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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Sir Robin Ibbs
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|KBE]]
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = John Ibbs
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1926|04|21}}
| birth_place = [[Birmingham]], [[United Kingdom]]
| death_date={{death date and age|df=y|2014|7|27|1926|4|21}}
| nationality = British
| education = West House School, [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| occupation = Banker, Adviser
| years_active =
| spouse = Iris Barbara Hall (1952 – 2005, deceased)<br />Penelope Ann Buckland (2006 – 2014)
| children = One
}}

'''Sir John Robin Ibbs''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KBE}} (21 April 1926 – 27 July 2014) was an [[English people|English]] [[business executive]], government advisor and [[Royal Navy]] officer. He was Chairman of [[Lloyds Bank (historic)|Lloyds Bank]] from 1993 to 1997 and of [[Lloyds TSB]] Group PLC from 1995 to 1997 and also served as [[Margaret Thatcher]]’s part time adviser from 1983–1988.

==Life==
Born in 1926 in [[Birmingham]], [[England]], Ibbs was the only son of [[Professor]] T. L. Ibbs [[Military Cross|MC]] [[Doctor of Sciences|DSc]], and his wife, Marjorie (née Bell). He was educated at West House Prep School, [[Gresham's School]], [[Upper Canada College]] ([[Toronto]]), the [[University of Toronto]], and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], where he graduated [[Master of Arts|MA]] in Mechanical Sciences.<ref name="WW2009">'IBBS, Sir (John) Robin', in ''Who's Who 2009'', A. & C. Black, London, 2008</ref>

From 1947 to 1949, Ibbs served in the [[Royal Navy]] as an Instructor Lieutenant, then worked for C. A. Parsons & Co. Ltd, from 1949 to 1951 while also reading for a career as a [[barrister]] at [[Lincoln's Inn]]. He was [[called to the Bar]] in 1952. He joined [[Imperial Chemical Industries|ICI]] in 1952 and was a Director, from 1976 to 1980 and again, from 1982 to 1988, serving the two intervening years on secondment as Head of the [[Central Policy Review Staff]] in the [[Cabinet Office]].<ref name="WW2009"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Greenwood|first=John R.|author2=Wilson, David Jack |title=Public administration in Britain today|publisher=Routledge|year=1989|page=58|isbn=978-0-04-445195-2}}</ref>

From 1983 to 1988, he was part-time adviser to [[Margaret Thatcher]] on Efficiency and Effectiveness in Government.<ref name="WW2009"/>

On 10 April 1984, [[Gordon Brown]] asked the Prime Minister in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] "whether her efficiency adviser Sir Robin Ibbs has the status of a temporary civil servant, what are the terms and conditions of appointment, including the salary paid, of her adviser on efficiency Sir Robin Ibbs; if she will publish the formal exchange of letters which preceded the appointment of Sir Robin Ibbs as her adviser on efficiency." Mrs Thatcher replied that "Sir Robin Ibbs is not a civil servant. His appointment as my adviser on efficiency is on a part-time basis, and is unpaid. It would not be appropriate to publish the exchange of letters on appointment."<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1984/apr/10/sir-robin-ibbs Sir Robin Ibbs profile], api.parliament.uk. Accessed 25 January 2023.</ref>

Ibbs was appointed as Chairman of Lloyds Merchant Bank Holdings in 1989, continuing until 1992, and was simultaneously Deputy Chairman of Lloyds Bank Canada, from 1989 until 1990. He was Deputy Chairman of [[Lloyds Bank (historic)|Lloyds Bank]] from 1988 to 1993 and Chairman from 1993 to 1997, and also Chairman of [[Lloyds TSB]] Group PLC from 1995 to 1997. Outside his professional career, Ibbs was a member of the Council of the [[Confederation of British Industry]] from 1982 to 1987, of the Court of the [[Cranfield Institute of Technology]] from 1983 to 1988, and Chairman of the Council of [[University College, London]], from 1989 to 1995.<ref name="WW2009"/>

He died on 27 July 2014 at the age of 88.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10998333/Sir-Robin-Ibbs-obituary.html|title=Sir Robin Ibbs obituary|date=29 July 2014 |accessdate=25 January 2023}}</ref>

==Marriages==
In 1952, Ibbs married firstly Iris Barbara Hall; the couple had one daughter. Lady Ibbs died in 2005. In 2006, he married secondly, to Penelope Ann, daughter of Captain H. C. Buckland.<ref name="WW2009"/>

==30-year rule re documents==
At the end of 2011, the release of confidential documents under the UK Government's 30-year rule revealed Ibbs' thoughts regarding the [[Toxteth riots|Liverpool Riots]]. He wrote in an internal memo: ''"The unpalatable truth may be that decline is unlikely to be halted; if so the harsh implications need to be analysed and faced up to."''<ref>[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cd6851e2-2d8a-11e1-b5bf-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1i0r4fqrM Ibbs quote re Liverpool Riots at ft.com]</ref>

==Honours==
*[[Knight Bachelor]], 1982<ref name="WW2009"/>
*Hon. [[Doctor of Sciences]], [[University of Bradford]], 1986<ref name="WW2009"/>
*Knight Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]], 1988<ref name="WW2009"/>
*Hon. [[Doctor of Laws]], [[University of Bath]], 1993<ref name="WW2009"/>
*Hon. Bencher of [[Lincoln's Inn]], 1999<ref name="WW2009"/>
*Hon. [[Fellow]] of [[University College, London]], 1993<ref name="WW2009"/>

==Publications==
*''Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps'' ([[Office of Public Sector Information|HMSO]], February 1988)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir [[Kenneth Berrill]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Director-General of the<br/>[[Central Policy Review Staff]]|years=1980–1982}}
{{s-aft|after=Sir [[John Sparrow (executive)|John Sparrow]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibbs, Robin}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Gresham's School]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]
[[Category:20th-century English lawyers]]

Robin Ibbs - Revision history

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