Jeffrey Maurice Sterling, Baron Sterling of Plaistow, (born 27 December 1934 in Stepney, London) is a British businessman and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

peer. The Plaistow referred to is

Plaistow, West Sussex Plaistow ( ) is a village and civil parish in the north of the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. There is a village green, a recreation ground, a children's playground, a village pond, a shop, a pub (''The Sun Inn'') and the Anglican ...

, reflected in the land holdings in the county.

Career

Sterling founded

Motability Motability is a charity in the United Kingdom. It oversees Motability Operations Ltd, which runs the Motability Scheme intended to enable disabled people, their families and their carers to lease a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair, usi ...

, a charity which, amongst other initiatives, oversees the Motability Scheme in providing cars for people with disabilities, in 1977 and today is currently Life President of the organisation. He was executive chairman of the shipping line P&O from 1983 to 2005, having joined the board as a non-executive director on 6 February 1980, and is now Life President of P&O Cruises. In 2002 he served as chairman of the Golden Jubilee Weekend Trust, in commemoration of The Queen's reign of 50 years as sovereign. In March 2007 Sterling announced that he would be buying the

Swan Hellenic Swan Hellenic is a British cruise line specialising in expedition tours of historical or cultural interest aimed at the upper end of the cruise market. Swan Hellenic was first established as Swan's Tours in the 1950s as a tour operator carryin ...

brand from

Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...

. In April 2007 he brokered a deal with Roger Allard's All Leisure Holidays, operator of cruise company Voyages of Discovery, to purchase the brand Swan Hellenic. Together they acquired cruise ship Explorer 2, to be renamed Minerva 1. Swan Hellenic began its new summer season in March 2008 with Lord Sterling remaining as chairman. In October 2010 Sterling hit the headlines by suggesting cruise passengers using his company, Swan Hellenic, at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

should not mix with "ordinary" ferry passengers who were mostly "semi-lager-louts" or "lorry drivers smelling of BO". He later tried to backtrack on this statement, saying he meant 'backpackers' or 'people rushing around'. He led the initiative to build the Queen's Row Barge

Gloriana ''Gloriana'', Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 ''Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History''. The first performance was presented at the Royal Opera Ho ...

in 2012.

House of Lords

As part of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

's resignation honours, 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Sterling of Plaistow, of Pall Mall in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

on 17 January 1991. He sits in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

as a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

peer. He was a member of the

Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, formed to "monitor the implementation and development" of the United Kingdom Government's National Security Strategy". It ...

from February 2010 to May 2010, and from December 2010 to May 2014.

Honours

He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 1977 Birthday Honours and 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 ...

in the 1985 New Year Honours for public services and services to industry, having the honour conferred by The Queen on 12 February. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in August 2002 in a supplement to that year's Birthday Honours list in recognition of his services in connection with the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Baron Sterling has a coat of arms with the Latin motto "''Usque Per Ignem''" (Trans: ''All the way through fire''). Sterling has also received numerous foreign honours, including: Grand Officer in the Order of May (Argentina) in 2002; Officer's Cross in the Order of Merit (Germany) in 2004; and Officier in the Légion d'Honneur (France) in 2005. He held an honorary commission in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

and was appointed honorary vice admiral in the RNR on 2 April 2015. He is associated with HMS ''President''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling Of Plaistow, Jeffrey Sterling, Baron Sterling of Plaistow Life peers created by Elizabeth II People educated at Reigate Grammar School Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Living people 1934 births People from Chichester District Royal Naval Reserve personnel