Stephen Ridgway,
CBE
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 ...
(born 29 September 1951) is a British business executive best known for having been the
CEO of
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and ...
.
Early life
Ridgway was born in
Tavistock, Devon
Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...
, and grew up on a farm in
Bantham near
Salcombe
Salcombe is a popular resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area o ...
. He went to school in
Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the ab ...
, south Devon.
He gained an Economics
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
degree (awarded by the University of London) from
Oxford Polytechnic
Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences.
Polytechnic may also refer to:
Educatio ...
. He later gained a
PGCE in 1976.
Career
Ridgway worked for
Cavenham Foods
Cavenham Foods was one of the United Kingdom's largest food processing businesses.
History
The company was founded by Sir James Goldsmith in 1965 when he bought up a series of bakeries. In 1971 Cavenham acquired the Bovril Company but then sold ...
as a sales manager, and briefly became a teacher. He moved to
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
and began his business career working for a builder of power boats,
Ted Toleman. He worked for two years as Business Development Manager at the
Toleman Group. One of these boats was the ''
Virgin Atlantic Challenger'', and he became the Chief Pilot. From 1981–1985 he worked for Cougar Marine, who built the Virgin boats.
Virgin Atlantic
Ridgway joined
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and ...
in 1989. In 1990, he became managing director of Virgin Freeway. He became a board director in 1994. Formerly Virgin Atlantic's vice-president of customer services, he was appointed as
managing director
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Virgin Atlantic in April 1998. He became Chief Executive in October 2001.
He announced his retirement as CEO of Virgin Atlantic on 10 September 2012, and left the company on 1 February 2013.
He has built the £13.5m St Moritz Hotel in
Trebetherick
Trebetherick ( kw, Trebedrek) is a village on the north coast of Cornwall. It is situated on the east side of the River Camel estuary approximately six miles (10 km) north of Wadebridge and half a mile (800 metres) south of Polzeath.Ordn ...
,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, with his brother Hugh.
Personal life
Ridgway has three children and lives in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Sussex. His children were educated at
St Edward's School, Oxford
St Edward's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'.
Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rugby G ...
the same school where
Sir Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
had his children educated. He enjoys sailing and fast cars. He was awarded a
CBE
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 ...
in the
2006 New Year Honours.
References
External links
Virgin Atlantic''Sunday Times'' - Andrew Davidson January 2009*
ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3338069.stm BBC News: Virgin staff 'shocked' by pilotIncludes photo of Ridgway and his statement following the arrest of a Virgin Atlantic pilot.
Video clips
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgway, Steve
Living people
Virgin Group people
English chief executives
1951 births
Businesspeople in aviation
Alumni of Oxford Brookes University
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
People from Tavistock
People educated at Torquay Boys' Grammar School