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10 Things You Didn't Know about Compass CEO Richard Cousins

Richard Cousins was a British businessman who served as the CEO of the Compass Group. Unfortunately, he was killed in a plane crash that happened on December 31 of 2017, which was rendered even more tragic because his two sons, his fiancee, her daughter, and their pilot were killed in the incident as well. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Richard Cousins:

Born in Leeds

Cousins was born in a place called Leeds. The name started out as the name of a part of the Kingdom of Elmet, which was one of the Brittonic kingdoms that sprung up in the historical period called Sub-Roman Britain. However, it is interesting to note that Leeds has since see use in a number of other contexts, with examples ranging from a manor to the modern borough.

Studied At the Brakenhale School

When he was still a child, Cousins studied at the Brakenhale School, which can be found at a Berkshire town called Bracknell. Even now, he remains one of the best known graduates of the school.

Studied At the University of Sheffield

Later, Cousins went to the University of Sheffield, which can be found in the city of the same name. It is interesting that it came into existence in 1905 as a successor to the University College of Sheffield, which in turn, came into existence in 1897 as a merger between three separate institutions situated in the same city. Overall, the University of Sheffield possesses a fine reputation for research as well as other matters.

Studied At Lancaster University Management School

Later still, Cousins went on to get his Masters from Lancaster University Management School. Like its name suggests, said school is the business school of Lancaster University, which provides interested individuals with a comprehensive set of programs. Said programs range from the undergraduate level to post-experience education meant for executives.

Studied Operations Research

At Lancaster University, Cousins studied operations research, which is sometimes called operational research. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, it is concerned with the use of advanced analytical methods to help interested individuals make better decisions. As a result, it was a good fit for Cousins's earlier study of mathematics, seeing as how operations research is considered to be an example of applied mathematics.

Worked At Cadbury Schweppes

For a time, Cousins worked in operations research at Cadbury Schweppes, which was the name of Cadbury from 1969 until 2008 when there was a split. While he was there, Cousins was involved in market research. However, that wasn't his sole area of focus, as shown by the fact that he was involved with various investment projects as well.

He Led BPB

Later in his career, Cousins served as the head of BPB, which is a British corporation that happens to be the biggest manufacturer of plasterboard on the planet. Over the course of his time at BPB, Cousins managed to raise the stock price of the corporation by a fair amount, which is why when French corporation Saint-Gobain bought it out, it paid 775p per share. This was remarkable, considering that BPB's share price was 290p per share when Cousins took over.

Streamlined Operations At Compass

When Cousins took over at Compass, the corporation was struggling with scandals as well as inefficiencies created by excessive expansion. As a result, Cousins engaged in a fair amount of streamlining to improve its performance. One example was selling off side-businesses that distracted from its main operations, while another was buying a smaller selection of products for the purpose of providing it with increased purchasing power through buying in increased quantities.

Wasn't Fond of Interviews

Generally speaking, Cousins wasn't that interested in interviews. For example, he never did TV interviews. Furthermore, even when he did newspaper interviews, he avoided talking about himself in preference for sticking to talking about the business that he ran.

He Was a Fan of Cricket

Part of Cousins's lack of interest in interviews seems to have come from his preference for privacy when it came to his personal life. However, there was one single exception to his lack of interest in talking about personal matters, which was his passion for cricket. As a result, it was fitting that the cricket world paid tribute to him and his family in a small way by having a minute of silence before the start of the Fifth Test in Sydney, Australia.

Garrett Parker

Written by Garrett Parker

Garrett by trade is a personal finance freelance writer and journalist. With over 10 years experience he's covered businesses, CEOs, and investments. However he does like to take on other topics involving some of his personal interests like automobiles, future technologies, and anything else that could change the world.

Read more posts by Garrett Parker

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