Victor Matthews, Baron Matthews
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Victor Collin Matthews, Baron Matthews (5 December 1919 – 5 December 1995) was Group Managing Director of Trafalgar House, one of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
's largest contracting businesses as well as the proprietor of the ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
''.


Career

Born in
Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
and educated at Highbury School, Victor Matthews initially worked as an office boy for a
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
business.Victor Matthews at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he served as an able seaman in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and saw action at
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
. After the War he joined Trollope & Colls, a large
construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...
business, where he became a contracts manager. He then bought his own construction business, Bridge Walker, which he expanded significantly before selling it to Trafalgar House. He became Group Managing Director of Trafalgar House in 1968 and Deputy
Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
in 1973. In 1977 Trafalgar House acquired Beaverbrook Newspapers and in 1982, it was floated on the
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 Cath ...
as Fleet Holdings with Matthews as its chairman. Matthews renamed the business Express Newspapers after its lead publication, the ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
''. He had confrontations with the trade unions but eventually secured their support. In August 1980 Trafalgar House bought Firestone tyre factory, a unique example of
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
, which was about to become a
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. Matthews personally ordered destruction of the main features of the facade over the bank holiday weekend, two days before the building was to be listed. 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 ...
on 22 July 1980 taking the title Baron Matthews, of Southgate in the
London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London boroughs, London borough in Greater London, England. The main communities in the borough are Edmonton, London, Edmonton, Enfield, London, Enfield, Southgate, London, Southgate and Palmers Green. Enfi ...
. In 1985 the business was acquired by United Newspapers and Matthews retired to
Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
. He died there in 1995.


Family

In 1942 he married Joyce Geraldine Pilbeam; the couple had one son.


Arms


References

1919 births 1995 deaths 20th-century British businesspeople Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Navy sailors Life peers created by Elizabeth II {{UK-business-bio-1910s-stub