Richard Anthony Garrett (4 July 1918 – 24 October 2017) was a British business executive, chairman of

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mor ...

(1973–1979). He was born near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, grew up near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, and educated at the

King's School, Worcester The King's School, Worcester is an English independent day school refounded by Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Severn in the centre of the city of Worcester. It offers mixed-sex ma ...

. He joined Imperial Tobacco in 1936, initially working as a junior at the Wills plant ( W.D. & H.O. Wills being a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco) in Bristol. Already a territorial soldier, Garrett was called up at the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and commissioned into the 2nd

Royal Gloucestershire Hussars The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars was a volunteer yeomanry regiment which, in the 20th century, became part of the British Army Reserve. It traced its origins to the First or Cheltenham Troop of Gloucestershire Gentleman and Yeomanry raised in ...

in January 1941. As a captain with the

22nd Dragoons The 22nd Dragoons was the title held by five separate Cavalry regiments of the British Army raised and disbanded between 1716 and 1945. The last regiment of this name existed during the Second World War, from 1 December 1940 until 30 November ...

, he participated in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, landing on D+2 and fighting across the Low Countries into Germany with his tank squadron. He was chairman of

John Player & Sons John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US ma ...

(also a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco) from 1968, and chairman of Imperial Tobacco from 1973 to 1979. Cigarette advertising on television had been banned in the UK in 1965. Himself a keen sportsman, Garrett instead promoted tobacco products through sports sponsorship deals, attaching the John Player brand name to the

John Player League The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect large numbers of matches being played on days o ...

in cricket and to rugby league and golf tournaments, and sponsoring the

Lotus F1 Lotus F1 Team was a British Formula One racing team. The team competed under the Lotus name from until , following the renaming of the former Renault team based at Enstone in Oxfordshire. The Lotus F1 Team was majority owned by Genii Capital. ...

racing team. Garrett also led Imperial Tobacco to sponsor classical music extensively, and collaborated in the founding of the Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts (later

Arts & Business Arts & Business is a charitable organisation whose role is to develop partnerships between the cultural and private sectors in the United Kingdom. Their aim is to increase investment for the arts from businesses and individuals, while encouraging t ...

). In June 1977, Garrett invited executives of the world's leading tobacco companies to a secret meeting at

Shockerwick House Shockerwick House in Bathford, Somerset, England was built as a manor house around 1750 by John Wood, the Elder. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. It is set in of parkland within the Bybrook River valley. The site was a mano ...

to formulate a defensive strategy against anti-smoking health campaigns, a programme known as

Operation Berkshire Operation Berkshire is the name of a program initiated in 1976 by seven of the world's major tobacco companies aimed at promoting "controversy" over smoking and disease. Description At the invitation of Tony Garrett, the Chairman of Imperial To ...

. He was later chairman of the diary publisher Dataday, the

Bath International Music Festival The Bath International Music Festival was held late each spring in Bath, South West England between 1948 and 2016. The festival included many genres such as Jazz, Classical, World and Folk and merged with the Bath Literature Festival in 2017 to ...

, and the

National Association of Boys' Clubs National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(1980–1987). He was a trustee of the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

and

Glyndebourne Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundr ...

. He was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Tony 1918 births 2017 deaths Businesspeople from Cardiff Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at King's School, Worcester Royal Gloucestershire Hussars officers British Army personnel of World War II Imperial Brands Businesspeople in the tobacco industry 20th-century Welsh businesspeople Military personnel from Cardiff Royal Armoured Corps officers