{{Short description|British businessman}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}} {{Use British English|date=October 2017}} '''Sir Terence Norman Beckett''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KBE}} (13 December 1923 – 2 May 2013) was a British businessman, who was chairman of Ford and later became director-general of the Confederation of British Industry.
==Early life== Beckett was born on 13 December 1923 in Walsall, Staffordshire, England.<ref name="obit - Telegraph">{{cite news|title=Sir Terence Beckett|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/finance-obituaries/10050270/Sir-Terence-Beckett.html|accessdate=13 May 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=10 May 2013}}</ref> He was educated at the private Wolverhampton Grammar School. He then went on to study mechanical engineering at Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Technical college (now Wolverhampton University).<ref name="obit - Guardian">{{cite news|last=McGarvey|first=Paddy|title=Sir Terence Beckett obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/may/12/sir-terence-beckett|accessdate=13 May 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=12 May 2013}}</ref>
On 14 July 1945, towards the end of World War II, Beckett was commissioned in the British Army as a second lieutenant of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He was given the service number 352178.<ref name="LG 24 August 1945">{{London Gazette |issue=37239 |date=24 August 1945 |pages=4325–4326 |supp=y }}</ref> He saw active service in India and Malaya.<ref name="obit - FT">{{cite news|last=Gooding|first=Kenneth|title=Terence Beckett, motor executive and employer chief|url=https://www.ft.com/content/4b26e530-ba43-11e2-b597-00144feab7de|accessdate=13 May 2013|newspaper=Financial Times|date=11 May 2013}}</ref> He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 January 1949 and granted the honorary rank of captain.<ref name="LG 9 September 1949">{{London Gazette |issue=38708 |date=9 September 1949 |page=4337 |supp=y }}</ref> He took a BSc in economics at the London School of Economics.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/may/12/sir-terence-beckett|title = Sir Terence Beckett obituary| newspaper=The Guardian |date = 12 May 2013 | last1=McGarvey | first1=Paddy }}</ref>
==Honours and decorations== Beckett received the General Service Medal (1918) with Malaya clasp for his service during the Malayan Emergency.
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1974. He was knighted in 1978. He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1987.<ref name="obit - Times">{{cite news|title=Sir Terence Beckett|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article3762964.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924192849/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article3762964.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2014|access-date=27 May 2013|newspaper=The Times|date=13 May 2013}}</ref>
Beckett received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19810316&id=mv49AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZUkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5678,3127217&hl=en|title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=2016-04-06}}</ref> in 1981 <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm|title=Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates|last=|website=www1.hw.ac.uk|access-date=2016-04-05|archive-date=18 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418163907/http://www1.hw.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-graduates.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/may/12/sir-terence-beckett Obituary - The Guardian] *[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/finance-obituaries/10050270/Sir-Terence-Beckett.html Obituary - The Telegraph] *[https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/sir-terence-beckett-ft85kwhv2h6 Obituary - The Times]
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Director-General of the CBI |years=1980 – 1987 |before=John Methven |after=John Banham}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Terence}} Category:1923 births Category:2013 deaths Category:Military personnel from the West Midlands (county) Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Category:Ford executives Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:People educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School Category:Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton Category:People from Walsall Category:People in the automotive industry Category:British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency Category:Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics Category:Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics Category:British Army personnel of World War II