Michael Angus
 Michael Angus    (businessman) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 5 May 1930 Kent, UK |
| Died | 13 March 2010 (Age 79) |
| Nationality | UK |
| Alma mater | Marling School, Bristol University |
| Member of | Ditchley/UK |
Chairman of Unilever. Attended the 1987 Bilderberg | |
Sir Michael Richardson Angus DL was a UK businessman and Chairman of Unilever from 1986 until 1992.
"Angus, who has died at the age of 79, was one of the greatest exponents of what has been unkindly described as the corpocracy – the interlocking network of directorships at the top of British business. After six years as the forceful chairman of Unilever, he sat on more remuneration committees than any of his contemporaries."[1]
Career
Angus was born in Kent on May 5 1930, the son of an optician; he spent part of his childhood in Rhodesia before his family moved to Gloucestershire during the war. He was educated at Marling School in Stroud and Bristol University, where he read Mathematics and was chairman of the Conservative association. He was in the RAF for three years before joining Unilever as a management trainee in 1954.[2]
An ardent Thatcherite and long-standing friend of Norman Tebbit and Cecil Parkinson (the three of them having formed a Conservative debating group in the 1960s), Angus sometimes declared himself a "frustrated politician". Parkinson described him as a superb speaker but added: "Though tempted by politics, he decided to concentrate on his business career." Angus's explanation was that he needed to earn a decent living. But he was on his way up. In 1970 he was elected one of the youngest ever members of the Unilever board."[1][2]
His rise to the highest echelon of management followed a successful four-year posting to New York, where he rescued Unilever's debilitated US businesses from a period of heavy losses and took the fight to its old rival, Proctor & Gamble. He returned in 1984 to become a vice-chairman and a member of the three-man Anglo-Dutch executive committee. After succeeding Sir Kenneth Durham as UK chairman, he shared the leadership of the group with his Dutch counterpart, Floris Maljers, in an arrangement which Angus called "a sitting together".
Angus was an effective president of the Confederation of British Industry from 1992 to 1994, working closely with Howard Davies, whom he appointed director-general.[1]
Other positions
Angus was President of the Confederation of British Industry from 7 May 1992 to May 1994. Sir Michael's other appointments include: –
- Chairman of Whitbread Plc
- non-executive directors and Deputy chairman British Airways Plc
- non-executive director and chairman Boots Group
- non-executive director National Westminster Bank
- Chairman of Ashridge Business School
- Member of the Council of British Executive Service Overseas
- Chairman of the Trustees of The Leverhulme Trust
- Director of the Ditchley Foundation
- International Counsellor Emeritus of the Conference Board in New York
- non-executive director for the Halcrow Group Limited.
- Chairman of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester until 2005.[3]
Angus was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire in 1997.
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1987 | 24 April 1987 | 26 April 1987 | Italy Cernobbio | 35th Bilderberg, in Italy, 106 participants |
