John King, Baron King of Wartnaby facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Lord King of Wartnaby
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| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal |
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| In office 15 July 1983 – 12 July 2005 Life Peerage |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 August 1917 |
| Died | 12 July 2005 |
John Leonard King, Baron King of Wartnaby (29 August 1917 – 12 July 2005) was a British businessman, who was noted for leading British Airways. He was also directly involved with the "dirty tricks" campaign waged by British Airways against Virgin Atlantic.
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Early life and career
King was born in Brentford, Middlesex. His father, Albert John King, had fought in the First World War, and later worked as a postman; his Irish-born mother, Kathleen King, worked as a seamstress. He was the second of four children. He was reared on a small property attached to a public house in Dunsfold, Surrey. He left school in 1929 at the age of 12 without qualifications and started work in a local factory which produced vacuum cleaners, where his work included machining clamping stays, earning him the nickname "Clamping Stay King".
His next job was with local businessman Arthur Sykes, as a car salesman (with duties including re-possessing cars from people who had failed to make the necessary payments) before setting up his own taxi business and acquiring a Ford cars sub-agency and naming it Whitehouse Motors. When the Second World War broke out, the motor business folded, but by then King had diversified into more general engineering work and so prospered from defence contracts and making parts for aircraft. He benefited hugely from War Ministry contracts and was able to use rare American machine tools that he acquired under the Lend Lease programme.
After the war King, moved to Canada for a time, before returning to England and building a factory on wasteland in Ferrybridge, West Riding of Yorkshire to establish Ferrybridge Industries. After renaming it the Pollard Ball and Roller Bearing Company and producing millions of ball bearings per year, it grew to become a major operation spanning several continents (the third-largest ball-bearing business in the UK). After being forced to merge the business with another manufacturer, Ransome & Marles, as part of a government reorganisation of the ball bearing business, King sold it for £10m in 1968, netting some £3m personally.
He became Chairman of Dennis Specialist Vehicles in 1970, and Babcock International in 1972. Babcock was acquired by FKI Electricals for £415 million in August 1987. King, Babcock chairman since 1972, became chairman of the new combined company, called FKI Babcock. He was made Knight Bachelor in the 1979 New Year Honours, and appointed Chairman of the National Enterprise Board in 1980 and, famously, taking over as head of British Airways (BA).
British Airways
Dubbed "Mrs. Thatcher's favourite businessman" he was chosen to prepare the loss-making nationalised flag carrier for privatisation. King joined British Airways in 1981 when the airline was losing in excess of £140m a year. By 1989, the airline was making a pre-tax profit of £268m. Some of King's major changes at the airline included removing 22,000 staff members, hiring Colin Marshall as CEO in 1983, removing older aircraft from the fleet, purchasing more modern and efficient airliners, and axing unprofitable routes. Within two years King had replaced over half of the BA board with his own appointees. When BA was privatised in 1987, the initial share offering was 11 times oversubscribed. His compensation as chairman rose from about £250,000 in 1988 to £669,350 (including a £220,000 bonus) in 1991. King was created a life peer as Baron King of Wartnaby, in the County of Leicestershire on 15 July 1983.
Lord King recognised the importance of Concorde to British Airways. In its early years of service with BA, Concorde lost the carrier money and attracted criticism from the press as a white elephant. BA used Concorde to win business customers from transatlantic competitors by guaranteeing a certain number of Concorde upgrades in return for corporate accounts with the airline.
Later career
King stepped down from his BA leadership role in 1993, but remained BA president emeritus. His interests included directorships at the Daily Telegraph, Spectator, headhunting company Norman Broadbent, and engineering firm Short Brothers.
Marriages and children
King was married twice; first to Lorna Sykes (daughter of his first boss, Arthur Sykes, and sister-in-law of John Poulson) in 1941. The couple remained married until her death from cancer in 1969. King remarried in 1970 to Isabel Cynthia Monckton, daughter of the 8th Viscount Galway.
Personal life
King held the rank of MFH (Master of Foxhounds) with the Belvoir and Badsworth hunts and was also Chairman of the Lord King XI cricket team.
He and wife Lorna both learned to fly and would use an aircraft to tour the UK.
Lord King kept a flat in London for many years, in Eaton Square, and during his time running British Airways he lived there during the week. At weekends, he travelled north to his country estate, Friars Well Estate, in Wartnaby near Melton Mowbray in the county of Leicestershire. He also had a house in Scotland, close to the River Naver.
Arms
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