My friend Christopher Campbell, who has died aged 87, was a businessman, philanthropist and expert networker who made many friends in business, politics, arts and the civil service over his long career in retail and banking.
The soprano Lucy Crowe, who sang the aria Lascia Ch’io Pianga from Handel’s Rinaldo at his funeral, was one beneficiary of his philanthropy, having been financially supported by him through the British Youth Opera. He proudly called her his “protege”, and travelled the world to follow her performances. She in turn sang memorably at his 70th and 80th birthday parties. Christopher also endowed scholarships for young women studying Stem subjects at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
Christopher rose to become director of Debenhams department store chain at the pinnacle of its retail success in the 1970s, having joined the company as an internal auditor in 1966. He was subsequently a director of Harvey Nichols, Lotus, Debenhams Finance and Harrods Bank, and managing director of Hardy Amies (1978-79), before joining the boards of the London Bus Company and the National Rivers Authority in 1986. He was also chairman of British Shipbuilders from 1989, and vice-chair of the British Railways Board from 1994. Christopher was made a CBE in 1993 for services to the shipbuilding industry.
Born in Kenton, Middlesex, to David Campbell, a GP and later doctor to Wembley stadium, and Nettie (nee Burgess), a midwife, Christopher was educated at Epsom college in Surrey. He qualified as an accountant, and did national service with the Royal Army Pay Corps between 1959 and 1961.
Later in life, as a networker par excellence and active participant in the life of the Garrick Club, he often took friends to lunch, joined bridge sessions or happily met new people at the “common” table. He made meticulous seating arrangements for dinner in his Westminster flat: exactly nine guests, each allocated a designated chair for pre-dinner drinks, then next to someone else to eat, ensuring cross-over conversations. Labour cabinet ministers met his extensive circle in the top echelons of business and the arts.
A Tory-turned-Labour supporter when Tony Blair became leader, he donated to my ill-fated campaign to become Labour deputy leader in 2007. He would travel by day-return train from London to Neath in Wales to attend my summer garden parties, perching on his shooting stick, nattily dressed as always in a three-piece suit, jousting about his previous Tory affiliations with daughters of miners, one of whom regularly made jars of marmalade for him.
He is survived by his niece, Sara, and great-nephew, Toby.