John Gildersleeve

John Gildersleeve (born July 1944) is a British businessman and the former chairman of British Land until March 2019.

Early life Gildersleeve was born in July 1944. His father was a sergeant in the Army and his mother was "ambitiously intelligent". He grew up in a rented house in south London, and was the only boy in his year to go to grammar school.

Career Gildersleeve left school at 18 and joined Shell as a clerk. At 19, he joined Tesco as a trainee manager, having been interviewed by Ian MacLaurin, then an area manager, now Lord MacLaurin. He rose to join the board in 1984 and was a director for 20 years. He is deputy chairman of TalkTalk. He was formerly chairman of New Look, EMI Group, Gallaher Group and Carphone Warehouse; deputy chairman of Spire Healthcare; and a non-executive director of Lloyds TSB, Vodafone Group, Dixons Carphone and Tesco.

Personal life Gildersleeve lives in the UK. He has daughters.