Gordon Brunton
Encyclopedia
Sir Gordon Charles Brunton KBE
(born 27 December 1921 in London) is an English businessman, publisher and racehorse owner/breeder.
, Surrey and studied under Harold Laski
at the London School of Economics
. During World War II commissioned in 1942 and served in the Indian Army
and Royal Artillery
regiments in Burma and served in the Military Government in Germany.
founder of the International Thomson Organisation PLC now Thomson Reuters
in 1961. Appointed Managing Director Thomson Publications 1961, Director Thomson Organisation 1963, Chairman Thomson Travel 1965-68, Director Times Newspapers Ltd. 1967-81, Served as Managing Director/ Chief Executive from 1966-1984 during the period of international expansion and diversification in print, book and magazine publishing, local directories Thomson Local
and Yellow Pages
travel businesses Thomson Holidays
now TUI AG
and establishing the charter air carrier Britannia Airways
. North Sea oil ventures with the late Dr Armand Hammer
company Occidental Petroleum
and Getty Oil J. Paul Getty
in a consortium concerning the Piper Alpha
and Claymore
fields.
Performed a key role in the prolonged print union conflict of The Times
and Sunday Times
in the late 1970s. Eventually this led to the decision of the Thomson family to sell of both titles to Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch
and News International
of which Brunton acted as the chief negotiator for Thomson. Murdoch was identified as the only viable buyer for the Times and Sunday Times, who provided assurances both titles would remain in single ownership and in circulation. Brunton and management took a particularly hard stance against militant elements of the British Print Unions during the late 1970s, which resulted in the closure of the loss making Times Newspapers for extended periods of time.
Brunton retired from Thomson in 1985. He has been credited as being a major architect in the construction and diversification of the Thomson Corporation during the firms years as a conglomerate.
as Chairman. During this period Brunton made enforced cuts and personnel changes to bring stability to a business which had been judged to have been poorly mismanaged. He succeeded auctioneer Peter Wilson
. His role was to stabilize the business and latterly hold off the well documented 1983 hostile takeover bid from New Jersey carpet and felt makers Marshall Cogan
and Stephen Swid
of General Felt Industries and Knoll International. The Board consensus was neither Cogan or Swid were suitable buyers and eventually the company was sold to American property magnate Alfred Taubman.
, Mercury Communications
later Cable and Wireless Communications PLC, Racing Post
, Bemrose PLC, NXT PLC, Galahad Gold and others.
winner of the 1991 Ascot Gold Cup
.
1985
Club: Garrick Club
Fellow: London School of Economics
Recreations: Books, breeding horses
Married: Twice
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 27 December 1921 in London) is an English businessman, publisher and racehorse owner/breeder.
Early life
Educated at Cranleigh SchoolCranleigh School
Cranleigh School is an independent English boarding school in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. It was founded in 1865 as a boys' school and started to admit girls in the early 1970s. It is now co-educational. The current headmaster is Guy de W...
, Surrey and studied under Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. During World War II commissioned in 1942 and served in the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
and Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
regiments in Burma and served in the Military Government in Germany.
Thomson Organisation and Times Newspapers
Recruited by Canadian Roy ThomsonRoy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet
Roy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet GBE was a Canadian newspaper proprietor and media entrepreneur.-Career:...
founder of the International Thomson Organisation PLC now Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
in 1961. Appointed Managing Director Thomson Publications 1961, Director Thomson Organisation 1963, Chairman Thomson Travel 1965-68, Director Times Newspapers Ltd. 1967-81, Served as Managing Director/ Chief Executive from 1966-1984 during the period of international expansion and diversification in print, book and magazine publishing, local directories Thomson Local
Thomson Local
Thomson Local is a local business telephone directory published in the United Kingdom by Thomson Directories Ltd., from its head office in Thomson House, Farnborough, Hampshire)...
and Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, organized by category, rather than alphabetically by business name and in which advertising is sold. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings...
travel businesses Thomson Holidays
Thomson Holidays
Thomson Holidays is a UK based travel operator and part of TUI Travel PLC. The company was founded as part of the Thomson Travel Group in 1965 following the acquisition of three package holiday travel agencies and the airline Britannia Airways by Roy Thomson...
now TUI AG
TUI AG
TUI AG is a German multinational travel and tourism company headquartered in Hanover. Until 2001 it was an industrial and transportation company named Preussag AG, which in the mid-1990s decided to reinvent itself as a tourism, shipping, and logistics company...
and establishing the charter air carrier Britannia Airways
Britannia Airways
Britannia Airways was the largest charter airline in the United Kingdom, rebranded as Thomsonfly in 2005. Its main bases were Gatwick, London Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow...
