Gerry Grimstone, Baron Grimstone of Boscobel

Gerald Edgar Grimstone, Baron Grimstone of Boscobel (born 27 August 1949) is a British businessman. He was previously chairman of Barclays Bank plc and of Standard Life and group deputy chairman of Barclays plc, the holding company for the Barclays Group.

The Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
Minister of State for Investment
In office
18 March 2020 – 7 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byThe Baroness Fairhead
Succeeded byThe Lord Johnson of Lainston
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
21 April 2020
Life peerage
Personal details
Born
Gerald Edgar Grimstone

(1949-08-27) 27 August 1949 (age 75)[1]
Streatham, London, England
Children3
EducationWhitgift School
Alma materMerton College, Oxford
OccupationChairman, Standard Life
Chairman, Barclays Bank plc

On 18 March 2020, he became an unpaid minister at the Department for International Trade and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and it was announced he would become a life peer.

Early life

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Gerald Edgar Grimstone was born in August 1949,[2] in Streatham, London, the son of Edgar Wilfred Grimstone (died 1986), of Croydon, and Dorothy Yvonne, née Martin. Edgar Grimstone was a publisher, having previously been director of the family carpet-fitting and flooring contracting business, D. Y. Grimstone Ltd.[3][4] Grimstone has described his father as a "working class intellectual" and a senior member of the UK Communist Party.[5]

He was educated at the independent Whitgift School, Croydon, and Merton College, Oxford, where he received a degree in chemistry.[6]

Career

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Grimstone worked as a civil servant from 1972 to 1986, and then as a director of Schroders from 1986 to 1999.

Grimstone was chairman of Standard Life (now Standard Life Aberdeen) from 2007 till 2019, deputy chairman of Barclays since January 2016, a non-executive director of Deloitte and the lead non-executive director at the Ministry of Defence.[7][8][9][10][11]

Honours

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Grimstone was knighted in the 2014 Birthday Honours,[12] and received that accolade from the Prince of Wales on 6 February 2015.[13] On 8 April 2020 he was created Baron Grimstone of Boscobel, of Belgravia in the City of Westminster.[14]

Personal life

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In 1973, Grimstone married Hon. Janet Elizabeth Gudrun Suenson-Taylor, daughter of the 2nd Baron Grantchester; they had a son and two daughters before divorcing in 1995.[6][15]

References

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  1. ^ Dey, Ian (25 November 2012). "Dad was a communist, I sold state's silver for Thatcher". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Gerald Edgar GRIMSTONE – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  3. ^ Rubber Journal, collected vol. 129., Maclaren Publishing, 1955, p. 917
  4. ^ The London Gazette, issue 40644, 29 November 1955, p. 6762
  5. ^ "Margaret Thatcher Conference on China and Britain (Part Four)" – via www.youtube.com.
  6. ^ a b Hello (16 May 2008). "Saturday Profile: Gerry Grimstone". The Scotsman. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Board Of Directors". Standardlife.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Barclays - Barclays PLC: Sir Gerry Grimstone appointed as a Director to succeed Sir Michael Rake as Senior Independent Director and Deputy Chairman - EDF Media Centre". Newsroom.barclays.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  9. ^ Yeomans, Jon (9 November 2015). "Barclays names Sir Gerry Grimstone as deputy chairman". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Gerry Grimstone". Deloitte United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  11. ^ Burton, Lucy (30 October 2018). "New era for Standard Life Aberdeen as City grandee Douglas Flint takes the chair". The Daily Telegraph.
  12. ^ "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. B2.
  13. ^ "No. 61320". The London Gazette. 11 August 2015. p. 14934.
  14. ^ "No. 62973". The London Gazette. 15 April 2020. p. 7474.
  15. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, Burke's Peerage, Ltd, 2003, vol. 2, p. 1637
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of State for Investment
2020–2022
Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
The Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
Followed by