Anthony Habgood

Sir Anthony John Habgood is a British businessman. From 1991 to 2005, he was chief executive of Bunzl. He was also the chairman of Whitbread from 2005 to 2014, RELX Group and of the Court of the Bank of England. He has been described in the Financial Times as "the City's go-to grandee."

Early life

Anthony John Habgood was born on 8 November 1946, the son of John Michael Habgood MC and his wife, Margaret Diana Middleton, née Dalby. He was educated at Gresham's School, Norfolk. He has a bachelor's degree from Cambridge University, and a master's degree in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

Career

Habgood joined Boston Consulting Group in 1970, after a summer job there, and became a director in 1977. He worked in Boston, Tokyo, Munich and London. From 1981 to 1986 he was Managing Partner of BCG Ltd in London and a member of the executive committee of BCG Inc.
He joined Tootal Group plc in 1986, and became Chief Executive in 1991.
From 1991 to 2005, Habgood was chief executive, then chairman of Bunzl, growing turnover from continuing operations from £500 million to £2.9 billion, and improving profits by a factor of 34, and "is widely credited with transforming Bunzl".
Habgood was also chairman of

Whitbread plc from 2005 to 2014
Mölnlycke Health Care from 2006 to 2007 while it was owned by the private equity house APAX Partners.
RELX Group, a multinational information and analytics company, from June 2009 until 2021.
Preqin Holding Limited from 2011 to 2022.

Past non-executive directorships include NatWest Bank plc, Powergen plc and Marks and Spencer plc.
He was senior non-executive director of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from 2006 until March 2013, and was chair of Norwich Research Park between March 2013 and March 2016.
Habgood was Chair of Court at the Bank of England between July 2014 and June 2018.

Recognition

Habgood was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to UK Industry.

Views

Habgood has said that

businesses should focus on customers.
a key factor in business strategy is determining which elements of a group portfolio have good growth characteristics, and focusing on these.

Habgood has mentioned Christopher Hogg as the chairman he most admired, and Michael Brearley as a leadership hero.

Personal life

On 29 May 1974, Habgood married Nancy Atkinson, the daughter of Ray Nelson Atkinson of San Mateo, California, US. They have three children, and split their time between Chelsea and Norfolk.