Patrick Sheehy
{{Short description|British businessman (1930–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{about|the British businessman|the Australian politician|Maurie Sheehy|the Irish singer|Pa Sheehy}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Patrick Sheehy
| birth_date = 2 September 1930
| birth_place =
| death_date = 23 July 2019
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Businessman
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
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Sir Patrick Sheehy (2 September 1930 – 23 July 2019){{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/07/24/sir-patrick-sheehy-businessman-consolidated-fortunes-british/|title=Sir Patrick Sheehy, businessman who consolidated the fortunes of British-American Tobacco and fought off a hostile takeover bid – obituary|date=24 July 2019|work=The Telegraph}} was a British businessman who was chairman of British American Tobacco.{{cite web|title=Debrett's People of Today|url=http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today-profile?person=14278|accessdate=20 February 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923215058/http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today-profile?person=14278|archivedate=2015-09-23}}
Life and career
Sheehy was born in Rangoon, Burma, the son of John Sheehy, an Irish civil servant, and a mother of Scottish descent. He attended Saint Ignatius' College in Sydney, Australia, followed by Ampleforth College in Yorkshire.
Sheehy joined British American Tobacco as a sales manager in 1950. He was appointed deputy chairman of British American Tobacco in 1976.
Sheehy was appointed chairman of British American Tobacco in 1982. As global tobacco sales were growing slowly, Sheehy diversified the business into insurance and financial services, acquiring Eagle Star in 1984, and Allied Dunbar in 1985. Farmers Insurance of the United States was acquired in 1988, to render British American Tobacco as the largest UK-based insurance business. The retail and consumer businesses were sold off following a failed hostile takeover of British American Tobacco in 1989.
He was knighted in the 1991 New Year Honours.
In 1992 he was appointed chairman of the Inquiry into Police Responsibilities and Rewards (known as the Sheehy Inquiry), charged with reviewing police services in the United Kingdom.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-sheehy-inquiry-police-jobs-for-life-culture-swept-away-by-inquiry-rank-and-file-representative-says-authors-of-sheehy-report-understand-little-or-nothing-about-policing-1482064.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-sheehy-inquiry-police-jobs-for-life-culture-swept-away-by-inquiry-rank-and-file-representative-says-authors-of-sheehy-report-understand-little-or-nothing-about-policing-1482064.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The Sheehy Inquiry: Police 'jobs for life' culture swept away by inquiry: Rank and file representative says authors of Sheehy report understand little or nothing about policing|last=Kirby|first=Terry|date=1 July 1993|work=The Independent|accessdate=20 February 2014}}
References
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Category:British business executives
Category:British American Tobacco people
Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods
Category:Businesspeople from Yangon
Category:People educated at Ampleforth College
Category:British people of Irish descent
Category:British people of Scottish descent
Category:British Roman Catholics
Category:People educated at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview
Category:Irish Guards officers
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