James Hanson, Baron Hanson

By the 1980s, the Hanson Trust operated in both Europe and North America, purchasing under-managed businesses in sectors such as batteries, locks and safes.

Hanson's team turned up in Bristol the morning of the takeover to find the Pension Trustees had closed the Fund the evening before, denying him the asset.

[4] The chief characteristic of a Hanson company was that of a short-term cash-generating machine, involving large scale redundancies, and the slashing of research and development to the bone - all the hallmarks of an asset stripping operation.

[9] Hanson dated Jean Simmons and Joan Collins and was engaged to Audrey Hepburn for almost a year, until she called off the marriage.

[citation needed] Hanson died, aged 82, on 1 November 2004 after a long battle with cancer, at his home near Newbury, Berkshire.