Sir John Griffin
Sir John Griffin is a distinguished British businessman and philanthropist. He founded Addison Lee in 1975 with just one car, and nearly 40 years later sold the company in 2013 to The Carlyle Group for £350 million.
In recent years, Sir John has committed £12 million to building The Griffin Institute at Northwick Park Hospital, North London, one of the UK’s leading units engaged in pre-clinical research. The Institute hopes to be recognised as a world leader in biomedical research and training, and after a thorough refurbishment, John is now raising more funds to support the next phase of development, investing in future discoveries that will transform the lives of patients.
Sir John left school with no qualifications after contracting tuberculosis as a child. He was born above a shop during World War II and was sent to Ireland for the first nine years of his life to avoid the bombings. He then returned to London and was taken ill just before sitting his O-levels, with a rare form of the disease that forced him out of school for two years. John took on a number of jobs and began working as a minicab driver to support his father’s struggling business. He went on to launch Addison Lee, which grew to ten times the size of its nearest rival and was the largest firm of its kind in Europe, with 4,500 drivers. Sir John is proud that, in over 38 years, no driver was ever found guilty of an offence against a passenger.
In 1976, Sir John founded the Licensed Private Hire Car Association, which has grown to be the primary trade body representing the interests of minicabs and chauffeurs in the UK, with around 15,000 members.
Since retiring from Addison Lee, Sir John has been committed to supporting and inspiring the next generation of British business leaders. He is Chairman of Finito, a firm that offers bespoke coaching and mentoring services to young people leaving education and looking to make a smooth transition into the highly-competitive employment market. Sir John has been chairman of the business since its launch in 2016.
In 2009, Sir John was presented with the Entrepreneur of the Year award by global accounting firm Ernst & Young, and in 2013 was named The Irish Post’s first Business Person of the Year. He served as chairman of the Change London Patron Group, personally sponsoring, at a cost of £1 million, air sensors on 500 schools in London as part of an effort to educate and inform youngsters in the capital about the causes and impact of air pollution on their city.
Sir John is often approached for commentary by the media and speaks regularly inspiring young entrepreneurs. He actively engages in UK politics as a supporter of The Conservative Party.