. North Sea oil ventures with the late Dr Armand Hammer
Armand Hammer
Armand Hammer was an American business tycoon most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran for decades, though he was known as well as for his art collection, his philanthropy, and for his close ties to the Soviet Union.Thanks to business interests around the world and his...
company Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America...
and Getty Oil J. Paul Getty
J. Paul Getty
Jean Paul Getty was an American industrialist. He founded the Getty Oil Company, and in 1957 Fortune magazine named him the richest living American, whilst the 1966 Guinness Book of Records named him as the world's richest private citizen, worth an estimated $1,200 million. At his death, he was...
in a consortium concerning the Piper Alpha
Piper Alpha
Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum Ltd. The platform began production in 1976, first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production. An explosion and resulting fire destroyed it on 6 July 1988, killing 167 men, with only 61...
and Claymore
Claymore
The term claymore refers to the Scottish variant of the late medieval longsword, two-handed swords with a cross hilt, of which the guards were in use during the 15th and 16th centuries.-Terminology:...
fields.
Performed a key role in the prolonged print union conflict of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
in the late 1970s. Eventually this led to the decision of the Thomson family to sell of both titles to Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
and News International
News International
News International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc....
of which Brunton acted as the chief negotiator for Thomson. Murdoch was identified as the only viable buyer for the Times and Sunday Times, who provided assurances both titles would remain in single ownership and in circulation. Brunton and management took a particularly hard stance against militant elements of the British Print Unions during the late 1970s, which resulted in the closure of the loss making Times Newspapers for extended periods of time.
Brunton retired from Thomson in 1985. He has been credited as being a major architect in the construction and diversification of the Thomson Corporation during the firms years as a conglomerate.
Sotheby's
Gordon Brunton's reputation of being a skilled negotiator resulted in undertaking a role at troubled auction house Sotheby'sSotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
as Chairman. During this period Brunton made enforced cuts and personnel changes to bring stability to a business which had been judged to have been poorly mismanaged. He succeeded auctioneer Peter Wilson
Peter Wilson
Peter Wilson may refer to: * Peter Wilson , Scottish-born American footballer in the 1890s and early 1900s* Pete Wilson , American baseball pitcher...
. His role was to stabilize the business and latterly hold off the well documented 1983 hostile takeover bid from New Jersey carpet and felt makers Marshall Cogan
Marshall Cogan
Marshall S. Cogan is an investor and entrepreneur and former financier and trader. Cogan was the founder of United Automotive Group, which he built into one of the largest retailers of cars and trucks in the U.S. As a private equity investor, Cogan acquired a number of businesses in the 1970s and...
and Stephen Swid
Stephen Swid
Stephen Swid an American businessman and investor. He currently serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SESAC, Inc., one of the three performing rights organizations in the USA....
of General Felt Industries and Knoll International. The Board consensus was neither Cogan or Swid were suitable buyers and eventually the company was sold to American property magnate Alfred Taubman.
Other business
Subsequently Chairman posts held at Sotheby'sSotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
, Mercury Communications
Mercury Communications
Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom. The company was formed in 1981 as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless to challenge the monopoly of British Telecom which was privatised in 1984...
later Cable and Wireless Communications PLC, Racing Post
Racing Post
The Racing Post is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting newspaper, appearing in print form and online.From 30 May 2011 - 3 July 2011 it had a circulation of 56,507.-History:...
, Bemrose PLC, NXT PLC, Galahad Gold and others.
Horse racing
A well known racehorse owner and breeder, most notably Indian QueenIndian Queen
Indian Queen was an Irish-bred thoroughbred racehorse in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her sire was Electric and dam Taj Princess , and she was bred by Sir Gordon Brunton at North Munstead Stud....
winner of the 1991 Ascot Gold Cup
Ascot Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....
.
Other
Awarded: KBEOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
1985
Club: Garrick Club
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in London.-History:The Garrick Club was founded at a meeting in the Committee Room at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Wednesday 17 August 1831...
Fellow: London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
Recreations: Books, breeding horses
Married: Twice