Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Sir Lancelot Carrington Royle, (31 May 1898 – 19 June 1978) was a British Olympian and businessman. Royle was an Olympic athlete (Paris 1924) and chairman and CEO of Allied Suppliers Ltd., Home and Colonial Stores Ltd.,

Lipton Lipton is a brand named after its founder, Sir Thomas Lipton, Tom Lipton, who started an eponymous grocery retail business in the United Kingdom in 1871. The brand was used for various consumer goods sold in Lipton stores, including tea from 1 ...

Ltd.,

NAAFI The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the United Kingdom, British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their fam ...

and one of Britain's leading 20th century retail businessmen.

Education

Lancelot Royle was the son of the Rev. Vernon Royle, the famous test cricketer, and grew up at

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...

Park, north of London. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and RMA Woolwich.

Early career

Royle left Harrow in 1916 and was commissioned into the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

and shipped out to France to fight in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was to remain in the European theatre until the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

in 1918. At the end of the war, Royle remained in the army, and was encouraged to develop his sporting prowess. He was a highly talented sprinter, competing regularly with the likes of

Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Early life and educati ...

and

Eric Liddell Eric Henry Liddell (; 16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) was a Scottish sprint (running), sprinter, Rugby union, rugby player and Christian missionary. Born in Qing dynasty, Tianjin, China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended bo ...

for honours. He was British Army sprint Champion in 1920 and 1921, but resigned his commission as a lieutenant later the same year. He finished second behind Harry Edward in the 100 yards event at the 1922 AAA Championships. In 1924, he represented Great Britain as part of the "

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

" team in Paris. He won a silver medal in the 4 * 100 relay, in a team including

. He was also a talented 200-meter sprinter, and it was he that gave up his spot to allow

to run the 200-metre race where Liddell won bronze.

Business career

Royle began his business career with

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

, joining Home and Colonial Stores in 1928. By the start of the Second World War, was regarded as one of the finest retail executives in the country. He rejoined the Royal Artillery, but was asked by the Prime Minister,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

to be co-chairman of the Macharg/Royle Treasury Committee and then to take on the Chairmanship of

. He was to hold the Chairmanship for 12 years, during which time NAAFI developed into a global operation, serving British forces around the Empire. As chairman & CEO, he transformed Home and Colonial Stores into one of premier retail shopping destinations in the United Kingdom. He was invited to sit on the boards of British Match Corporation as deputy chairman, Wilkinson Sword, Bryant and May, Liebigs and Oxo among others. He was a Governor of

. He resigned his Royal Artillery commission as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1948. He was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE) in 1944.

Family

He married Barbara Haldin in 1922; they had son sons ( Anthony Royle, later Baron Fanshawe of Richmond and Timothy Royle, founder of the Control Risks Group) and a daughter (Penelope Royle, now Oldham). He died in 1978 aged 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royle, Lancelot 1898 births 1978 deaths People educated at Harrow School English male sprinters British male sprinters Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich British chief executives Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English sportsmen