Sir Nigel Rudd, (born 31 December 1946 in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, England) is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. In 1982, he founded

Williams Holdings Williams Holdings was a major British conglomerate. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established by Nigel Rudd and Brian McGowan in Derby in 1982 to acquire under ...

, a company which went on to become one of the largest industrial holding companies in the United Kingdom until its

demerger A demerger is a form of corporate restructuring in which the entity's business operations are segregated into one or more components. It is the converse of a merger or acquisition. A demerger can take place through a spin-off by distributed or t ...

in November 2000, creating Chubb plc and Kidde plc. He became the non-executive chairman of Kidde plc until December 2003. He currently presides as chairman of BBA Aviation PLC.

Career

Rudd began his career as a troubleshooter for London & Northern, a holding company with subsidiaries in a range of industries. In 1982 he bought the Williams engineering company with business partner Brian McGowan. Rudd and McGowan went on to acquire and rebrand a portfolio of under-performing industrial companies throughout the Eighties. Rudd has been in positions of prominence at several corporations, including serving as Chairman of

BAA Limited BAA or Baa may refer to: Letters and sounds * Baa, onomatopoeic representation of the noise made by sheep *Bāʾ, the Arabic letter ب * Baa, the fifth consonant of the Thaana script used in the Dhivehi language Places * Baa Atoll, an administr ...

, The Boots Company, Pilkington PLC and

Pendragon PLC Pendragon PLC () is the second largest motor retailer in the United Kingdom. It operates the Evans Halshaw, Stratstone, brands of Quickco, Car Store used car supermarkets in United Kingdom, and dealerships in the United States. The company is ba ...

, and Deputy Chairman of

Barclays 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 ...

until January 2009. He also holds a number of other public appointments including Chairman of the CBI Boardroom Issues Group and a member of the Financial Reporting Council. Sir Nigel Rudd sits on the board of directors at the following companies BAA Aviation PLC (Chairman/non-executive director since 2014). Rudd previously held the directorships in Longbow Capital LLP (Director, 2004–2013) and Pendragon PLC (Chairman/NE Director, 1989–2010). Rudd is one of the founders of the

New Entrepreneurs Foundation New Entrepreneurs Foundation (NEF), founded in 2010, is a London-based nonprofit organization that runs development programmes for aspiring Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs. History Founded in 2010 by Oliver Pawle, Dee Stirling, Nigel Rudd, Sir Ni ...

Personal life

Sir Nigel Rudd was born in Derby on 31 December 1946. His father worked for the civil service as a Weights and Measures Inspector. Rudd married his wife Lesley in 1969. The couple have three children. He is a keen golfer, chairing the board of directors of the exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club, and supporter of

Derby County Football Club Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Education

Rudd attended

Bemrose Grammar School The Bemrose School is a Foundation school, foundation trust all-through school situated on Uttoxeter New Road, Derby, England, with an age range of pupils from 3 – 19. Opened as a boys' grammar school in 1930, it became a co-educational compr ...

, Derby. Following his elder brother into accountancy, Rudd qualified as Britain's youngest chartered accountant at the age of 20.

Awards and honours

In 1996, Rudd was

knighted 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 G ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

for services to the manufacturing industry. He holds honorary degrees at multiple tertiary institutions, namely

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

and

Universities. In 1995, he was awarded the Founding Societies Centenary Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and a Freeman of the City of London. Rudd was Chancellor of

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when ...

from July 2010 to July 2015. He is the Patron of

Derby Grammar School Derby Grammar School is a selective independent school in Littleover near the city of Derby, England. Founded in 1995, to recreate the historical Derby School, (which had become mixed-Comprehensive in the 1970s, and then changed name in 1989), ...

References

External links

LU Profile
Loughborough University profile on Sir Nigel Rudd

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudd, Nigel 1946 births British chairpersons of corporations Living people People educated at Bemrose School Chancellors of Loughborough University Deputy Lieutenants of Derbyshire Barclays people Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor People named in the Panama Papers People from Derby