Chairman, JCB
Billionaire industrialist Anthony Bamford runs the family construction business, which employs around 10,000 people. A generous donor to Catholic causes, he funded the construction of the multimillion-pound Bamford Centre for science at his alma mater, Ampleforth College. He was a financial contributor to Pope Benedict XVI’s 2010 visit to the UK.
Philanthropists
The German-Dutch Brenninkmeijer family owns Cofra Holding AG which, based in Switzerland, controls the C&A fashion business, a private equity company, a real estate fund and two banks. Stephen and Mark Brenninkmeijer run Porticus, a philanthropic trust, which helps over 2,000 charities and causes, and states that its “mission, vision and values are inspired by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.”
Immunologist and chair of trustees, Cancer Research UK
A former vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, professor, immunologist and scientific administrator Leszek Borysiewicz was knighted in 2001 for his work researching vaccines, including the cervical cancer vaccine. He was chief executive of the Medical Research Council of the UK from 2007-2010. Borysiewicz was born in Wales to Polish parents who came over with the Anders’ Army in the Second World War. He has questioned the Church’s opposition to experimentation on hybrid embryos.
Chief Executive, Bet365
Peter Coates co-founded the successful online betting company Bet365, which he runs with his children John and Denise. He is chairman of Stoke City Football Club. The son of a war-veteran Catholic miner, Coates is a devoted philanthropist; he has given to the Labour Party, as well as to CAFOD and St Joseph’s College Trent Vale, among others. His daughter Denise is the chief executive and majority shareholder of Bet365, and since 2012 has donated to various charitable causes through the Denise Coates Foundation.
Founder, KwikFit
Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Farmer founded KwikFit in 1971, growing the company to become the largest tyre retailer in the world. He is a philanthropist and generous donor to causes in his hometown and a recipient of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for philanthropy. He was made a Knight of St Gregory by Pope John Paul II.
Hotelier and philanthropist
Sir Rocco Forte is chairman of the Rocco Forte Hotels corporation and a long-standing co-owner of the Catholic Herald.
Telecommunications entrepreneur and activist
Born to Irish parents in Hertfordshire, Declan Ganley made his money in the forestry industry in the early Russian Federation of the 1990s, before moving to the telecommunications industry. He is now CEO of Rivada Networks, which provides the US military, police and emergency services with equipment. Ganley is an outspoken pro-life activist in Ireland.
Business leader and philanthropist
Graham Hutton is co-founder of private equity firm Hutton Collins Partners which owns a stake in the Byron burger chain. A generous donor to Catholic causes, he is a chair of Aid to the Church in Need and a trustee of the Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst College.
Founder, Addison Lee
John Griffin started out driving taxis before setting up his own minicab business. In the 1970s he founded Addison Lee, which today carries out over 20,000 jobs a day with revenues of £900 million a year. He is an Enterprise Fellow of the Prince’s Trust. He stepped down as chair of Addison Lee in 2014.
Global head of philanthropy, UBS
Joining UBS in 2013, Tom Hall leads the firm’s global philanthropy services for private clients.
Diplomat
Jean-Christophe Iseux, Baron von Pfetten zu St Mariakirchen, is a diplomat, academic and landowner who lives at Apethorpe Palace in Northamptonshire. He served as a specially invited member of the upper house of the Chinese parliament between 2001-2012, the first European to hold such a position in China. Pfetten also hosted a series of meetings on Iran’s nuclear programme attended by military commanders from Iran and Israel as well as senior officials from the P5 nations which contributed to the success of the Nuclear Interim Deal achieved in Geneva in November 2013. Pfetten was named a “global leader of tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum. He also received the Lei Feng award for merit for his humanitarian work following the 1997 earthquake and 1998 flood in China, the first and only foreigner to receive it.
Philanthropist
Luke Johnson is a leading British entrepreneur and chairman of private equity house Risk Capital Partners. He studied medicine at Oxford and is chairman of the Institute of Cancer Research. He co-founded the Centre for Entrepreneurs, a non-profit think tank. Since 2016, Johnson has been chairman of the Almeida Theatre. He writes a column on business for the Sunday Times.
Businessman
CEO of Tesco until 2011, Leahy transformed the company to be the third largest retailer in the world. He has since switched his focus to start-ups, making investments in the education sector and the performing arts. Born in Liverpool to Irish immigrant parents, he was knighted in 2002.
Business leader and philanthropist
Roger Orf is an American financier specialising in real estate. Since moving to the UK with Goldman Sachs in 1991, he has pursued an entrepreneurial career, which peaked with the founding of E-Shelter GmbH, a German-based data centre business which he and his partners sold for €1.1 billion to NTT. He is a trustee of the Centre for Policy Studies and serves on the board of the Urban Land Institute.
Chairman, Korn Ferry and philanthropist
Oliver Pawle is the London-based chairman of Korn Ferry Board Services Practice, focusing on chairman, non-executive and executive board appointments, succession management and leadership development. He has advised companies including Vodafone, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of England. He is a dedicated philanthropist, promoting the Catholic faith in several causes.
Businessman and philanthropist
Michael Spencer founded NEX Group, specialising in financial services, which he sold in 2018. Nearly 30 years ago he founded the ICAP Charity Day, where each year the firm donates a day’s revenue to charities. Over £140 million has been raised since, supporting 2,200 charitable projects. In 2022 he funded the building of a new £6.25 million sixth-form centre at his alma mater, Worth School.
Financier and philanthropist
John Studzinski, the managing director and vice chairman of the global investment-management firm PIMCO, has said he did not have any interest initially in working in finance. “At a young age I already had a strong sense of God’s purpose for me, which was to pray hard, work hard and help people.” The son of working-class Polish immigrants to Chicago, his charitable interests now include homelessness, human rights, and the arts. He founded The Genesis Foundation to encourage young people in creative careers, and was appointed CBE in 2008 and has two papal knighthoods.
Businessman and philanthropist
John Whittaker is chairman of the Peel Group, a property business which invests mainly in the north-west of England. He was chosen as “most influential northerner” by the Big Issue in 2010. His philanthropy has included donating £1 million to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, motivated by the birth of his stillborn granddaughter in 2003. He considered the priesthood after leaving school.
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