Peter Harrison

Sir Peter Robert Harrison KGCN CBE (29 April 1937 – 18 June 2021) was a British business man notable as a philanthropist.

Early life Born in 1937, Harrison was the son of Dolly Harrison, a seamstress, and Bob Harrison, a bus driver in Manchester who a few years later was one of the British soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk. He grew up in Cheadle, Cheshire, and was educated at Broadway County Secondary School and Stockport Technical College, playing for the college in both soccer and cricket. While at school, he learned to sail on the Norfolk Broads. He left school at the age of sixteen with eight O-Levels, then trained as a chartered accountant, qualifying at the age of 21.

Business career Harrison worked as an executive for the Ford Motor Company, Firth Cleveland, and Crest Nicholson, which bought a company called Chernikeeff, a maker of marine instruments. In 1978, he borrowed the money to buy out this business, seeing that its instrument technology would become important in communications. The company developed Telex messaging and later became the British distributor of the internet routers of Cisco Systems. In 1999, he sold Chernikeeff for £300 million.

Sportsman As a young man in Cheadle, Harrison played football, then at the age of thirty three he moved to Reigate and joined the Old Reigatian Rugby Football Club, playing as a wing and as a prop forward into his fifties. A supporter of Chelsea F.C., he became one of its vice-presidents.

Philanthropy Harrison established the Peter Harrison Foundation, which by 2021 had given away over £50 million. Its focus is on sport for people with disabilities, care for children with special needs, and the education of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Honours 2005: Honorary Doctor of Technology of the University of Loughborough 2013: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Nation (Antigua and Barbuda)