Sir Ronald Halstead

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

(17 May 1927 – 18 June 2021) was a British businessman who was chairman and chief executive of the

Beecham Group The Beecham Group plc was a British pharmaceutical company. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Founded by Thomas Beecham who opened the first factory in St Helens, Lancashire in 1859, Beecham focused on marketing the business b ...

from 1984 to 1985 and deputy chairman of British Steel from 1986 to 1994.

Biography

Halstead was born on 17 May 1927 in

Lancaster, Lancashire Lancaster (, ) is a city in Lancashire, England, and the main cultural hub, economic and commercial centre of City of Lancaster district. The city is on the River Lune, directly inland from Morecambe Bay. Lancaster is the county town, although ...

, to Richard Halstead and Bessie (née Harrison), the elder of two sons. He was educated at

Lancaster Royal Grammar School Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) is an 11–18 boys grammar school in Lancaster, England, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Old students belong to The Old Lancastrians. The school's sixth form opened to girls in 2019. LRGS is also in the Unit ...

and

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, where he obtained a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in natural science and gained an athletics

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

. He began his working life as a research chemist with H. P. Bulmer. He joined Beecham in 1954 as a manufacturing manager with Macleans Ltd. In 1955, he was posted to the US as factory manager of Beecham Products Inc. (USA), rising to become President of Beecham Research Labs Inc. (USA) in 1962. He returned to the U.K. in 1964, joining the board of Beecham, and became managing director for consumer products in 1973. He was appointed chairman and chief executive of

in 1984, leaving in 1985 after 18 months following a boardroom coup. Halstead joined the board of British Steel as a non-executive director in 1979, becoming deputy chairman in 1986 until 1994. He held numerous directorships, appointments in government and industry working groups and other organisations. Halstead was appointed

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 ...

(CBE) in 1976 for services to the food industry and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1985. He was married twice: in 1968 to Yvonne de Monchaux (died 1978) with whom he had two children, and in 2000 to Susanne Stoessl (died 2013). He died on 18 June 2021, aged 94, of heart failure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halstead, Ronald 1927 births 2021 deaths Businesspeople from Lancashire Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge People from Lancaster, Lancashire 20th-century English businesspeople