Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson
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Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson (born in 1960) is a British businessman and entrepreneur.
After attending St Dunstan's College, Paul Drayson graduated from Aston University in Production Engineering, followed in 1985 by a PhD in robotics. From 1986-1991 he was Managing Director of the Lambourn Food Company.
In 1993 he co-founded PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc in Oxford which specialised in the production of vaccines, and was Chief Executive until 2003 when PowderJect was acquired by Chiron Corp.
Drayson has been involved in public controversy on two occasions:
- In 2002 PowderJect was awarded a £32 million government smallpox vaccine contract without competition shortly after Paul Drayson donated £50,000 to the Labour Party. Following a Parliamentary enquiry no improper activity was identified.
- Following his elevation to the House of Lords, made a working peer entitled Baron Drayson, of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in May 2004, he gave the Labour Party another £500,000, raising allegations that his peerage had been 'bought'.
In May 2005 Lord Drayson replaced Lord Bach as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Defence Procurement and as Government Spokesman for Defence to the House of Lords. Lord Drayson's responsibility for defence procurement in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is one of the most high profile jobs in the MoD. His remit includes oversight of the Defence Procurement Agency and Defence Logistics Organisation. In December 2005 Lord Drayson published a report entitled The Defence Industrial Strategy. On 6 March 2007 Lord Drayson was promoted to Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support. He will oversee the new Defence Equipment and Support Organisation. [1]
Between 2001 and 2002 he was the Chairman of the BioIndustry Association, and has been Chairman of the Oxford Children's Hospital Campaign since 2002. Since 2003, he has been the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Said Business School, Oxford University.
In 2006 he purchased Nether Lypiatt Manor in Gloucestershire, formerly the country home of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. [2]
