Charles Giles Clarke CBE DL (born 29 May 1953), is a British businessman then cricket administrator, who was chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Giles Clarke | |
|---|---|
 Clarke at Trent Bridge in 2009 | |
| Chairman England and Wales Cricket Board | |
| In office 2007–2015 | |
| Preceded by | David Morgan |
| Succeeded by | Colin Graves |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Giles Clarke 29 May 1953 Bristol, Gloucestershire, UK[1] |
| Spouse | Judy née Gould (m. 1983) |
| Children | 1 son |
| Education | Rugby School |
| Alma mater | Oriel College, Oxford |
| Profession | Businessman |
| Awards | _Ribbon.png){kind=small} CBE |
Early life and education
editBorn at Bristol, son of Charles Clarke and Stella née Herbert JP DL (Vice-Lieutenant of Bristol 2004–07), Clarke attended Rugby School, before going to Oriel College, Oxford.
At Oxford, Clarke studied Persian with Arabic, reputedly paying his way through gambling, before graduating as BA (proceeding MA).[2] He then pursued further studies for a year at Damascus University Arabic language school.[3]
Business career
editClarke began his career as an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston. In 1981 he bought from receivership the assets of what was to become Majestic Wine,[4] where, as chairman, he built it into a UK national chain. From August 1987 to May 1988, Clarke was chairman of Majestic Wine Corporation Inc, a United States company which owned a chain of 104 stores trading as Liquor Barn in California and Arizona.[5] Following the disposal of its US-based businesses, he sold the UK plc business of Majestic Wine for £15 million in 1989.[6]
In 1990, Clarke founded Pet City, where, as CEO, he built it into a chain of 94 stores. After floating the business in 1995, he sold it for £150 million in 1996 to US-based PetsMart.[7] In 1998, Clarke founded Safestore, building it into the UK's third largest self storage company before selling it to Bridgepoint Capital for £44million in August 2003.[8] In 1999, Clarke became CEO of Stepstone,[9] an online career portal.
Clarke is chairman and controlling shareholder, via his company Westleigh Investments,[10] of:
- ATL Telecom – Cardiff-based data transmission design equipment company, which manufactures in China[11][12]
- Fosters Event Catering – a West Country-based caterer[13]
- CCI International – the UK's largest clay pigeon equipment manufacturer[14]
- West Country Business Systems – develops software systems for managing independent schools;[15]
And previously:
- Non-executive chairman of Pure Wafer plc – presently the only European-based silicon chip test wafer reclaim company[16]
- Chairman of Amerisur Resources PLC (formerly known as Chaco Resources).[17]
Public service
editClarke has been appointed to the following public bodies:
- National Council member of the Learning and Skills Council (2002–07), the largest quango in the UK with a budget of £10 billion, responsible for all UK adult learning,[4] and a member of the Adult Learning Committee, a statutory body set up by the UK Parliament.
- Deputy Chairman of the EU Task Force on Skills and Mobility, presenting its report to the Barcelona Summit in 2002.[3]
- Deputy Chairman of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre until 2007.[18]
- Patron of Changing Faces, the UK national charity supporting and representing people with disfigurement[19]
- Master of the Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol for 2010/11;[20][21] the Society continues its considerable charitable works whilst being recently accused by some of preserving a favourable memory of Edward Colston.[22][23]
- Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire 1998–2002, then Somerset since 2004.[24]
Cricket
editA keen club cricketer, Clarke was chairman of Somerset County Cricket Club, becoming instrumental in developing the club both on and off the field by consulting ex-cricketers including Sir Ian (now Lord) Botham.[2] Consequently he was appointed a non-executive director of the England and Wales Cricket Board, and as Chairman of ECB Marketing led the negotiations for the ECB's financially advantageous four-year TV and radio broadcasting rights deal signed with BSkyB, Five and the BBC in December 2004.[25] On 25 September 2007 Clarke was elected Chairman of the ECB,[26] re-elected in 2009, and again in March 2012 for a further three years.[27] In April 2015 Clarke was nominated as the inaugural President of the ECB, with the primary role of representing the ECB on the International Cricket Council's executive board.[28]
Clarke was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for "services to cricket".[29][30]
As chief executive of the ECB, Clarke attracted some controversy surrounding the Stanford Super Series, which was bankrolled by the now-convicted American financier Sir Allen Stanford, who offered a US$20million winner-takes-all match against the Stanford Superstars, a team comprising players from the West Indies. Although England had a warm-up game against the West Indies as part of the Super Series, members of the England team, captained by Kevin Pietersen, felt that they were underprepared prior to the match: England lost by 10 wickets.
Although featured in archive interviews and footage as part of a three-part Sky Documentary series entitled The Man Who Bought Cricket, Clarke declined to participate personally.[31]
Clarke is a member of Marylebone Cricket Club.
Private life
editIn 1983, Clarke married Judy Gould; the couple have a son Jack – after whom the brasserie in Bristol is named. Protective of his family private life, when his name appeared in the Sunday Times Rich List in the mid-1990s, Clarke took steps to shield his financial interests from public view.[32]
References
edit- ^ "Giles Clarke profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ a b The incoming chairman of the ECB promises to be more controversial, more decisive and far more outspoken, The Times, 26 September 2007
- ^ a b Entrepreneurs Question Time SetSquared – 4 October 2007
- ^ a b About Us: National Council – C Giles Clarke Archived 25 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine Learning & Skills Council
- ^ tecc-IS plc – Directorate Change digitallook.com – 12 December 2003
- ^ www.majestic.co.uk
- ^ www.independent.co.uk
- ^ Soros makes a loss in Safestore's £40m management buyout Independent – 22 August 2003
- ^ http://specials.ft.com/ftit/march2001/FT336FDYWJC.html Archived 24 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ westleighuk.com
- ^ ATL Telecom announces £20 million 3 year contract to provide enhancements to BT’s KiloStream network ATL Telecom
- ^ Interview with Giles Clarke – West Country Financier and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ATL Telecom Ltd Archived 19 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine Commonwealth Government & Business Guide to Information and Communication Technology
- ^ Fosters spread the word and their Wings Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Fosters Catering – 14 February 2007
- ^ About Us Archived 31 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine CCI International
- ^ www.wcbs.co.uk
- ^ Pure Wafer plc
- ^ www.abcolombia.org.uk
- ^ www.bristololdvic.org.uk
- ^ www.changingfaces.org.uk
- ^ "Our Members". The Society of Merchant Venturers. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ "FAQ". The Society of Merchant Venturers. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ Cork, Tristan (25 March 2019). "Second Colston statue plaque not axed but mayor orders re-write". bristolpost. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ Cork, Tristan (12 June 2020). "Merchants admit it was 'inappropriate' to stop second Colston statue plaque". bristolpost. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
- ^ www.somersetlieutenancy.com
- ^ ECB TV rights deal with Sky and Five Archived 17 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine ECB – 16 December 2004
- ^ Clarke wins ECB chairmanship vote BBC Sport – 25 September 2007
- ^ "Giles Clarke CBE, DL - ECB chairman". ECB website. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
- ^ "Clarke nominated as first ECB President". European Central Bank. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ^ "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 7.
- ^ "New Year honours list: GBEs, DBEs and CBEs". The Guardian. London. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
- ^ www.sky.com
- ^ www.suntimes.co.uk