Andrew Harrison (born 2 May 1957) is a British businessman and former management consultant, currently the chairman of

Dunelm Group Dunelm Group Plc is a British home furnishings retailer operating throughout the United Kingdom. One of the largest homewares retailers in the United Kingdom, The company headquarters are based in Syston, England. It also has its own factory for ...

. He previously served as the CEO of The RAC,

easyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...

and

Whitbread Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division ...

Early life

Harrison was educated at Hitchin Boys' Grammar School and

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 mixed, independent day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowed by wealthy Bristol merchants Robert and Nicholas Thorn ...

, an independent day school. He went on to study economics at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

Career

Prior to joining the RAC, Harrison held the roles of managing director of

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...

International Fabrics and finance director of Courtaulds Textiles plc. He was also a non-executive director at

EMAP Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Ric ...

. He was the chief executive of the automotive services company the

RAC RAC or Rac may refer to: Organizations * Radio Amateurs of Canada * RATCH-Australia Corporation, electricity generator * Refugee Action Collective (Victoria), Melbourne, Australia * Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, US * Rent-A-Center, ...

(previously Lex Services plc) from 1996 to 2005. Harrison was announced as Ray Webster's successor as CEO of

in September 2005. Harrison announced his intention to leave easyJet in December 2009 and departed in 2010 as Sir

Stelios Haji-Ioannou Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou ( el, Στέλιος Χατζηιωάννου, translit=Stelios Hatziioannou; born 14 February 1967) is a Greek Cypriot entrepreneur. Born into a wealthy ship-owning family, he is best known for founding the low-cost ai ...

, the airline's founder, described him as "overrated". Harrison became CEO of the British multinational hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company

in 2010, replacing

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

. Harrison left in 2015, succeeded by

Alison Brittain Alison Jane Brittain (née Hopkins; born February 1965) is a British businesswoman, chair of the Premier League, and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Whitbread. She was previously head of retail banking at Lloyds Banking Group. Earl ...

. Harrison became chairman of

in July 2015.

References

External links

Biography at Dunelm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Andy 1957 births Living people British chief executives British corporate directors People educated at Bristol Grammar School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge