Colin Marsh Marshall, Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge (16 November 1933 – 5 July 2012), was a British businessman and member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early and family life

Marshall was educated at

University College School University College School, also known as UCS, is a private day school in Frognal, Hampstead, London, England. The school was founded in 1830 by University College London and inherited many of that institution's progressive and secular views. ...

, an independent school for boys in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, a suburb of

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

. He left school at the age of 16 and did not receive any further formal education. In 1958, he married Janet Cracknell (later Lady Marshall), a fellow officer on the Orient Steam liner named the ''Ostrava''. They had one child, Joanna, born in 1960. He then fathered a second child in the United States while employed by Hertz.

Business career

His extensive experience in international business started in shipping in 1951 with

Orient Steam Navigation Company The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century onwards, an association began with P&O which became 51% shareholde ...

, thereafter in vehicle rental and leasing for 23 years, initially with

Hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

and then Avis, during which time he lived and worked in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. In 1971, he was appointed Executive Vice President of Avis where he became President and Chief Executive in 1976, based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Following the take-over of Avis in 1979, he was appointed executive vice president of Norton Simon Inc., and Co-Chairman of Avis. Marshall was hired by Lord King of Wartnaby in 1983 as CEO of

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

(BA) and was instrumental in the reform of the company prior to its successful privatisation in 1987. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, BA was witnessing the emergence of a menacing rival,

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, West Sussex, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic A ...

. Virgin, which began with one route and one

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

in 1984, was beginning to emerge as a serious threat on some of BA's most lucrative routes. Following a highly publicised mercy mission to Iraq to fly home hostages of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

in 1991, King is reported to have told Marshall and his PR Director David Burnside to "do something about Branson"¹. This began the campaign of "dirty tricks", which ended in Branson suing King and BA for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

in 1992. King countersued Branson and the case went to trial in 1993. The court found in favour of Branson and Virgin, and ordered King and BA to pay damages to Branson of £500,000 and a further £110,000 to his airline, and legal fees of up to £3 million. In the aftermath of the case, King was appointed president while Marshall was promoted to chairman, a role he combined with that of CEO.

Bob Ayling Robert John Ayling (born 3 August 1946), also known as Bob Ayling, is a British retired lawyer and businessman who has worked with a variety of high-profile companies and organisations. From 1996 to 2000, he was the CEO of British Airways. He a ...

became managing director. In 1996, Ayling became sole CEO, and his tenure was to be one of the most turbulent in BA's history. In 1997, he dropped the

Union Flag The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

design from BA's livery in favour of the unpopular ethnic art livery. In 1999, BA reported a 50% slump in profits – its worst since privatisation. In March 2000, Marshall removed Ayling from his position and in May announced

Rod Eddington Sir Roderick Ian Eddington (born 2 January 1950) is an Australian businessman. He was first appointed to the board of News Corporation in 1999 and still serves on the News Corp board, as well as the board of another of Rupert Murdoch's companie ...

as his successor. While helping to promote the government's ''Action 2000'' campaign, which encouraged businesses to ensure that their computers recognised, interpreted, and processed the year 2000 date change, he was criticised for the contents of BA's own 1999 holiday brochures. These warned travellers: "We will not cover claims arising from equipment or any computer program failing to recognise, interpret or process any date changes for example the year 2000." Marshall retired from the role of chairman of BA in July 2004 and was succeeded by Martin Broughton, former chairman of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

. From May 1996 to July 1998, Marshall was president of the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a British business interest group, which says it represents 190,000 businesses. The CBI has been described by the ''Financial Times'' as "Britain's biggest business lobby group". Incorporated by roy ...

and chaired the CBI International Advisory Board. He was chairman of the board of Governors of

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

, Vice-President of the Advertising Association; Member of the British American Business Council International Advisory Board; a Council Member of the

Institute of Directors The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a British professional organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs. It is the UK's longest running organisation for professional leaders, having been founded in 1903 and inco ...

; and President of the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council. From June 1998 to July 2003, Marshall was also chairman of Invensys plc and chairman of The Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) from September 1999 to July 2003; Chairman of The Board of Trustees of The Conference Board Inc., from October 2000 to October 2003; member of the Board of

HSBC Holdings plc HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

from January 1993 to May 2004 and Chairman of the

Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in Barons Court, West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "HSBC Championships" for spo ...

from 2007 to 2010. He was appointed chairman of Pirelli UK plc in September 2003 and chairman of

Nomura Securities is a Japanese financial services company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NHI), which forms part of the Nomura Group. It plays a central role in the securities business, the group's core business. Nomura is a financial ...

on 1 October 2004. From 1 January 2005 to 1 January 2007, Lord Marshall was also Chairman of the National British Tourist Board

VisitBritain VisitBritain is the name used by the British Tourist Authority (formerly the British Travel & Holiday Association), the tourist board of the United Kingdom incorporated under the Development of Tourism Act 1969. Under memoranda of understanding ...

. In 1991, Marshall was the recipient of the ''

Tony Jannus Award The Tony Jannus Award recognizes outstanding individual achievement in scheduled commercial aviation by airline executives, inventors and manufacturers, and government leaders. The award is conferred annually by the Tony Jannus Distinguished Avia ...

'' for his contributions to commercial aviation. Announced in the

1998 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in suppleme ...

he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge, ''of

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

'' on 20 July 1998. In 1989, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) by the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. After his death from cancer, Birkbeck College constructed a memorial lecture in his name.

External links

Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords
House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 22 July 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Colin Baron Marshall of Knightsbridge 1933 births 2012 deaths Marshall of Knightsbridge Knights Bachelor British airline chief executives People educated at University College School People associated with Birkbeck, University of London British Airways people HSBC people Council and directors of Chatham House 20th-century British businesspeople Life peers created by Elizabeth II