Death of Lord Leitch
David Beamish
Richard R
Lord Leitch obituary: businessman and adviser to Gordon Brown
Leading insurance figure formed by a tough childhood whose relationships included the Spectator publisher Kimberly Quinn
… aged 21 he stumbled across a job advert for a company with no name and no offices. It turned out to be the fledgling Hambro Life, run by three young South Africans, Mark (now Sir Mark) Weinberg, Joel Joffe (later Lord Joffe) and Sydney (now Sir Sydney) Lipworth, who were willing to take a chance on him. Within six months they promoted him to chief systems designer. “I think that was probably the best stumble of my career,” Leitch said.
That start-up became one of the most successful life insurance firms of the late 20th century, changing its name to Allied Dunbar after being taken over by British American Tobacco in 1985. Like the three founders, Leitch became a millionaire…
…Alexander Park Leitch was born in Blairhall, Fife, in 1947, the son of Donald Leitch and his wife Nancy (née Park). Sandy was the youngest of four children. His brother, Dougal, predeceased him while his sisters, Nessie and Helen, still live in Fife.
His father, a miner, died from Addison’s disease aged 35, forcing his mother to work long hours as a cleaner. The family relied on a grandfather’s generosity.
They lived in a council house in Oakley, an ironworks and coalmining village five miles from Dunfermline. Sandy shared a bedroom with Dougal and an alcoholic uncle. He wore makeshift clothes, was given only a little pocket money, rarely had a birthday present and only once went on holiday, to Butlin’s in Ayr.
…At a Burns Night dance in the Lyceum Ballroom (now a theatre), Covent Garden, in 1967 he met Valerie Hodson. They married two years later and had three daughters, Fiona, a dyslexia assessor and specialist teacher, Jacqueline, who went into communications, and Joanne, who supports her local church community. Sandy and Valerie divorced in 1996…
… At a Zurich company conference in 2002, Leitch met Noelle Dowd, a corporate strategist. They married the following year and had three children, Kathleen, Alexander and Hector, who are still in education…
Lord Leitch, businessman, was born on October 20, 1947. He died of leukaemia on October 4, 2024, aged 76
Richard R
Richard R
THE LORD LEITCH Baron Leitch, Alexander (Sandy) Park Leitch died peacefully on 5th October 2024, aged 76. Lord Leitch died in The London Clinic surrounded by his loved ones. He is survived by his wife, Noelle, and their children Kathleen, Alexander and Hector. Also by his daughters, Fiona and her husband James, Joanne, Jacqueline and her husband Simone; and six grandchildren, Hamish, Clara, Arran, Jonty, Charlotte and Elisabetta. Lord Leitch’s memorial will be held on Friday 24th January at 11am at St Paul’s Church Knightsbridge.
Henry W
Sandringham, Norfolk
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His Majesty [The King] was represented by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal at the Memorial Service for the Lord Leitch which was held at St. Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, 32a Wilton Place, London SW1, this morning.
