Sir Eric Pountain

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Biographical Information

"He died at the age of 70 in 2003. He built Tarmac into one of the UK's biggest housebuilders. Born in Cannock Chase he went to school in Walsall. He is credited with coming up with the idea of the "show home" to sell properties on new estates. In the 1980s Tarmac was a prominent donor to the Conservative party. Was also chairman later of IMI Metals. He was knighted in 1985. "

"He also nurtured close relations with Margaret Thatcher's government, winning the contract to build a new runway at Port Stanley after the Falklands war and undertaking work for the US Air Force at the controversial Greenham Common air base. When Cecil Parkinson resigned from the cabinet over the Sarah Keays affair, Pountain offered him a non-executive directorship. Tarmac was also a major contributor to Conservative Party funds. In 1987 Pountain was named national businessman of the year... Tarmac is now a subsidiary of Anglo American, the South African mining group.... Sir Eric was a highly respected figure in Midlands business circles. He was also chairman from 1987 of James Beattie, the Wolverhampton-based department store chain, and from 1989 of IMI, the metals group. He was a director of Midland Bank, United Newspapers and Lloyds Chemists, and president of the Shropshire Enterprise Trust and the Midlands Industrial Council. He was knighted in 1985. A powerful fundraiser for charity, he lent his expertise to the NSPCC, the Prince's Youth Business Trust, Age Concern and, among local good causes, Lichfield Cathedral. The Pountain family home was a Georgian mansion near Lichfield, where Sir Eric enjoyed shooting and bred Haflinger ponies - he was a former president of the Haflinger Society of Great Britain and a patron of the Staffordshire Agricultural Society."

His wife is Joan Pountain.