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Sir Gerrard Jude "Gerry" Robinson (b. 23 October 1948, Dunfanaghy, County Donegal) is an Irish-born British businessman. He is the former (non-executive) Chairman of Allied Domecq and the ex-Chairman/Chief Executive of Granada.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Television 4 Other affiliations 5 Personal life 6 Politics 7 Honours 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Early life

The ninth of 10 children, Gerry Robinson moved with his family to England from Ireland in his early teens. He briefly trained to become a Roman Catholic priest at St. Mary's Seminary of the Holy Ghost Fathers at Castlehead, Grange-over-Sands, Lancashire. He began a career in accounting in 1965 as a clerk with the Matchbox Toys company. After achieving his Chief Management Accountant qualification, he was promoted to became a chief accountant at a Lesney factory in east London.

[edit] Career

In 1974, he left Matchbox to work for Lex Vehicle Leasing as a management accountant. He then rose through the company before being appointed finance director.

In 1980, he joined the UK franchise of Coca Cola, owned at that time by Grand Metropolitan. In 1983 he was appointed managing director of Grand Metropolitan's international services division. In 1987 he led a £163m management buyout of the loss-making contract services and catering division which was later renamed Compass.

He then joined Granada as chief executive in 1991 and ousted Granada's chairman, David Plowright in 1992. (Comedian John Cleese labelled Robinson "an ignorant upstart caterer").

He steered the company through various mergers, and hostile takeovers including London Weekend Television (1993) and Forte Group (1996).

In 1999 Robinson was the subject of a biography, Lord of the Dance, written by business journalist William Kay and published by Orion Business Books [ISBN 0752810480].

In 2005 he made an unsuccessful attempt to oust Doug Flynn as CEO of Rentokil Initial and install himself as Executive Chairman for a 5% stake in the company, then valued at £56M.

[edit] Television

Robinson's first foray into broadcasting was a revival of the BBC's Troubleshooter show, originally fronted by Sir John Harvey-Jones in the early 1990s, which saw him go into struggling business and try to turn them round through advice and mentoring.

In January 2007 he presented a three-part series Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS?. Following on from the BBC series I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss, this Open University-produced programme followed Robinson as he attempted to reduce waiting lists at Rotherham General Hospital.^[1]

He returned a year later for a sequel titled Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS? One Year On.^[2]

In June 2009 he presented a special edition of The Money Programme entitled Gerry Robinson's Car Crash investigating the history and future of the British motor industry. He regularly appears on British TV as a celebrity businessman.^[3] In July 2009 he started a TV series called Gerry's Big Decision, in which he reviews struggling companies and decides whether it is worth investing his own money to save them.

[edit] Other affiliations

Robinson also served as chairman of the Arts Council England for six years from 1998, in which capacity he was on one occasion one of the many victims of a spoof by British comedian Ali G.

[edit] Personal life

He has divorced and remarried, and has 4 children. He lives in Holland Park, West London, and also owns a Georgian country home (Oakfield Park) near Raphoe, County Donegal. He has established a botanical garden there with a narrow gauge railway, and opens the property to the public.^[4]

[edit] Politics

Although originally a Conservative Party supporter, he supported Tony Blair and starred in a Labour Party Election Broadcast, saying that "... [f]rankly, there's only one party that can represent Britain best, getting business right, and that's New Labour".^[5]

In June 2008, Robinson was one of four Labour donors who expressed their concerns with Gordon Brown's leadership and stated he would not be contributing any more money to the Labour party until there was a change of leader.^[6]

[edit] Honours

He was knighted in the 2004 New Year's Honours List.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Can Gerry Robinson fix the NHS? - official site
• Can Gerry Robinson fix the NHS? - One Year On
• Gerry Robinson news
• Business Interview in The Independent
• Labour donor says Brown must go BBC News 29 June 2008

Media offices
Preceded by Lord Gowrie	Chair of Arts Council England 1998–2004	Succeeded by Christopher Frayling