Sir John Banham is the Chairman of Johnson Matthey PLC, and Spacelabs Inc. (a world leader in heart monitoring equipment, based in Seattle, USA, which completed an IPO on AIM in London in October 2005).  Sir John is also the senior independent director of AMVESCAP PLC and Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc, as well as  a non executive director of Merchants Trust PLC. 

Sir John was the Chairman of  Cyclacel Group PLC from July 2002 until March 28, 2006, when the Company acquired Xcyte Therapies Inc, a NASDAQ-quoted company; and the combined company, focused on the discovery and development of  treatments of cancer and other serious diseases, was re-named Cyclacel  Pharmaceuticals Inc.  In addition, Sir John was Chairman of Whitbread PLC from 2000 to 2005, Geest PLC from 2002 to 2005, and Kingfisher PLC from 1996 to December 2001, when he stood down following the successful sale de-merger of the Group’s general merchandise businesses and properties.  He was Chairman of Tarmac PLC from February 1994 until March 2000 when the Group was acquired by Anglo American plc in an agreed bid following the de-merger of Carillion plc. 

These  companies all out-performed the FTSE 100 Index very significantly in terms of total shareholder return during Sir John’s tenure as Chairman, achieving a compound annual growth in total shareholder return in excess of 18% a year since 1992.  Whitbread PLC ranked No. 8 in the FTSE 100 Share Index in terms of total shareholder return during Sir John’s tenure as the Company’s Chairman.  

From 1992 to 1998 Sir John was a Director of National Power and of the National Westminster Bank.  He was Chairman of John Labatt (Europe) for three years until September 1995 when the company was taken over by Interbrew. 

In the private sector, Sir John Banham was the Chairman of ECI Partners LLP (a leading provider of venture capital for mid-market management buyouts) from 1992 until November 2005.  He was also the founding Chairman of Westcountry Television from 1992 until 1995, when the Company was sold to Carlton Communications (now part of ITV PLC).  Over the period, the compound return to shareholders exceeded 30% a year from these two successful enterprises.   

In addition, Sir John chaired an Inquiry into the adequacy of current savings patterns in the United Kingdom for the Institute of Actuaries in 2001.  This identified the extent of the current savings gap and the implications for Britain’s pensioners.   He was Chairman of the Government’s Retail and Consumer Affairs and Foresight Panel from 1998 to 2001.  He was  the First Chairman of the Local Government Commission for England from June 1992 to March 1995.  

Sir John Banham was Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry for five years, standing down in June 1992.  Immediately prior to his appointment at the CBI, Sir John was the first Controller (Chief Executive) of the Audit Commission when this was established in 1983. 

Sir John Banham started his career in the Foreign Office in 1962, after gaining a first-class Honours degree in natural sciences at Queens’ College, Cambridge.  In 1964, he spent a year with J Walter Thompson and from there moved to Reed International, where he went on to become the Director of Marketing for the Wallcoverings Division of the Group.  In 1969, he joined the management consultants McKinsey and Company, becoming a Principal in 1975 and the youngest British Director of the firm in 1980.  He gained wide experience of the public and private sectors in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe.  

Sir John has published widely.  Major  reports include  The Future of the British Car Industry  (1975), which became a set book for students of GCE A-level Economics; Realizing the Promise of a National Health Service (1977); as well as numerous reports for the Audit Commission on education, housing, social services and local government finance between 1984 and 1987.  His book,  The Anatomy of Change: Blueprint for a New Era,  was published in March 1994. 

Sir John Banham holds a number of honorary degrees, including an Honorary LLD from the  University of Bath (1987); Honorary DScs from the Universities of Loughborough (1989), Exeter (1993) and Strathclyde (1995).  He was also awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the City and Guilds of London Institute in 1996, and is an Honorary Fellow of his old College, Queens’ College, Cambridge. 

Sir John has been involved in a number of well-known charitable and voluntary activities.  He was the Honorary Treasurer of the Cancer Research Campaign (until it merged, in 2001, with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund to form Cancer Research UK); a Managing Trustee of the Nuffield Foundation from 1988 to 1997; a Member of the Council of Management of the PDSA from 1982-1993; and the Chairman of South West Enterprise (a private sector organisation concerned with regional development in the South West)  from 1995 to 1998, when it was wound up to be replaced by the Government’s new Regional Development Agency for the South West.  Until recently, he was a Patron of the St Giles’ Trust for the Homeless based in Camberwell, South London. 

Sir John Banham was knighted in the 1992 New Year’s Honours List.  He was born in Torquay on 22 August, 1940.  He  was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Cornwall in early 1999.