John Mills

John Angus Donald Mills (8 May 1938 – 6 April 2025) was a British businessman and economist. He founded British consumer products company JML, and was its chairman and majority shareholder. In May 2020, Mills launched The John Mills Institute for Prosperity, a cross-party research initiative focused on achieving higher rates of economic growth.

Early life Mills was born in Hampstead Garden Suburb on 8 May 1938, the son of British Army Colonel Kenneth Mills. Mills' brother is lawyer David Mills, who was married to Tessa Jowell, a former Labour Party Cabinet minister.

Career After two years of National Service, he joined Unilever's graduate scheme, but quit after six months to start his own business. Mills founded Fairlane UK Ltd. which initially sold imported products at trade fairs and exhibitions, and latterly manufactured them. As the pound rose during Margaret Thatcher's government, Fairlane UK went out of business in 1984. Charged by Trading Standards for selling brass trinkets as gold-plated jewellery, he pleaded guilty and was fined £750. In 1986, Mills went on to found JML in the basement of his house in Camden, England. It is based in London and Tyne Dock in the North East of England.

Economics and politics

Labour Party Mills was a supporter and major donor to the Labour Party. In 2013, Mills donated £1,650,000 to the Labour Party in JML shares, making him the party's biggest financial donor.

During the referendum, Mills served as the Chair and then Vice Chair of Vote Leave, the official designated campaign group for Britain to exit the European Union. In April 2016, Mills left Vote Leave to run Labour Leave which campaigned among left of centre voters for Brexit. In July 2018, he resigned from Labour Leave, Labour Future, The Pound Campaign, Business for Brexit, and Labour for Britain, to comply with Ofcom requirements and to avoid any conflict of interest through also running a TV shopping channel. In September 2020, Mills published The Elephant in the Room, a book on why Britain needs to rebalance its economy after 40 years of deindustrialisation.

In 2018, Mills launched the IPPR Economic Prize, which was run by the Institute for Public Policy Research. The prize awarded £100,000 for the best proposal to increase UK economic growth. Mills sat on the judging panel alongside Stephanie Flanders, John Eatwell, and Helena Morrissey. In May 2020, Mills, in his own capacity, launched the John Mills Institute for Prosperity. The Institute seeks to provide policymakers with fresh ideas for economic growth. It launched with a report into how Britain can recover from the impact of COVID-19 through a manufacturing revival.

Personal life and death Mills was married to barrister Barbara Mills, who from 1992 to 1998 was Director of Public Prosecutions, from July 1962, shortly after they both graduated from Oxford, until her death in May 2011. The couple had a son and three daughters. Mills lived in London.

In 2018, Mills founded the John Mills Charitable Trust, which supports research causes. He was a supporter of the mental health charity SANE, of whom his partner Marjorie Wallace is chief executive. His ashes are buried in Highgate Cemetery with those of his wife.

Selected publications Why Trump Won (Labour Future Ltd, November 2016) Brexit Economics: How to make the UK economy the powerhouse of Europe whatever happens with the Brexit negotiations (Labour Future, April 2017) Britain's Achilles Heel: Our Uncompetitive Pound (Civitas, May 2017) Raising Productivity (Labour Future, February 2018) Manufacturing a Recovery from Coronavirus (The Institute for Prosperity, May 2020) The Elephant in the Room (Civitas, September 2020)