Sir George Adrian Hayhurst Cadbury, (15 April 1929 – 3 September 2015) was an English businessman who served as the chairman of Cadbury and Cadbury Schweppes for 24 years. He was also a British Olympic rower. Cadbury was a pioneer in raising the awareness and stimulating the debate on

corporate governance Corporate governance refers to the mechanisms, processes, practices, and relations by which corporations are controlled and operated by their boards of directors, managers, shareholders, and stakeholders. Definitions "Corporate governance" may ...

and, via the Cadbury committee set up by 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 ...

, produced the Cadbury Report, a code of best practice which served as a basis for reform of corporate governance around the world.

Early life, education and rowing

Cadbury was born on 15 April 1929, a member of the Cadbury family, which is known for its

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

philosophy and for the chocolate conglomerate that it founded. He was educated at Eton and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. At Cambridge, he rowed in the losing

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

boat in the 1952 Boat Race. He also rowed in the Great Britain

coxless four A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

in Helsinki.

Later years

Cadbury had two marriages; in 1956, he married Gillian Skepper, who died in 1992, and with whom he had two sons and a daughter. In 1994, he was married for the second time, to Susan Sinclair.

Life in business

He joined the

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...

business in 1958, and became chairman of Cadbury Ltd in 1965. He retired as chairman of Cadbury Schweppes in 1989. He was a director of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

from 1970 to 1994, and of

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

from 1975 to 1994. He was chairman of the UK Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance which published its Report and Code of Best Practice (" Cadbury Report and Code") in December 1992. Cadbury's report advocated a clear division of responsibilities at the head of a company so that no one individual had too much power. He was a member of the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

Business Sector Advisory Group on Corporate Governance. His publications include: ''Ethical Managers Make Their Own Rules''; ''The Company chairman''; ''Corporate Governance and Chairmanship: A Personal View''. He was appointed High Sheriff of the West Midlands for 1994–95.

Support of Aston University

Sir Adrian had a long-standing relationship with

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He served as Aston chancellor between 1979 and 2004, later chaired the University's Development Board, and was one of the University's most generous supporters. As chancellor emeritus, Sir Adrian contributed to undergraduate and postgraduate courses, speaking in particular on governance, business ethics and corporate social responsibility. He was also a patron of Aston Raise and Give Society, which is the fundraising body of Aston University. As part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of Aston Business School in 2008, Sir Adrian was awarded a rare

Beta Gamma Sigma Beta Gamma Sigma () is an international business honor society. Founded in 1913 at the University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois and the University of California, it has over 980,000 members, selected from more than 600 collegiate chapters i ...

Business Achievement Award. Aston Business School's MBA lecture theatres were also named after Sir Adrian and Lady Susan Cadbury, in recognition of their long association with Aston University.

Honours and awards

He was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in 1977, thereafter becoming Sir Adrian Cadbury. He was given the Freedom of the City of

in 1982. He was appointed as a deputy lieutenant (DL) of the West Midlands in 1995. In recognition of his contribution to commerce, corporate governance and public life, Sir Adrian has received honorary degrees from many universities (including Aston University, the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

Birmingham City University Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 an ...

, the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

). The Royal Society of Arts awarded Sir Adrian its Albert Medal in 1995, and he received one of the International Corporate Governance Network's inaugural awards in 2001. In early 2008, Sir Adrian was made an honorary fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Sir Adrian was a steward of

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

and the president of Birmingham Rowing Club. Sir Adrian was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to business and the community, especially in Birmingham.2015 New Year Honours List

Death

He died on 3 September 2015, aged 86.

Publications

*Cadbury, A. (1992) ''Report and Code of Best Practice'' ( Cadbury Report and Code), The Committee on the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance, London: Gee and Company *Cadbury, Adrian (1995) ''The Company chairman (2nd Ed)'', NJ: Prentice Hall, *Cadbury, Adrian (2002) ''Corporate Governance and Chairmanship: A Personal View'', Oxford: Oxford University Press,

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cadbury, Adrian 1929 births 2015 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English male rowers Cambridge University Boat Club rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1952 Summer Olympics British food industry businesspeople

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the ma ...

People associated with Aston University Knights Bachelor Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta Deputy lieutenants of the West Midlands (county) High sheriffs of the West Midlands Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Businesspeople awarded knighthoods 20th-century English businesspeople Sportspeople awarded knighthoods British chairpersons of corporations English manufacturing businesspeople