Swansea Business Club History
Swansea Business Club was founded in 1949. The aims and objects of the club as extracted from some of its original documentation are:
"...to assist, as far as possible, the general interest and development of the Town and Port of Swansea"
Some of the founder members of the club included Sir William A Jenkins, C. B. Jones, MBE, W. T. Mainwaring Hughes and John Oliver Watkins.
Events
In the early years the Club arranged overseas visits to kindred organisations with a view to the inter-change of ideas and mutual co-operation. Up to 1975 goodwill visits had taken place to France, Denmark, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Holland, Spain and Gibraltar and had been most successful with new and valuable business and cultural relationships cultural relationships formed.
In 1969 the Club took part in the inaugural sailing from Swansea’s new half-million pound terminal to the city of Cork in the motor vessel Innisfallen.
In 1971 the Club held a city celebration banquet to mark the creation of Swansea as a city. Guest of Honour was the Right Honourable Sir Edmund Davies, Lord Justice of Appeal and Sir Cennydd Treharne, the Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan.
In recent times the Club celebrated its 50th anniversary with a Golden Jubilee Dinner held in the Brangwyn Hall on May 1999. The guest speaker was Eddie George the Governor of the Bank of England.
Other major luncheon events that have been held at the Brangwyn Hall have included as guest speakers Gerald Ratner and Carol Thatcher.
The Club has also visited the House of Commons as a guest of Donald Anderson MP, and the Welsh Assembly Government as the guest of Andrew Davies AM.
Swansea Business Club amalgamated with the Business Breakfast Club on 2 June 2004.
Past Presidents
| 1949 – 1968 | Sir William A Jenkins |
| 1968 – 1976 | W T Mainwaring Hughes |
| 1976 – 1979 | John Oliver Watkins |
| 1979 – 1982 | J W Gordon Hayes |
| 1982 – 1985 | Col J Vaughan Williams |
| 1985 – 1988 | Sir Michael Llewellyn |
| 1988 – 1991 | Philip R V Watkins |
| 1991 – 1993 | Sir Robert Hastie KCVO CBE KStJ RD |
| 1993 – 1995 | Brian Simpson |
| 1995 – 1997 | John M Churchill |
| 1997 – 1999 | Jeffrey Harris |
| 1999 – 2001 | Rowland Jones |
| 2001 – 2003 | Philip James |
| 2003 – 2005 | Martin Trainer |
| 2005 – 2007 | John Collins |
| 2007 - 2009 | Jane Clayton |
| 2009 - 2011 | Spencer Feeney |
| 2011 - Present | Kath Whitrow |
Past Secretaries
| 1949 – 1979 | C. B. Jones |
| 1979 – 1991 | T. Lynn Packer |
| 1991 – 2006 | Jonathan Spencer |
| 2006 - Present | Bruce Roberts |
Past Speakers and Events
Since 1949 there has been a huge variety of speakers at the Club and this has included high profile business leaders , politicians, academics, broadcasters and sporting personalities. The number and variety of speakers over the years are too numerous to list individually, however a selection is as follows:
- Lord Aberdare
- Stanley Baker
- Lord Chalfont
- Christopher Chataway
- David Coleman
- Sir Alun Talfan Davies
- Sir Julian Hodge
- Michael Heseltine MP
- Colonel Harry Llewellyn
- Lord Tenby
- Lord Tennyson
- Wynford Vaughan Thomas
- Tony Lewis
- Wilfred Wooler
- Lord Fforestfach
- William Hague MP
- Mike Ruddock
- Max Boyce
- Sir John Harvey Jones
- Graham Henry
- Will Carling
- Cheryl Gillan MP
- Carole Thatcher
- Gerald Ratner
- John Sergeant
- Scott Waddington
- Roy Noble
- Lowri Morgan
- Sir Terry Matthews
- Rhodri Morgan
- Henry Engelhardt
- Paul Ragan