Sir David Charles Ord (born July 1948) is a British businessman.

Early life and education

Ord graduated from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and was a Sloan Fellow of the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

Career

He is the co-owner and Managing Director of the Bristol Port Company, which owns Royal Portbury Dock and

Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avo ...

which make up the modern

Port of Bristol The Port of Bristol comprises the commercial docks situated in and near the city of Bristol in England. They are now operated by the Bristol Port Company, which owns both Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Docks. Until 1991 the Port of Bristol Authori ...

. The docks were operated by the Port of Bristol Authority, part of

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 ward ...

, until 1991, when the council granted a 150-year lease to the Bristol Port Company. In 2014 the council sold the freehold of the port to the company for £10 million, but retained a 12.5% non voting stake in the company. He was non-executive chairman of

Mitie Mitie Group PLC (pronounced "mighty") is a British strategic outsourcing and energy services company. It provides infrastructure consultancy, facilities management, property management, energy and healthcare services. It has a head office at The ...

from 2003 to 2008 and was the south west regional treasurer of the Conservative Party from 1999. He is a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers. He made donations to the local Conservative party, which led to member of parliament

Charlotte Leslie Charlotte Leslie (born 11 August 1978) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who is the current Director of the Conservative Middle East Council. She was the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliam ...

, being accused of not declaring these as being potentially relevant to her opposition to the

Severn Barrage The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary (and Bristol Channel) have existed since the 19t ...

. She was later cleared of wrongdoing in relation to the declaration of the donations. His larger donations, estimated to be £77,500 in 2013, to the national conservative party led to speculation about his influence in connection with plans for the barrage. He is a director of

Open Europe Open Europe was a British centre-right eurosceptic policy think tank with offices in London and Brussels, merging with the Policy Exchange think tank in 2020. Its stated mission was to "conduct rigorous analysis and produce recommendation ...

, a

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

promoting ideas for economic and political reform of the European Union. He is chairman of the Trade Policy Research Centre. Since 1998, Ord has been a member of The Society of Merchant Venturers, a private club whose membership is invited "from individuals who have been successful in their chosen area of business".

Honours

Ord was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

on 17 July 2015. In the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Ord was knighted for political service and service to the community in the South West.

Controversies

Prior to his knighthood in the 2017 New Year Honours, David Ord has donated more than £930,000 to the Conservative Party since 2013. Jeremy Corbyn has said “The Conservatives are making a mockery of our honours system. Every crony appointment is an insult to the incredible people from right across Britain who are rewarded for the great contributions they make to our national life.” A Downing Street source has defended the honours for Conservative donors, saying: “Being involved in political parties is generally considered to be an important part of civic society, and the alternative is having state funding for political parties, which is not where the consensus lies. When people dedicate their time and service to civil society it’s appropriate they can be honoured.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ord, David Living people Port of Bristol British businesspeople in shipping Conservative Party (UK) officials Knights Bachelor 1948 births Members of the Society of Merchant Venturers