Sir Terence Harrison (April 1933 – 21 June 2019) was an industrialist from the northeast of England who was Chief Executive of

Rolls-Royce Holdings Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and dist ...

plc.

Career

Harrison was born in

Wingate, County Durham Wingate is a village in County Durham, England. Wingate is a former pit village with a mixture of 19th-century, post-war, and more recent housing developments. It was originally inhabited by around 30 farmers before 1839 when coal was discovere ...

, the son of a miner and a shop assistant. After attending the local grammar school he undertook an apprenticeship with

Richardsons Westgarth & Company Richardsons Westgarth & Company was a leading British shipbuilding and marine engineering business. The Company was based in Hartlepool and was a major employer in the area. History The company was established in 1832 by Thomas Richardson as a ...

before graduating with a

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

degree from

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

in 1955. Following national service with the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is the maintenance arm of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's professional engineers". History Prior t ...

, he joined

Clarke Chapman Clarke Chapman is a British engineering firm based in Gateshead, which was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded in 1864 in Gateshead by William Clarke (1831–1890). In 1865 Clarke took in a partne ...

as an engineering graduate and became managing director in 1969. He went on to be Chief Executive of

Northern Engineering Industries Northern Engineering Industries plc (NEI) was a British engineering firm, which for over 10 years was one of the largest employers on Tyneside. Its headquarters were based at the Regent Centre at Gosforth in Newcastle upon Tyne. History The com ...

from 1983 to 1986 and then Chairman of Northern Engineering Industries from 1986 to 1989. After Northern Engineering Industries was acquired by

, he served as chief executive of that company as well from 1992 to 1996. Harrison was knighted in January 1996. In retirement he was chairman of

Alfred McAlpine Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Carillion in 2008. The origins of Alfred McAlpine are strongly associated with the busine ...

and, briefly, of

Newcastle United F.C. Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Since the formation of the club in 1881 ...

from March 1997 to May 1998. He died on 21 June 2019 at the age of 86.

Family

Harrison married June Forster in 1956; they had two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Terrence 1933 births 2019 deaths British mechanical engineers 20th-century British businesspeople Knights Bachelor People from Wingate, County Durham Military personnel from County Durham Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel