Allan Willett

Allan Willett (b.1936) is an English former soldier and businessman and is the incumbent Lord Lieutenant of Kent.

Biography

Early life

Born in India in 1936, his family subsequently returned to Kent where Willett's father was a tea planter and farmer on the Isle of Thanet. His mother's family were artists with connections to the military and Kent cricket. [http://www.lord-lieutenant-kent.info/personal_profile.html Profile of Allan Willett CMG - Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Kent] "The Lieutenancy of Kent" (2008)]

Willett was educated at Eastbourne College and was later commissioned during his National Service in the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). He was later seconded to the King's African Rifles in Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising.

On leaving the military Willett started his own business in 1962, importing machinery for the manufacturer of packaging and plastics. The resulting business known as Willett International Limited became a market leader in electronic labelling processes and won two Queen's Awards. [http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page2758.asp Biography of Allan Willett] at Downing Street website (6 December 2001)] In 2003 Willet International was sold to a competitor. He lives with his wife Anne in Chilham near Canterbury in Kent.

Honorary positions

Willett was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of June 1997. On January 5, 2002 he succeeded Robin Leigh-Pemberton, Baron Kingsdown as Lord Lieutenant of Kent. Willett is also a Knight of Justice in the Order of St. John and is the former Chairman of the Canterbury Cathedral Trust Fund (of which he remains trustee), an Honorary Colonel of the 3rd Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (a Territorial Army reserve battalion based at Canterbury) and Ambassador for Kent. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6464541.stm Cathedral appeal boss to step down] BBC News (March 2007)]

Other interests

In January 2004 Willett created a charitable foundation whose principal beneficiaries are persons or organisations living, working or studying in Kent. He has also been involved in various public sector roles including, among others, the chairman of the Industrial Development Board for London and the South East and the East Kent Enterprise Agency. In 1998 Willett helped the government establish the Regional Development Agency for the South East of England (South East England Development Agency).

References