Sir John Leopold Egan (born 7 November 1939) is a British industrialist, associated with businesses in the automotive, airports, construction and water industries. He was chief executive and chairman of Jaguar Cars from 1980 to 1990 and chairman of Jaguar plc from 1985 to 1990, and then served as chief executive of BAA from 1990 to 1999. He is also notable for chairing the construction industry task force that produced the 1998 Egan Report (''Rethinking Construction'') and the follow-up report, ''Accelerating Change'', in 2002. During 2004, undertook the ''Egan Review of Skills for Sustainable Communities'' for the Blair Government. In 2004, after completing two years as president of the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...

, he was appointed chairman of

Severn Trent Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...

Career

John Egan was born in

Rawtenstall Rawtenstall () is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles/24 km north of Manchester, 22 miles/35 km east of Preston and 45 miles/70 km south east of the county town of Lancaster. The town is at the ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, the son of a garage owner. The family moved to

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 ...

where he went to

Bablake School Bablake School is a co-educational independent day school located in Coventry, England and founded in 1344 by Isabella of France, widow of Edward II, making it one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom. It is a part of the Coventry Sch ...

. He studied petroleum engineering at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and subsequently from 1962 to 1966 worked for

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. After further studies, this time at

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 " ...

, he moved to AC Delco in 1968 and then

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

where he played a part in boosting the fortunes of its

Unipart Unipart Group is a multinational logistics, supply chain, manufacturing and consultancy company headquartered in Cowley, Oxfordshire, England. It has operations in Europe, North America, Australia and Japan and works across a variety of sector ...

business. After a four-year spell as Corporate Parts Director of

Massey Ferguson Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in ...

, Egan was appointed chairman of Jaguar Cars in 1980, turning round what had been a struggling business. A carmaker facing closure when he took over was sold ten years later to

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

for £1.6bn, at which time Egan moved to become Chief Executive of BAA. Egan then assumed a variety of non-executive business roles and served as president of the CBI from 2002 to 2004, when he took on the chairmanship of Midlands water company

. Egan is currently the President of the Jaguar Drivers' Club, the only Jaguar owners club to be officially sanctioned by Sir William Lyons and Jaguar cars.

Roles

His other major roles include: * non-executive chairman of motor distributor

Inchcape plc Inchcape plc is a British multinational automotive distribution, retail and services company headquartered in London. An outgrowth of Calcutta-based Mackinnon Mackenzie Company, Inchcape has operations in 32 countries across Asia, Australia, ...

* non-executive chairman of Harrison Lovegrove * non-executive vice chairman

Legal & General Legal & General Group plc, commonly known as Legal & General, is a British multinational financial services and asset management company headquartered in London, England. Its products and services include investment management, lifetime mortg ...

* chairman, Asite Ltd (2001–2004) * president,

(2002–2004) * chairman Central London Partnership * chairman, London Tourist Board (September 1993 - December 1997) * president, London Tourist Board * deputy chairman of London First * vice-president, Marketing Council * member of Council,

Institute of Directors The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a British professional organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs. It is the UK's longest running organisation for professional leaders, having been founded in 1903 and incor ...

* president Institute of Management * chancellor,

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

(2007-2017) * president, Jaguar Drivers' Club

Honours

Honours include: * Honorary Graduate, Doctor of Laws,

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, 1988 *

Bicentenary Medal of the Royal Society of Arts The Bicentenary Medal of the Royal Society of Arts is awarded to "a person who, in a manner other than as an industrial designer, has applied art and design in great effect as instruments of civic innovation", as long as the winner is not already ...

, 1995 * Honorary doctorate,

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June ...

, 1997 * Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Warwickshire * Knighted in the 1986 Birthday Honours * Honorary Texas Citizen 1985 * Fellow of Imperial College 1987 * Senior Fellow Royal College of Art 1987 * Fellow of London Business School 1988 * MBA of the year 1988 * University of Manitoba Distinguished International Entrepreneur 1989 * University of Westminster Doctor of Letters 1998 * Coventry Award of Merit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, John Living people 1939 births People from Rawtenstall People from Coventry People educated at Bablake School People educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School Alumni of London Business School Alumni of Imperial College London People associated with Coventry University Deputy Lieutenants of Warwickshire Knights Bachelor