland , after the former bought the remaining 50% share capital from Aviva Plc on 31 May 2006...
as a management accountant. He then rose through the company before being appointed finance director. In 1980, he joined the UK franchise of Coca Cola, owned at that time by Grand Metropolitan
Grand Metropolitan
Grand Metropolitan plc is a former United Kingdom-based company operating hotels, holiday centres, entertainment centres, public houses and casinos...
. In 1983 he was appointed managing director of Grand Metropolitan's international services division. In 1987 he led a £163m management buyout of the loss-making contract services and catering division which was later renamed Compass
Compass Group
Compass Group plc is a global contract foodservice and support services company headquartered near London, United Kingdom. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world and has operations in over 50 countries...
.
Robinson joined Granada as chief executive in 1991 and ousted Granada's chairman, David Plowright
David Plowright
David Ernest Plowright, CBE was an English television executive and producer....
in 1992, which led John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
to call Robinson "an upstart caterer". Robinson steered the company through various mergers, and hostile takeovers including London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
(1993) and Forte Group
Forte Group
Forte Group plc was a British hotel and restaurant company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Granada PLC.-History:...
(1996).
In 1999 Robinson was the subject of a biography, Lord of the Dance, written by business journalist William Kay
William Kay
William Kay is a British financial and business journalist.-Family and education:William Kay grew up in central London where he attended St Marylebone School and Westminster City School. In 1965 he was awarded an Open Styring Scholarship to read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at The Queen's...
and published by Orion Business Books [ISBN 0752810480]. In 2005 he made an unsuccessful attempt to oust Doug Flynn as CEO of Rentokil Initial
Rentokil Initial
Rentokil Initial is a major British business services group. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
and install himself as Executive Chairman for a 5% stake in the company, then valued at £56M.
Television
Robinson's first foray into broadcasting was a revival of the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Troubleshooter
Troubleshooter (TV series)
Troubleshooter was a British reality television series, produced and shown by the BBC, focusing on experienced business leaders visiting and advising small and often struggling UK businesses....
show, originally fronted by Sir John Harvey-Jones
John Harvey-Jones
Sir John Harvey-Jones MBE was an English businessman. He was the chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries from 1982 to 1987...
in the early 1990s. Titled I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss and co-produced by the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
, in 2004 he went into struggling businesses to try to turn them round by advice and mentoring.
In January 2007 following a similar format, he presented a three-part series, Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS?
Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS?
Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS? was a three-part Open University BBC series shown on BBC2 from the 8th to the 10th of January 2007. This is the second BBC series where Gerry Robinson works to turn around failing companies, but whereas his earlier series I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss had a commercial...
as he attempted to reduce waiting lists at Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
General Hospital. He returned a year later for a sequel, Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS? One Year On.
In June 2009 he presented a special edition of The Money Programme
The Money Programme
The Money Programme is a finance and business affairs television programme on BBC2.It was first broadcast on 5 April 1966 and presented by "commentators" William Davis, Erskine Childers and Joe Roeber. At this time David Attenborough was the controller of BBC2...
entitled Gerry Robinson's Car Crash investigating the history and future of the British motor industry
British motor industry
The automotive industry in the United Kingdom is now best known for premium and sports car marques including Aston Martin, Bentley, Daimler, Jaguar, Lagonda, Land Rover, Lotus, McLaren, MG, Mini, Morgan and Rolls-Royce. Volume car manufacturers with a major presence in the UK include Ford, Honda,...
. He regularly appears on British TV as a celebrity businessman. In July 2009 he started a TV series called Gerry's Big Decision, in which he reviews struggling companies and decides whether it is worth investing his own money to save them.
From 14 January - 18 February 2011 he presented BBC2 show Can't Take It with You, which helps people to write their will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
s.
Other affiliations
Robinson also served as chairman of the Arts Council EnglandArts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
for six years from 1998, in which capacity he was on one occasion one of the many victims of a spoof by British comedian Ali G
Ali G
Ali G is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Originally appearing on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show, Ali G is the title character of Channel 4's Da Ali G Show, original episodes of which aired in 2000 and on HBO in 2003–2004, and is the...
.
Personal life
Robinson has divorced and remarried and has four children. He lives in Holland ParkHolland Park
Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London, England.Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants...
, West London and also owns a Georgian country house in his native Donegal near Raphoe
Raphoe
Raphoe is a town in County Donegal, part of the province of Ulster in Ireland. It is the main town in the fertile district of East Donegal known as the Laggan, as well as giving its name to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raphoe and the Church of Ireland Diocese of Derry and Raphoe.-Name:Raphoe,...
; he established a botanical garden with a narrow gauge railway - the Difflin Lake Railway - which is open to the public.
Politics
Although originally a Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
supporter, he supported Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and starred in a Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
election broadcast
Party political broadcast
A party political broadcast is a short television or radio broadcast made by a political party....
, saying that "... frankly, there's only one party that can represent Britain best, getting business right, and that's New Labour".
In June 2008, Robinson was one of four Labour donors who expressed their concerns with Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
's leadership and stated he would not be contributing any more money to the Labour party until there was a change of leader. He had donated some £70,000 to the party between 2001 and 2005