Peter Wilmot-Sitwell

Peter Sacheverell Wilmot-Sitwell (28 March 1935 – 19 June 2018) was a British merchant banker and stockbroker. He is credited with inventing the "dawn raid" which enabled companies to build up a stake in a takeover target before the target had the chance to react. He was described by the Financial Times as a "gentleman banker", and one of the last of "an almost extinct breed" from the pre-Big Bang era.

Peter was educated at West Downs preparatory school in Winchester, and then at Eton College and the University of Oxford (1955–58 BA, MA) where he obtained a third class degree in modern history and a half-blue in fencing for which he also represented England. His education was interrupted by national service in the Coldstream Guards from 1953 to 1955 that he enjoyed so much that he had to be persuaded by his mother to go on to Oxford.

Career Wilmot-Sitwell started his banking career as a trainee at Hambros Bank in 1958, before becoming a partner at the age of 25 in 1959 at Rowe & Pitman (R & P). He was senior partner there from 1982 to 1986.

In the City, he received the nickname of "The Red Ferret" due to his ruddy complexion, and "Captain Mainwaring" after the character in the British television sitcom, Dad's Army.

His home was at Portman House, Dummer, near Basingstoke. His hobbies were shooting, golf, and tennis. He was a member of White's club and Swinley Forest Golf Club in Ascot.

Death Wilmot-Sitwell died on 19 June 2018 after a stroke. He received obituaries in The Times and the Financial Times.