Former Cadbury chairman, Sir Adrian Cadbury dies
THE former chairman of Birmingham-based chocolate maker Cadbury, Sir Adrian Cadbury, has died aged 86.
A widely respected businessman, Sir Adrian retired from the Bournville business in 1990 after which he went on to compile the Cadbury Report, still regarded as the pre-eminent work on corporate governance.
Despite stepping down from the business he sought to retain his close connections with Birmingham and in the spirit of his family’s Quaker traditions, helped to promote the good work of a number of local charities.
This also extended to giving something back to the community which had spawned him and why he accepted the role as Chancellor of Aston University, which his tenure ran from 1979 until 2004.
Sir Adrian, whose death was announced by his family, was the grandson of George Cadbury, who had built the Bournville factory and did much to develop the surrounding village as a haven for the factory’s workers.
His father, Laurence was also a prominent business figure, serving as chairman both of the chocolate business and the News Chronicle, which Cadbury family also owned. He was also at one time a director of the Bank of England.
Laurence ensured his son had a traditional upbringing, being schooled at Eton and then serving in the Coldstream Guards, before completing his education at King’s College, Cambridge, where he read economics and won a rowing blue.
He also represented Great Britain at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where he competed as one of the Cambridge Eight crew, just missing out on the medal places.
After university he joined the family firm, where he eventually came to chair the company in 1965 but his reforms spelled the end of a family-run company as more hard-headed business figures were drafted in to help with the overall management.
Under his watch the company saw the biggest transformation in its history when in 1969 it merged with soft drinks firm Schweppes to exploit opportunities in the United States.
By the time of his retirement the business had been transformed onto something his grandfather would barely have recognised.
Turnover had growth to £2.6bn but the number of UK workers had virtually halved from the 35,000 employed at the end of the 1960s to less than 17,000, with the majority of staff now being based overseas.
Cadbury was knighted in 1977 for his services to business and also chaired the CBI’s economics committee but is thought to have declined leadership of the business organisation. He also followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a director of the Bank of England.
In the early 90s as a series of scandals rocked the financial sector he was considered the ideal figure to lead a clean-up of corporate governance.
