John Raymond Hirst

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 ...

is a British businessman. He was the

chief executive officer 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 especial ...

of the UK Met Office from 2007 to 2014. Hirst was born in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

in 1952, and moved to England as a child. He studied economics at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, and then joined PwC, the professional services firm, as an accountant. He later moved to ICI, becoming head of the Specialty Chemical Division. In 1998, he took up the post of Chief Executive at electronic parts distributor

Premier Farnell Premier Farnell Ltd is a distributor of products for electronic system design, maintenance and repair throughout Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, with operations in 36 countries and trading in over 100. In October 2016, the firm was purc ...

; in 2005, he was pushed out by the chairman, Sir

Peter Gershon Sir Peter Oliver Gershon, (born 10 January 1947) is a British businessman and former civil servant, former Chairman of Tate & Lyle, and since January 2012, Chairman of the FTSE 20 company National Grid. He is chiefly known for conducting the Ge ...

, who cited poor shareholder value as the trigger. Hirst was appointed

Commander 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 ...

(CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to meteorology.

Notes

Sources

Executive - Management
—MetOffice {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirst, John Alumni of the University of Leeds British chief executives Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Imperial Chemical Industries executives Living people Met Office Year of birth missing (living people)