Sir George Trevor Holdsworth (29 May 1927 – 28 September 2010) was the former chairman of

National Power National power is defined as the sum of all resources available to a nation in the pursuit of national objectives. Assessing the national power of political entities was already a matter of relevance during the classical antiquity, the middle ages ...

and of the Bradford-based Allied Colloids international chemical business. From 1992 until 1997 he was chancellor of the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

Early life

He was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

and attended Hanson Boys' Grammar School and Keighley Boys' Grammar School (

Oakbank School, Keighley Beckfoot Oakbank is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. It is situated near ''Ingrow Lane'' on ''Oakworth Road'' (B6143) in the west of Keighley. History Grammar school Oakbank was founded from ...

since 1967). He was a chorister at

Bradford Cathedral Bradford Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is an Anglican cathedral in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, one of three co-equal cathedrals in the Diocese of Leeds alongside Ripon and Wakefield. Its site has been used for Chri ...

. In his National Service, he was a pianist for the British Forces' Network in Hamburg. Later in 1985, played the Grieg Piano Concerto with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

(RPO) with

Norbert Balatsch Norbert Balatsch (; 10 March 1928 – 6 May 2020) was an Austrian conductor, especially known as a choral conductor, who began as a baritone choir singer. He was the long-term choir director of both the Vienna State Opera and the Bayreuth ...

at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

in a charity concert. He also played duets with

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...

, and performed at

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

Career

From 1952 to 1963 he worked for Bowater Paper (since 1994 called

Rexam Rexam plc was a British-based multinational consumer packaging company headquartered in London, England. After spending much of its life as a paper producer known as Bowater, it diversified and became a leading manufacturer of beverage cans. It ...

).''Telegraph'' obituary
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GKN

He joined the engineering conglomerate GKN. He was chairman from 1980 to 1988. He was later the chairman 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 chairman from 1983 to 1996 of Allied Colloids, and National Power from 1990 to 1995, and British Satellite Broadcasting (now called

Sky UK Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

since November 2018) from 1987 to 1990.

Personal life

He received a

knighthood 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 church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in the

1982 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1982 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, and the CVO in the

1997 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

. He married Patricia Ridler in 1951, who was a violinist and actress, having three sons; she died in 1993. He married Jenny Watson in 1995. He died aged 83 in September 2010.

References

External links

Desert Island Discs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holdsworth, Trevor British media executives Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Businesspeople in electricity English chief executives Chancellors of the University of Bradford Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order English pianists Knights Bachelor Businesspeople from Bradford 1927 births 2010 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople