Sir Anthony William Byrd Hayward (1927-2011), also known as Tony Hayward, was a British corporate executive. Hayward is perhaps best remembered for launching the popular Haywards 5000 brand of beer in India.
After serving in the Royal Navy, Hayward arrived in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, in 1948. He joined the well-known alcohol company
Shaw Wallace
Shaw Wallace & Company Limited, abbreviated to SWC, is an Indian liquor manufacturer headquartered in the Wallace House in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was established in 1886 by Robert Gordon Shaw and Charles William Wallace. Hayward was also appointed president of the
Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry
The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in West Bengal, India. It is the oldest chamber of commerce in India, and one of the oldest in Asia.
Established in 1853, finding its ...
in 1973, and president of the
Associated Chambers of Commerce
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India () is a Non-governmental organization, non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in New Delhi, India. The organisation represents the interests of trade and commerce in ...
(ASSOCHAM) in 1977. Hayward is said to have guided Shaw Wallace through "very difficult political, economic and bureaucratic hurdles in the 1970s". ''The'' ''Daily Telegraph'' in London said of Hayward: "A deep and evident empathy for his host nation made him an outstanding ambassador for British commercial interests at an uneasy time, and his gift with words lightened many a prickly encounter." Hayward left Calcutta
in 1978, moving on to assignments in Singapore and Hong Kong. He was knighted the same year for his services to British business interests in India. Hayward kept making frequent visits to Calcutta and celebrated his fiftieth wedding anniversary there.
In 2016, there was renewed interest in Hayward's life and legacy in the Indian press, after his grandson, Ben Hayward, visited India and produced a four-part documentary series, "2 Men and a Beer", tracing the legacy of the Haywards 5000 brand.