Graham Kirkham, Baron Kirkham
Graham Kirkham, Baron Kirkham, (born 14 December 1944) is an English businessman, founder of Northern Upholstery, and chairman of sofa retailer DFS. Previously executive chairman of DFS Furniture Company Ltd, Kirkham is a strong political and financial supporter of the Conservative Party, and is one of South Yorkshire's richest men, with a personal fortune estimated at £1 billion. After selling DFS in April 2010 he now has a large share in Iceland supermarkets. He is also now involved in fish and chip shops having bought the Whitby chain. Early life Adopted at the age of three weeks, he is the only son of Edlington miner Tom Kirkham and his wife Elsie: ''"My whole life has been the luck of going to a good family."'' After passing the Eleven plus exam, he attended Maltby Grammar School (since 1967 called Maltby Comprehensive School) and hoped to join the Royal Air Force as a pilot. Failing to get the required five O levels, Kirkham got a job in a local furniture store. Ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is predominantly used today as a style associated with the holding of certain senior public offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, Australia. ''Right'' in this context is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'fully'. Grammatically, ''The Right Honourable'' is an adjectival phrase which gives information about a person. As such, it is not considered correct to apply it in direct address, nor to use it on its own as a title in place of a name; but rather it is used in the Grammatical person, third person along with a name or noun to be modified. ''Right'' may be abbreviated to ''Rt'', and ''Honourable'' to ''Hon.'', or both. ''The'' is sometimes dropped in written abbreviated form, but is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allies of World War I, Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has played History of the Royal Air Force, a significant role in Military history of the United Kingdom, British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF established Air supremacy, air superiority over Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain, and led the Allied strategic bombing effort. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities nee ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Animal Health Trust
The Animal Health Trust (AHT) was a large national independent charity in the United Kingdom, employing 200 scientists, veterinarians and support workers. Its objectives were to study and cure diseases in Pet, pets (horses, dogs and cats), and research and postgraduate education in veterinary, veterinary medicine. It was founded in 1942 by WR Wooldridge, and was awarded a Royal charter, Royal Charter on 29 July 1963. Elizabeth II was the charity's patron from 1959 until the end of 2016, and Anne, Princess Royal, the Princess Royal was its president. Based in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket in Suffolk, it was a Charitable organization, registered charity under English law and received no government funding. Following fundraising issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the charity entered liquidation on 31 July 2020. Work Research of the AHT was in two main areas: Genetic disorder, inherited disease and Infectious diseases (medical specialty), infectious disease. Inherited diseas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Duke Of Edinburgh's Award
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young adults for completing a series of self-improvement exercises modelled on Kurt Hahn's solutions to his " Six Declines of Modern Youth". History In February 1955, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award was first announced. It was at first "for boys aged 15 to 18". It was first administered, and largely designed, by John Hunt, who had led the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, and had retired from the army to run The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. It was designed to attract boys who had not been interested in joining one of the main British youth movements, such as the Scout Association. In the first 12 months, 7,000 boys had enrolled for the scheme. The programme borrowed from the Moray Badge, instituted at Gordonstoun School ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (31 May 1938 – 20 November 2024) was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East for 40 years, from 1970 to 2010. He was often seen as the political link to the working class in a Labour Party increasingly led by modernising, middle-class professionals such as Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson (although Prescott described himself as "pretty middle class"), and developed a reputation as a key conciliator in the often fractious relationship between Blair and Gordon Brown. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, in his youth Prescott failed the eleven-plus entrance exam for grammar school and worked as a ship's steward and trade union activist. He went on to graduate from Ruskin College and the University of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood may have been inspired by the ancient Greek ''hippeis'' (ἱππεῖς) and Roman ''equites''. In the Early Middle Ages in Western Christian Europe, knighthoods were conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, a knighthood was considered a class of petty nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback. In the Middle Ages, a knighthood was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust) from its origins ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1996 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1996 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 countries. They were announced on 29–30 December 1995 to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1996 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the Cook Islands, The Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Antigua and Barbuda.Antigua & Barbuda list: United Kingdom Life Peer ;Barons * Sir David Howe Gillmore, , former Head of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service. * Sir Robert Kilpatrick, , lately President, General Medical Council. * Dick Taverne, , President, PRIMA Europe Limited. Privy Counsellor * David Philip Heathcoat-Amory, , Member of Parliament for Wells and Her Majesty's Paymaster General. * Michael Ancram, , Member of Parliament for Devizes and Mi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yorkshire Post
''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by Johnston Press and is now owned by National World. Founded in 1754, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the country. The paper's head office is in Whitehall Road, Leeds and the current editor is James Mitchinson. It considers itself "one of Britain's most trusted and historic newsbrands." History The paper was founded in 1754, as the '' Leeds Intelligencer'', making it one of Britain's first daily newspapers. The ''Leeds Intelligencer'' was a weekly newspaper until it was purchased by a group of Conservatives in 1865 who set up the Yorkshire Conservative Newspaper Company Limited then published daily under the current name. The first issue of ''The Yorkshire Post'', on 2 July 1866, included the following statement: The newspaper ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Private Equity
Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage "private equity" can refer to these investment firms rather than the companies in which they invest. Private-equity capital (economics), capital is invested into a target company either by an investment management company (private equity firm), a venture capital fund, or an angel investor; each category of investor has specific financial goals, management preferences, and investment strategies for profiting from their investments. Private equity can provide working capital to finance a target company's expansion, including the development of new products and services, operational restructuring, management changes, and shifts in ownership and control. As a financial product, a private-equity fund is private capital ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cathedral. Since 2007, it has been part of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG, which the exchange also lists (ticker symbol LSEG)). Despite a post-Brexit exodus of stock listings from the LSE, it was the most valued stock exchange in Europe as of 2023. According to the 2020 Office for National Statistics report, approximately 12% of UK-resident individuals reported having investments in stocks and shares. According to a 2020 Financial Conduct Authority report, approximately 15% of British adults reported having investments in stocks and shares. History Coffee House The Royal Exchange, London, Royal Exchange had been founded by the English financier Thomas Gresham and Sir Richard Clough on the model of the The Belgian bourse of Antwerp, An ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sprotbrough
Sprotbrough is a village in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, with a population of 7,548 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. The village is transected by the A1(M) motorway and is situated at the top of the Don Gorge, some west of Doncaster city centre. With Cusworth to the north, it forms the civil parish of Sprotbrough and Cusworth, which had a population of 12,134 in 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011. The electoral ward of Sprotbrough, including numerous rural villages to the north and west, had a population of 11,143. History The place name 'Sprotbrough' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ''Sproteburg''. The name is thought to mean 'Sprot's borough'. Much of the local land was owned by the Fitzwilliam family until the 15th century, when the Copley family emerged as major landowners. Sprotbrough Village harbours the Grade I listed St Mary's Church and The Old Rectory – the childhood home of Second World War ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Darley Dale
Darley Dale, formerly Darley, is a town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, with a population of 5,413. It lies north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent and the A6 road (England), A6 road. The town forms part of a built-up area with both Matlock and Rowsley. Geography This article contains information on the area covered by the current civil parish of Darley Dale. The main built-up area of the parish extends for 2 miles along the A6 road north-west of Matlock, starting near the ARC Leisure Centre and ending near Stancliffe Quarry. It is bounded on the south-west by the River Derwent and extends over the hills and moors to the north-east as far as Darwin Forest Country Park. The parish includes the settlements at Darley Dale, Darley Hillside, Churchtown, Two Dales (Toadhole), Upper Hackney and Farley, but excludes Darley Bridge and Northwood. Darley Dale is sometimes confused with Darley Ab ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |