Sir Derek Alan Higgs (3 April 1944 – 28 April 2008) was an English businessman and merchant banker. He was knighted in 2004. His father,

Alan Higgs Alan Edward Higgs was a businessman who became a multimillionaire mainly from his house building business in Coventry, as well as from other businesses in Birmingham, England. He died in 1979, and because he thought that inherited wealth did more h ...

, was a multimillionaire through property businesses in the Midlands.

Early life

Sir Derek was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

and was educated at

Solihull School Solihull School is a coeducational Independent school (UK), independent day school in Solihull, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmi ...

, and in 1963 he went to 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 ...

and graduated in Economics and Accounting in 1966.

Business career

After graduating from the University of Bristol in 1966, Sir Derek joined

Price Waterhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

, a large accountancy firm, and after training he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. In 1969 he became a corporate finance executive at Baring Brothers, a merchant bank. He moved-on and joined S. G. Warburg & Co. in 1972 and continued his career in merchant banking. He was also a board member of several companies including Prudential,

British Land The British Land Company plc is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the UK in January 2007. It is headquartered in ...

, and Coventry City Football Club. In 2002 the British Labour Government commissioned Sir Derek to chair the '' Review of the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors''. The report, widely known as the "Higgs review" or "Higgs report", was published on 20 January 2003 and many of its recommendations for large companies have been implemented. In October 2005 he became the chairman of the

Alliance & Leicester Alliance & Leicester plc was a British bank and former building society, formed by the merger in 1985 of the Alliance Building Society and the Leicester Building Society. The business demutualised in the middle of 1997, when it was floated o ...

bank and worked there through difficult times, which were partly caused by the

credit crunch A credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit cr ...

that took effect during 2007 in Britain.

Trustee

His father, Alan, died in 1979. As he felt inherited wealth did more harm than good, Alan Higgs left his entire fortune to a charity to be created after his death to help deprived children from

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

and nearby localities. The Alan Edward Higgs Charity (also sometimes incorrectly called the Alan Higgs Trust) was set up, and Sir Derek and his sister became the trustees. In January 2008 he also became one of the trustees of the

Scott Trust Scott Trust Limited is the British company that owns Guardian Media Group and thus ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'' as well as various other media businesses in the UK. In 2008, it replaced the Scott Trust, which had owned ''The Guardian'' s ...

, a British non-profit organisation which owns the

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...

. He has been on the Board of Trustees of The Architecture Foundation.

Personal life

Sir Derek married Julia Arguile in 1970 and they had two sons and one daughter. He died unexpectedly owing to a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

aged 64 years on 28 April 2008 in a London hospital.

References

External links

Obituary: ''Times''

Obituary: ''Guardian''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgs, Derek 1944 births 2008 deaths Knights Bachelor Alumni of the University of Bristol People from Coventry 20th-century English businesspeople