He was educated at Malsis School in North Yorkshire from 1929 to 1931 and then attended Manchester Grammar School and Manchester University. He joined the family textile business and served in the army in the Second World War, reaching the rank of Major. His obituary stated that he was an improbable combination of the flamboyant, the phlegmatic and the industrious. He was an industrialist of some distinction, above all in the textile industry. He exhibited intense patriotism together with European idealism. He was invited back to Malsis School to present the prizes at Open Day in 1979, but Richard Francis took his place.