John Kennedy

John Kennedy is a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. He founded John Kennedy Civil Engineering in 1961 and built it into one of the most successful constructions and engineering businesses in the UK. He sold the company in the 1990s to a major international corporation and focussed on assisting the growth of a range of new enterprises while also creating the John Kennedy Charitable Foundation which has invested in tremendous causes throughout the UK, Africa, and South America.

John served on the North West Business Leadership Team (NWBLT) as well as numerous other public and private sector initiatives to assist the economy, environment, and infrastructure in his adopted home and business base in North West England. He founded the annual John Kennedy Lecture at the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University while also sitting on the governing body of Liverpool John Moores University.

Awarded the CBE in 2003, John who was raised and educated in County Mayo in Ireland was honored with a Papal Knighthood from John Paul the Second in 2005. Both honors acknowledged his unique and persistent contribution to civil life and to charities at home and abroad. He was entered into the Equestrian Order of St. Gregory The Great in 2006 by the Bishop of Shrewsbury and later into the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St.George in a special ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in 1997. He became a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater Manchester in 1997 as well. He sums up his philosophy as ‘Those of us who are blessed with success have a duty and responsibility to assist and guide those who require encouragement and support to succeed and be self-sufficient wherever possible.