Sir Lindsay Roberts Ring, GBE (1 May 1914 – 10 August 1997) was a British businessman who took back control of the catering firm Ring and Brymer (Birche's), which had previously been owned by his family. After selling the business to Forte Holdings, he devoted himself to the activities of the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

. After serving as councilman, Alderman and Sherriff of London he became

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

from 1975 to 1976.

Early life

Lindsay Ring was born in

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the borou ...

, London, the son of George Arthur Ring and his wife Helen Stedman. He went to school at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

, where he was captain of the school fencing team. After spending a year in Germany, he worked as a bank clerk in the City of London before joining the catering firm Ring and Brymer (Birch's), which had been founded by one of his ancestors, but was no longer controlled by the Ring family. At the start of WWII he joined the Royal Army Service Corps and was evacuated from Dunkirk as a junior officer. After service in the Middle East, he was demobilised with the rank of major and re-joined Ring and Brymer (Birche's) as a junior member of staff.

Career

Ring and Brymer (Birches) was regarded as the most celebrated catering firm in the city of London. It had provided the catering for Coronation banquets over two centuries, as well as catering for Number 10 Downing Street, for

Ascot Racecourse Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...

events, for Henley Royal Regatta and for livery dinners in the City of London. During WWI the family had lost control of the business and Ring's father had been declared bankrupt. Having re-joined the company in 1945 Lindsay Ring rose through the ranks and by the early 1950s he had regained control of the business. There followed an expansion of the business with additional catering franchises including

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...

and the

Farnborough Airshow The Farnborough Airshow, officially the Farnborough International Airshow, is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors. Since its fir ...

. In 1962 he sold the firm to Sir

Charles Forte Charles Carmine Forte, Baron Forte (26 November 1908 – 28 February 2007) was an Italian-born Scottish hotelier who founded the leisure and hotels conglomerate that ultimately became the Forte Group. Early life Charles Forte was born as Car ...

and was given a seat on the board of Forte Holdings. Thereafter he became involved increasingly with the affairs of the

. He was elected councilman for the Bishopsgate ward in 1964, served as Alderman for the Vintry ward from 1968 to 1984.

Appointments and honours

He was elected master of the Armourers and Brasiers Company in 1972. and was Sherriff of London between 1967 and 1968.In 1975 he was appointed

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(GBE), and later that year he became

, choosing

Age Concern Age Concern is the banner title used by a number of charitable organizations ( NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four countries of the United Kin ...

as the theme for his mayoral year. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of 151 Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, T.A.V.R. in 1977.

Family

He married Hazel Nichols in 1940 while on 48-hour leave from his unit. They did not see each other again for five years. They had two sons and a daughter. He died on 10 August 1997.

References

{{Authority control 1914 births 1997 deaths People educated at Dulwich College Sheriffs of the City of London 20th-century lord mayors of London Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire