Sir Rodney Malcolm Aldridge (born 7 November 1947) is the founder and former executive chairman of

Capita Capita plc, commonly known as Capita, is an international business process outsourcing and professional services company headquartered in London. It is the largest business process outsourcing and professional services company in the United K ...

, a British company specialising in

business process outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

. He is a former Chair of Vinspired, a charity launched in May 2006 aiming to help young people

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

in their local communities. Aldridge is a

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

and former trustee of the

Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

and is currently Chairman of the

Aldridge Foundation The Aldridge Foundation is a British educational charity which focusses on creating social change and community regeneration opportunities through enterprise and entrepreneurship, to help young people to reach their potential and improve their co ...

, an educational charity which sponsors academy schools in England and promotes entrepreneurial education. According to The ''

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...

'' in 2019, Aldridge is worth £135 million.

Professional activities

Aldridge founded and led the Capita Group from its formation in 1984 until 2006. During this time the group expanded to become a

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with (in principle) the highest market ...

company. The group was founded in 1987 when Aldridge led the

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

(MBO) of the group from the

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) is a professional institute for accountants working in the public services, national audit agencies, in major accountancy firms, and in other bodies where public money needs to be ma ...

(CIPFA). In 2006 Aldridge resigned as Executive Chairman of Capita after it was revealed that he had lent the Labour Party £1 million. The loan, which was secret at the time it was made, was controversial, in part, because Capita is a major public sector supplier. Aldridge retired from his position as Chairman of Capita in July 2006. Prior to Capita, Aldridge worked in local government for 10 years with

East Sussex County Council East Sussex County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex. East Sussex is divided into five local government districts. Three are larger, rural, districts (from west to east: Lewes; Wealden; and Rother). T ...

Brighton Borough Council Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Ag ...

Crawley Borough Council Crawley Borough Council is the local authority for the borough of Crawley, in the county of West Sussex, England. The council consists of 35 councillors, either two or three for each of the 13 wards in the district. It is currently controlled by th ...

and

West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 7 ...

. He joined CIPFA in 1974, becoming its Technical Director. At the launch announcement of Ada, the National College for Digital Skills, he was also listed as Chair. Aldridge is a former Chair of Vinspired, a charity launched in May 2006 aiming to help young people volunteer in their local communities. He is a patron and former trustee of

The Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

and was 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 ...

's (CBI) public services strategy board at its inception in 2003 through to July 2006. He is a former Non-Executive Director on the Ministerial Advisory Board of the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

(FCO) Services, an Executive Agency of the FCO. In 2009, he took up a role as Chair of the Department of Health (United Kingdom) 'Dance Champions Group', aiming to encourage more adults to take up dance as a form of physical activity. In January 2007 he was appointed Chairman of

The Lowry The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex ope ...

, a theatre and arts venue in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

. He is also a member of the Prince's Charities Council, a patron of the Prince's Trust, Non-executive Director of

Equiniti Equiniti Group is a United Kingdom, British-based outsourcing business focused on financial and administration services. History The business has its origins in the stock transfer agent, share registration business of Lloyds Bank, Lloyds TSB w ...

, a Director of Cornerstone and a Director of Constellation Healthcare Technologies.

Recognition

In the

2012 New Year Honours 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Aldridge 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 ...

for his services to young people. He was made an

Officer 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 o ...

(OBE) in the

1994 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1994 were appointments by most of the sixteen 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 c ...

, for services to the computer industry. He was given the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of London in 1996. He is on the Court of the

Worshipful Company of Information Technologists The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, also known as the Information Technologists' Company, is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The company was granted livery status by the Court of Aldermen on 7 January 1992, ...

. Aldridge is a fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

and is a Founder Freeman of the

Guild of Entrepreneurs The Company of Entrepreneurs is a Company without Livery and an aspirant Livery Company of the City of London. It successfully petitioned the Court of Aldermen for Guild status in 2014 with ambitions to become a full Livery Company by 2024. It ...

. In 2016, Aldridge donated £1.8 million to

Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The c ...

for the completion of the Sir Rod Aldridge Cricket Centre at

Brighton Aldridge Community Academy Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) is a coeducational academy school in Brighton. It opened on 1 September 2010. The school replaced Falmer High School and is part of the Aldridge Education multi-academy trust. Dylan Davies became Brigh ...

References

External links

* http://www.aldridgefoundation.com * http://www.capita.co.uk/
Interview: Rod Aldridge
at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' * https://archivesit.org.uk/interviews/sir-rod-aldridge/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, Rod Living people 1947 births English businesspeople Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing (living people) Labour Party (UK) people