John Raymond Hirst CBE is a British businessman.
Hirst was born in Cyprus in 1952, and moved to England as a child.
He studied economics at Leeds University, and then joined PwC, the professional services firm, as an accountant.
In 1998, he took up the post of Chief Executive at electronic parts distributor Premier Farnell; in 2005, he was pushed out by the chairman, Sir Peter Gershon, who cited poor shareholder value as the trigger.
Hirst was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to meteorology.