Agenda item

Resolved Unanimously: -

That this Court has learned with great sorrow of the unexpected and sudden death of Sir Paul Rupert Judge, Alderman for the Ward of Tower since 2007 and Sheriff between 2013 and 2014.

Sir Paul enjoyed a high-flying career in the food industry, becoming Cadbury’s group planning director in 1984 at a young age and a member of the group executive committee. In 1985 he led a substantial management buyout – the biggest of its kind at that time - of the company’s UK, Irish and French food businesses to form the successful Premier Brands.  

In addition to his business, industry and professional interests, Sir Paul was a staunch advocate for education. He established a charitable foundation and financed the creation of a new business school at Cambridge University where he studied at Trinity College - now called the Cambridge Judge Business School. He chaired the school’s Advisory board for 12 years and throughout this time the school rose rapidly in the rankings, with the Cambridge MBA programme now ranked among the top in the world.  He continued to remain closely engaged with, and enthused by the education agenda and routinely travelled to China through his work with the 88 initiative, which he co-founded, to provide opportunities for Chinese students and business professionals already in the UK and for entrepreneurs in China wishing to come to the UK.

Sir Paul was appointed to a number of government roles and he also enjoyed a political career in the 1990s, advising on several policy issues including competitiveness, deregulation and privatisation.  As a result of his extensive work in both politics and public service, Sir Paul made a Knight Batchelor in 1996 and, in 2013 he was appointed a Brother of the Order of St John by Her Majesty the Queen.  In addition, he received a number of honorary doctorates from Cambridge, City and Westminster Universities.  

The members of this Court wish to take this opportunity to offer to Sir Paul’s family and in particular his wife Lady Barbara and his two sons Christopher and Michael, their sincere and heart-felt sympathy at this sad time.