George Guise

George Robert John Guise (17 June 1943 – 19 April 2020) was a British business executive and political adviser to Margaret Thatcher.

Early life and education Guise was born in Cardiff on 17 June 1943.

Career Early career In 1968, Guise joined Consolidated Gold Fields Group following university. His early roles included programming one of the first computers in South Africa.

He opposed government funding of near-market research and believed this was best left to and paid for by private industry, and advocated for the prioritisation of funds for "curiosity-driven research" as a better alternative.

In November 1989 Guise supported a proposal to require British Coal to restore "defunct pithead areas and tips" — negatively comparing the "present practice of allowing British Coal to leave an environmental mess behind" to the standards of East European socialist states. The following March, having taken advice from British Coal, he authored a confidential memo which advocated the closure of eight collieries in the event of another miners' strike.

Selected publications