Reformer Cadbury dies

A FORMER chairman of chocolatemaker Cadbury and leading champion of corporate governance, Sir Adrian Cadbury ( pictured), has died aged 86.

A business career that spanned six decades saw him occupy senior roles at the Bank of England, the CBI and computing giant IBM.

He was also an Olympic rower, competing for Britain in Helsinki in 1952 in the coxless fours.

He died on Thursday morning, it was confirmed yesterday. He was instrumental in setting up the ‘Cadbury Code’, which set out best practice for companies and went on to form the cornerstone for today’s corporate governance regulations.

The report in 1992 came in following a number of scandals including the insolvency of Polly Peck and the Robert Maxwell scandal. The guiding principles of the reforms – that companies must be able to explain their actions if they veer from best practice – is still in place almost a quarter of a century later. He became deputy chairman of Cadbury Schweppes in 1969, rising to become chairman of Cadbury in 1975, which he held for 14 years until 1989.

This January he was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen’s New Year Honours List. The accolade, also held by Stephen Hawking, Sir David Attenborough and David Hockney, is a prestigious title that recognises outstanding achievements in the arts, literature or science.