APRIL 2009 – 2010

MR ALLAN WESTRAY

Profile:

Allan was born in Bombay, India in May 1947 and lived in India until he was 9 when the family returned to the U K to live in Surrey. He was educated in Sussex and Surrey then spent a few years working and travelling in Australia and Asia before coming back to London where he started his career in the wine trade.

In 1975 he married Annabel (nee Howard), whose family lived in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. They started their married life in Kent before moving to London in 1978.

He came to live in Buckinghamshire in 1983, living first in Princes Risborough before moving to his present home in Butlers Cross, near Aylesbury in 1997.

Career

He has spent most of his career in the wine trade and has worked for companies owned by Allied Domecq (Grants of St James’s), Grand Metropolitan (International Distillers & Vintners), G & J Greenall (Harvey Prince & Co). In 1990 he formed International Wine Services (I W S) which was then owned by Grants of St James’s. The company specialised in supplying wines from around the world to the major UK High Street retailers. IWS was first based in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire but as the company grew it moved to larger premises in Beaconsfield. He completed an M B O of I W S in 1994 and went on to sell the company 5 years later to Scottish & Newcastle Plc (Waverley Vintners). He remained with I W S until 2002 when he left to pursue other interests including 4 months voluntary work as a teacher in India. He is now semi retired and has a small Consultancy business located at Butlers Cross. 

Family and interests

 Allan has 3 children. Katharine, 30, who lives in Tokyo and works for Savills. Simon and Oliver, twins aged 28, both live and work in London (for Colliers CRE & Drivers Jonas) and are in their final year before qualifying as surveyors.

After the children completed their education, Annabel worked for 5 years for the Abbeyfield Buckinghamshire Society in Halton, remaining on the Executive Committee for a further 4 years. She was Chairman of the Princes Risborough Friends of the Home Farm Trust from 2001-2006. She also worked in India as a volunteer teacher, together with Allan, in 2003. 

In addition he has several charitable interests. He is a Vice President of Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, a Friend of the Buckinghamshire Community Foundation, a long time supporter of PACE and is Chairman of the Mondo Challenge Foundation, a charity based in Northamptonshire. The Foundation supports a number of local communities, at grass roots level, mainly in India, Tanzania, Gambia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka providing educational and business development opportunities and relief from financial hardships.

He is on the Council of The Wine & Spirit Trades’ Benevolent Society and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers.

Allan is a keen sportsman and a strong supporter of Wasps RFC. Other interests include theatre, music, travel, sailing, going for long drives in his Austin Healey 3000 and walking his dog in the Chilterns!

2009 / 2010

As someone who has worked and lived in Buckinghamshire for over 26 years Allan is looking forward enormously to having the opportunity to learn so much more about the county and to getting an insight into many Buckinghamshire authorities and organisations. He also looks forward to meeting, and being able to thank personally, many of the people who work, often as unpaid and unacknowledged volunteers, for the good of the county quietly doing wonderful work.

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