Gerald Edgar Grimstone, Baron Grimstone of Boscobel (born 27 August 1949) is a British businessman. He was previously chairman of

Barclays Bank plc Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

and of

Standard Life Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group. History 1825–2010 The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and was reincorporated as a mutual assurance ...

and group deputy chairman of Barclays plc, the holding company for the Barclays Group. On 18 March 2020, he became an unpaid minister at the

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the United Kingdom and foreign countries, as well as for encouraging foreign investment and ...

and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and it was announced he would become a life peer.

Early life

Gerald Edgar Grimstone was born in August 1949, in Streatham, London, the son of a carpet fitter father. Grimstone has described his father as a "working class intellectual" and a senior member of the UK Communist Party. He was educated at the

Whitgift School ("He who perseveres, conquers") , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Master , head = Christopher Ramsey , c ...

, Croydon, and Merton College, Oxford, where he received a degree in chemistry.

Career

Grimstone worked as a civil servant from 1972 to 1986, and then as a director of

Schroders Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company, founded in 1804. The company employs over 5,000 people worldwide in 32 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Headquartered in the City of London, it ...

from 1986 to 1999. Grimstone was chairman of

(now Standard Life Aberdeen) from 2007 till 2019, deputy chairman of Barclays since January 2016, a non-executive director of

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professio ...

and the lead non-executive director at the Ministry of Defence.

Honours

Grimstone was knighted in the

2014 Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

, and received that accolade from the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

on 6 February 2015. On 8 April 2020 he was created Baron Grimstone of Boscobel, of

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...

in the City of Westminster.

Personal life

In 1973, Grimstone married Hon. Janet Elizabeth Gudrun Suenson-Taylor, daughter of the 2nd Baron Grantchester; they had a son and two daughters before divorcing in 1995.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, Burke's Peerage, Ltd, 2003, vol. 2, p. 1637

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimstone, Gerry 1949 births Living people British businesspeople Conservative Party (UK) life peers Barclays people Deloitte people People educated at Whitgift School Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Life peers created by Elizabeth II