James Blyth, Baron Blyth of Rowington (born 8 May 1940) is a British businessman.

Early life

The son of Daniel Blyth and Jane Power Carlton, Blyth was educated at Spier's School,

Beith Beith is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) after its ''Court ...

, and the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in history in 1963.

Career

Blyth worked for

Mobil Oil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

from 1963 to 1969, for General Foods from 1969 to 1971 and for Mars Foods from 1971 to 1974. Between 1974 and 1977, he was general manager of Lucas Batteries and between 1977 and 1981 general manager of Lucas Aerospace. He was also director of the

Imperial Group 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 ...

from 1984 to 1986, managing director of Plessey Electronic Systems in 1985 and 1986, and managing director of the Plessey Company in 1986 and 1987. Blyth was a director of Cadbury-Schweppes between 1986 and 1990, of

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

between 1990 and 1994, and of

NatWest National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

between 1998 and 2000. In 1981, Blyth became head of defence sales for the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, a post he held until 1985, when he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

. From 1987 to 1996, he was a chairman of the London Business School (LBS), and to 1998 director and chief executive of

The Boots Company Boots UK Limited (formerly Boots the Chemists), trading as Boots, is a British health and beauty retailer and pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom and other countries and territories including Ireland, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Thailand a ...

. On 24 July 1995, he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Blyth of Rowington, ''of

Rowington Rowington is a village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. It is five miles north-west of the town of Warwick and five miles south-west of the town of Kenilworth. The parish, which also includes Lowsonford, Pinley and Mousley ...

in the County of Warwickshire''. He sat as a Conservative in the House of Lords until his retirement on 1 January 2018. Blyth received an Honorary Doctor of Law from the University of Nottingham in 1992. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, appointed in 1994, and a Fellow of the London Business School, appointed in 1998. He was chairman of

Diageo Diageo plc () is a Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweich ...

, parent company of the

Popov Popov (; masculine), or Popova (; feminine), is a common Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian surname. Derived from a Slavonic word ''pop'' (, "priest"). The fourth most common Russian surname, it may refer to: * Alek Popov (born 1966), ...

and Smirnoff brands of vodka, as well as

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

malt beverages, until June 2008. He was succeeded by

Franz Humer Franz Bernhard Humer (born 1 July 1946, in Salzburg, Austria) is a Swiss-Austrian businessman, and the former chairman of Diageo, and of Roche. Life and career Humer studied law at the University of Innsbruck and later obtained a doctorate in l ...

. In 2013, he was appointed to the board of Avoca Capital Holdings.

Personal life

Lord Blyth of Rowington has been married to Pamela Anne Campbell-Dixon since 1967; they have one daughter and one deceased son.

Arms

Notes

References

* 1940 births Blyth of Rowington Knights Bachelor Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Academics of London Business School British businesspeople {{Life-peer-stub