Gerry Robinson

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Sir Gerrard Jude ("Gerry") Robinson (b. 1948, County Donegal) is an Irish-born British businessman. He is the former (non-executive) Chairman of Allied Domecq and the ex-Chairman/Chief Executive of Granada.

He began a career in accounting in 1965, and climbed the ranks to become the head of Granada, ousting David Plowright and others. He steered the company through various mergers, and hostile takeovers including London Weekend Television (1993), the Forte Hotels chain (1996) and an unsuccessful attempt at acquiring Rentokil Initial in 2005.

Robinson also served as chairman of the Arts Council England for several years, in which capacity he was on one occasion one of the many victims of a spoof by British comedian Ali G.

He has divorced and remarried, and has a total of 4 children. He lives in Holland Park, West London, and has a vacation home (which he uses quite frequently) in his native Donegal.

He supports Tony Blair, although he formerly supported the Conservative Party. He starred in a Labour Party Election Broadcast, saying:

"I think, frankly, there's only one party that can represent Britain best, getting business right, and that's New Labour" (see [1]).

He was knighted in the 2004 New Year's Honours List.

In January 2007 he presented a three-part series Can Gerry Robinson Fix the NHS?. Following on from the BBC series I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss, this Open University-produced programme followed Robinson as he attempted to reduce waiting lists at Rotherham General Hospital. [2]