Geoffrey Heyworth

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Geoffrey Heyworth, 1st Baron Heyworth (born October 18, 1894 in Birkenhead , † June 15, 1974 ) was a British manager. For many years he was CEO of the British Unilever Group.

Life and activity

Heyworth was educated at the Dollar Academy in Clackmannanshire . Heyworth joined in 1912 as a clerk in the service of the company Lever Brothers . After briefly working in the accounting department, he moved to the Canadian subsidiary of the group, for which he worked until 1924 - interrupted by his participation in the First World War with the Canadian Army from 1915 to 1918. In 1924 he returned to Great Britain, where he now worked in the export trade department of Lever Brothers. In 1925, as Sales Controller, he took over the supervision of the soap trade within the company.

In 1931 Heyworth became one of the directors of the Unilever Group, with the reorganization of the numerous hygiene companies belonging to the Group being entrusted to him. In 1941 Heyworth D'Arcy Cooper succeeded as Chairman of Unilever Limited. He stayed in this position until he retired in 1960.

At the end of the 1930s, Heyworth was classified by the National Socialist police as an important target due to his position in British economic life: In the spring of 1940, the Reich Security Main Office in Berlin put him on the special wanted list GB , a list of people who were particularly dangerous or important to the Nazi surveillance apparatus saw why, in the event of a successful invasion and occupation of the British Isles by the Wehrmacht, they should be located and arrested by the special SS commandos following the occupation forces with special priority.

In addition to his work for Lever Brothers / Unilever, Heyworth held numerous honorary positions: He was temporarily a member of the supervisory board of the British coal industry (National Coal Board) and from 1959 to 1950 President of the Royal Statistical Society .

In 1955 Heyworth was raised to hereditary nobility as Baron Heyworth of Oxton in the County Platine of Chester . He was also made an Honorary Fellow of Nullfield College, Oxford University.

Heyworth had been married to Lois Dunlop since 1924.

literature

  • Obituary in: The Times, June 17, 1974.
  • Who's who in Finance and Industry , 1965, p. 595.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Entry on Heyworth on the special wanted list GB
personal data
SURNAME Heyworth, Geoffrey
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British manager
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Birkenhead
DATE OF DEATH June 15, 1974