Keith Mills
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Sir Keith Mills DL | |
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Born | May 1950 (age 73–74) Brentwood, Essex, England |
Nationality | British |
Education | St Martin's School, Brentwood |
Occupation | Businessman |
Sir Keith Edward Mills,
Early life
Mills was born in Brentwood. He attended St Martin's School, Brentwood on Hanging Hill Lane in Hutton, Brentwood.
Career
Mills worked for over twenty years in marketing and advertising. Having left school with no qualifications, he started with The Economist at the age of fifteen as a copy assistant and then at the Financial Times and Investors Chronicle, where he was responsible for their marketing programmes. From there, he moved into advertising in London. In 1981, he led a management buyout of the London office of the New York-based company Nadler & Larimer, becoming the chief executive. In 1985, he co-founded Mills, Smith & Partners.
He was also a non-executive director at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club but stepped down in January 2016.[1]
In 2011, Mills was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) from the University of Bath.[2] He received an Honorary Degree from the University of Essex in 2013.[3]
Loyalty cards
Mills is chiefly known for inventing the Air Miles (in 1988) and Nectar Card (in 2002) loyalty card schemes. Similar "frequent flyer" schemes had been launched in the US in May 1981 by American Airlines and United Airlines.[4]
Air Miles
Air Miles was set up in 1988 when Mills started the Loyalty Management Group, then known as Air Miles International Group BV. He had the idea in 1987 when working at his advertising agency, which had Shell and British Caledonian as clients who were looking to make the most of their customer base without devaluing the image of the products. People would buy Air Miles from Shell petrol to use on British Caledonian. He approached British Airways and they liked the idea. He subsequently marketed comparable concepts in the United States and Canada, relocating to the United States in 1990. The US Air Miles system failed in 1993, resulting in a loss of £15 million for him. In 1994, he sold his 49% stake in the program to British Airways, but he continues to hold the intellectual property rights.
Nectar Card
Loyalty Management UK was started in 2001, which produced the
Olympics
From September 2003, he became chief executive and international president of the
Invictus Games
In November 2013,
National Lottery
In 2020, SAZKA Group, Europe’s largest lottery operator, announced it had appointed Sir Keith Mills as Bid Chair of the UK team for the Fourth National Lottery Licence Competition. In March 2022, following a "fair, open and robust competition",[9] the Gambling Commission named Allwyn as their preferred applicant. In January 2023, Allwyn received approval from the Gambling Commission to acquire Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd. Subsequently, in February 2023, upon the completion of the transaction, Sir Keith was named the Chairman of Camelot UK Lotteries Ltd..[10]
Coutts AIG action
The same month that Loyalty Management UK was sold, Mills bought £73m of the "enhanced fund" version of
Personal life
He married Maureen in 1974; they have two children and live near
He enjoys sailing. In 1999, he was member of a team captained by Alex Thomson that won the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, and in 2002, he skippered his Oyster 485 yacht in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. He founded Team Origin in 2007, and is a member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club.
Honours
Mills was
References
- ^ "Sir Keith Mills". Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- ^ "Honorary Graduates 1989 to present". Bath.ac.uk. University of Bath. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Sir Keith Mills receives Honorary Degree from the University of Essex - News - University of Essex". www1.essex.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "A Brief History of Airline Frequent Flyer Programmes - the Points Guy".
- ^ HBR, 5 December 2005, 9-505-031
- ^ "Thank you, London! – Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
- ^ "Prince Harry's memoir uncovers the makings of the Invictus Games". Hireup. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
- ^ Fletcher, Robert (6 February 2023). "Allwyn completes Camelot UK Lotteries acquisition". iGB. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
- ^ Jones, Adam (28 July 2009). "Sir Keith counts the cost of a weak link". Financial Times. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "Lady Maureen Mills - sported". Archived from the original on 7 September 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
- ^ Cabinet Office (28 December 2012). "New Year Honours: New Year 2013 Honours List – Higher Awards" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
- ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 6.