Henry Staunton (businessman)

Henry Staunton
BornMay 1948 (age 76)
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1960s–present
Known forChairman, WH Smith

Henry Eric Staunton (born May 1948)[1] is a British businessman, the former chairman of retailers WH Smith and BrightHouse, and of Post Office Limited. Earlier, he was finance director of Granada Group and then ITV plc.

Named in The Times 2006 Power 100 survey, and rated as one of the UK's top 50 finance movers and shakers by Accountancy Age,[2] Staunton is an "experienced finance professional"[3] and "well regarded dealmaker".[4][5] While at Granada, he helped steer one of the largest mergers in media history – creating a unified ITV – and played a role in ensuring Granada and its executives came out on top after the £5.8bn deal to merge Carlton and Granada.[6]

Education and early career

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Staunton was privately educated at Ipswich School before reading Economics and Statistics at the University of Exeter. In 1970, he joined auditing firm Price Waterhouse: he was admitted as a partner in 1981, later becoming Senior Audit Partner, looking after a number of its clients including news service Reuters and textiles and chemicals manufacturer Courtaulds.[7]

Later career

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Staunton joined Granada plc, as finance director, in 1993 and, after the merger of Granada and Carlton, was appointed to the board of ITV plc on 3 December 2003.[8] On 21 September 2005, ITV plc announced that Staunton planned to step down as Finance Director.[9] He resigned from the Board of ITV plc on 29 March 2006,[10] announcing that he planned to "broadly retire".[11]

Non-executive career

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Staunton was chairman of Ashtead Group plc, a plant hire company (1997 to 2004), and was a non-executive director of EMAP plc, a consumer magazine and media company (1995 to 2002). In 2002, Staunton was forced to resign after a government ruling that he could not be on the board of both Granada and Emap.[12] He has also been on the boards of ITN, a British news broadcaster, and BSkyB – the operator of the UK's largest digital pay television platform – and international fashion retailer New Look.[13][14]

Staunton was appointed to the board of Legal & General on 1 May 2004[15] and was vice chairman and senior independent director[16] until his retirement from the board in May 2013.[17] He was also a non-executive director of Standard Bank from December 2005 to September 2016,[18] of Ladbrokes from September 2006 to May 2010,[19] and of The Merchants Trust plc from May 2008 to December 2014.[20]

In 2010, it was announced Staunton was to join the non-executive boards of WH Smith plc[21][22] and Capital & Counties Properties.[23] He was appointed chairman of BrightHouse, a rent-to-own retailer, in July 2014.[24] He retired from WH Smith in June 2022[25] and from Capital & Counties Properties in March 2023.[26]

Staunton was appointed chair of Post Office Limited in December 2022. He was removed on 27 January 2024, following disagreements with the Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch on matters including the appointment of a new independent director. This action came as the government sought to strengthen governance at the state-owned company in the wake of the long-running Horizon IT scandal.[27][28] The following month, in an interview with The Sunday Times, Staunton said he had been asked by a senior civil service official shortly after his appointment to slow the payout of payments to sub-postmasters affected by the scandal so that the government could "limp into the next election".[29][30] The next day, Badenoch told Parliament that Staunton had been under "formal investigation" for misconduct.[31]

Other interests

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Outside his business life, Staunton sits on the advisory board of the University of Exeter Business School.[32] He plays Eton Fives[33] and golf. His clubs include Walton Heath Golf Club[34] and the RAC.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "Henry Eric Staunton: appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Top 50 power list (part 2) - 08 Jan 2004". Accountancy Age. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  3. ^ Accountancy Age, 8 June 2010 Finance experts take top WH Smith roles
  4. ^ The Daily Telegraph, 22 September 2005
  5. ^ The Business, 25 September 2005
  6. ^ "I'm an FD, get me out of here - 29 Sep 2005". Accountancy Age. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  7. ^ Henry E. Staunton F.C.A., B.A., A.R.N. "Henry Staunton: Executive Profile & Biography - Businessweek". Investing.businessweek.com. Retrieved 27 November 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)[dead link]
  8. ^ "ITV plc Report and accounts 2006" (PDF). Itvplc.com. Retrieved 7 August 2012.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Marketing, 21 December 2005
  10. ^ Regulatory News Service, 30 March 2006
  11. ^ "Business | The Times". The Times. 23 October 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  12. ^ "Personal finance news, how to make money, how to save money". The Daily Telegraph. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2012.[dead link]
  13. ^ "Henry Staunton director information. Free company director check". cbetta.com. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  14. ^ Jones, Adam (2 February 2010). "New Look listing aims to raise £650m". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  15. ^ "Remuneration Report". Legal and General. 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2012. Legal & General Annual Reports & Accounts 2011
  16. ^ "Legal & General - Group Board". Investor.legalandgeneral.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  17. ^ "Directorate Change - Legal & General press release". March 2013. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  18. ^ "Annual report 2005 : Directors' report". Standard Bank. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  19. ^ "WH Smith plc, Board Changes, 8 June 2012" (PDF).
  20. ^ "Directorate Change". Merchant's Trust. 2008. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
  21. ^ John O'Doherty (8 June 2010). "WH Smith appoints new chairman". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  22. ^ "Finance experts take top WH Smith roles - 08 Jun 2010". Accountancy Age. Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  23. ^ "Capital & Counties Properties News (CAPC) Share Prices, Charts, News, Financials, and More". Digital Look. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  24. ^ Harrison, Nicola (7 July 2014). "BrightHouse appoints new chairman as sales and profits grow". Retail Week. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  25. ^ "City Snapshot: WH Smith appoints new chairman to succeed Henry Staunton". The Grocer. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Section 430(2B) Companies Act 2006 Statement" (PDF). Shaftsbury Capital. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  27. ^ Kleinman, Mark (27 January 2024). "Post Office chairman Henry Staunton ousted amid row with government". Sky News. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Post Office chairman sacked by Business Sec Badenoch after 'rows' in wake of public outcry of Horizon scandal". LBC. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  29. ^ Shah, Oliver (20 February 2024). "Post Office boss: I was told to stall compensation to help Tories". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  30. ^ Halliday, Josh (18 February 2024). "Former Post Office chair says he was told to stall Horizon compensation payouts". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  31. ^ Witherow, Tom (20 February 2024). "Kemi Badenoch says sacked Post Office boss faced bullying investigation". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  32. ^ "Board of Advisors - University of Exeter Business School". Business-school.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  33. ^ "Personal finance news, how to make money, how to save money". The Daily Telegraph. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2012.[dead link]
  34. ^ "Vector lines up top team for Duffy". The Times. 14 April 2007. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  35. ^ "Henry Staunton". LinkedIn. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
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