Clive Beddoe (born 26 May 1946) is a founding shareholder and former chairman of the board of directors of

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

, which is currently the second-largest airline in Canada behind Air Canada. Beddoe was born in Dorking, England, grew up in

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

, England, and immigrated to Canada in 1970. Beddoe first started flying gliders at

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orph ...

in England during his teenage years. While talking to a friend one day, he decided to move to Canada on a whim to start a job at a real estate development company, further on creating his own commercial development company called Hanover Management, a named based on

Hanover Square, London Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover ...

a location where he once worked. He also owns Western Concord Manufacturing, a plastic manufacturing company based out of

Delta, British Columbia Delta is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, as part of Greater Vancouver. Located on the Fraser Lowland south of Fraser River's south arm, it is bordered by the city of Richmond on the Lulu Island to the north, N ...

. In 2000, WestJet's founders, Beddoe, Mark Hill, Tim Morgan and Donald Bell were honored as 'The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year' for Canada and was honored at the international Entrepreneur of the year awards in Monaco. He has been awarded honorary degrees from the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and the

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

. On Tuesday, 24 July 2007, Beddoe announced that effective 4 September 2007, he would relinquish his duties as chief executive officer, with then-president Sean Durfy taking the role. He is currently on the board for AIMCO, and head of their compensation committee.

Awards and honours

Beddoe was inducted to the Order of the

Canadian Business Hall of Fame The Canadian Business Hall of Fame celebrates the outstanding achievements of Canada's most distinguished business leaders, past and present. Over 170 Order of the Business Hall of Fame Companions serve as inspiring examples for all young Canadians ...

in 2012. Beddoe was also inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 2014. WestJet’s first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, registered C-GUDH, has been named after him.

References

External links

Biography at WestJet website
1946 births Living people Canadian people of English descent Canadian chairpersons of corporations Canadian airline chief executives Businesspeople from Calgary WestJet people People educated at Epsom College People from Dorking Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame inductees {{canada-business-bio-stub