TRIBUTES have been flooding in for much-loved Dorridge resident Sir Adrian Cadbury who died on September 3 at the age of 86.
Born in Birmingham, George Adrian Hayhurst Cadbury was the grandson of George Cadbury, who had built the Bournville factory and the second son of Joyce and Laurence Cadbury, a prominent business figure who had served as chairman of both the chocolate business and the family-owned social reform paper News Chronicle.
Sir Adrian was chairman of the famous chocolate factory that bears his family name for nearly 20 years.
He was schooled at Eton and after serving in the Coldstream Guards, read economics at King’s College, Cambridge, where he also won a rowing blue.
He was also an Olympic rower who competed for Britain in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki and a leading champion of corporate governance.
In a tribute to the leading businessman, Cadbury released the following statement:
“Sir Adrian was not only a legendary figure for every Cadbury employee, past and present, but he was also genuinely loved.
“He was unfailingly polite to everyone he met within the business and was on first name terms with many of them, regardless of where they worked.
“Sir Adrian was a true gentleman who will be sadly missed from Bournville to every corner of the world splashed by Cadbury purple.”
Awarded a knighthood in 1977 Sir Adrian was given the Freedom of the City of Birmingham in 1982 and received several honorary degrees in recognition of his contribution to commerce, corporate governance and public life over the years.
He was a director at the Bank of England from 1970 to 1994 and Chancellor of Aston University from 1979 to 2004.
He is survived by his three children from his first marriage to Gillian, who died in 1992.
His second wife Susan passed away in 2010.
Sir Adrian was also the president of ART Business Loans – who have also paid tribute to him and his work.
Steve Walker, Chief Executive of ART, who has worked alongside Sir Adrian since the outset, said:
“It was with deep sadness that the Directors, former Directors and Staff at ART Business Loans learnt of the death of Sir Adrian Cadbury.
“Sir Adrian was instrumental in setting up ART, one of the first Community Development Finance Institutions in the UK, which lends to businesses in Solihull and the wider West Midlands unable to access the finance they need from the banks.
“Sir Adrian was an astute businessman guided by a strong moral compass.
“He was a great enthusiast when it came to business and loved to talk to entrepreneurs, business owners and managers about their ideas and plans for growth.
“But he was also a philanthropist and encouraged others to follow his example in giving something back.”
* There will be a Service of Thanks giving today (Thursday, September 17) at 2.30pm at St Francis Parish Church, Sycamore Rd, Birmingham.
The service is open to the public.
