Jack Walker
| Jack Walker | |
|---|---|
Jack Walker at Ewood Park
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| Born |
19 May 1929 Blackburn, Lancashire, England |
| Died | 17 August 2000 (aged 71) St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation |
Businessman Industrialist |
| Years active | 1942–2000 |
| Net worth |
 £600 million(US$927 million) (est.) |
| Title | Owner of Walkersteel (1951–1989) Owner of Blackburn Rovers F.C. (1991–2000) |
Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman from Blackburn, Lancashire. Walker built his fortune in the steel industry, amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He then went on to become the owner and benefactor of Blackburn Rovers Football Club, winning a Premiership title under his guidance.
The youngest of three children, Walker was born in Blackburn and left school at 13. Walker worked as a sheet metal worker and a conscript craftsman in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. In 1951, following the death of his father Charles, Walker took over the family sheet metal business. Walkersteel was built from a back-street scrap metal business to a major force in the steel industry. By 1990 Walker had built up the business so successfully that it had become the largest steel stockholder in Britain, employing 3,400 people at 50 sites. In 1988 the business was making an annual profit of £48m. Walkersteel completed a major deal with GKN, purchasing subsidiary GKN Steelstock. Following this Walker decided it was the right time to sell and opened negotiations with British Steel Corporation. Walkersteel was sold for a reported £360m, the highest price ever paid for a private company at the time. Walker's sale of Walkersteel proved to be a less successful investment for its new owners British Steel, as the steel market entered a steep slump as a result of the early 1990s recession. The Walkersteel brand has been revived following Walker's death but is linked in name only.
In November 1983 the WalkerSteel group took over Jersey European Airways, already being the parent company to Blackpool based airline Spacegrand. The two airlines were initially run separately until 1985 when they were amalgamated and Exeter became the airline's headquarters and base for technical services.
The airline grew throughout the 1990s and was recognised in 1993 and 1994 when it won 'Best UK Regional Airline'. The new millennium saw the airline announce a new brand name at the beginning of May: British European. The rebrand reflected the size and scope of what was now the UK’s third-largest scheduled airline. July 2002 saw the start of a new beginning for the airline, British European was forced to dramatically change its business model to survive in such a highly competitive and aggressive new low cost travel era. Flybe was born and along with changes to commercial, fleet and operational policies that were to transform the airline.
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