A Record of the CLASPER Family History

From 'Who's Who' 2001

CLASPER, Michael, CBE 1995; President, Global Home Care and New Business Development, Proctor and Gamble, since 1999; b 21 April 1953; s of Douglas and Hilda Clasper; m 1975, Susan Rosemary Shore; two s one d. Educ: Bede Sch., Sunderland; St John's Coll, Cambridge (1st cl. Hons Engineering). British Rail, 1974 - 78; joined Proctor & Gamble 1978, Advertising Dir, 1985 - 88; Gen. Manager, Proctor & Gamble Holland 1988 - 91; Man. Dir and Vice - Pres., Proctor & Gamble UK, 1991 - 95; Regl Vice - Pres., Laundry Products, Proctor & Gamble Europe, 1995 - 99. Mem., Adv. Council on Business and the Envmt, 1993 -. Recreations: swimming, cycling, ski-ing, tennis, golf,. Address: Proctor & Gamble Europe, Temselaan 100, 1853 Strombeek-Bever, Belgium. T: (2) 4562228

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Airport group BAA has appointed Mike Clasper as deputy chief executive and group airports director. He is currently president in charge of global homecare and new business at Proctor & Gamble.

(Ed;- This person is located in the Sunderland Family Tree for CLASPER).

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Soap star takes to the skies

 Jul 4 2004

By Sunday Sun

High-flying businessman Mike Clasper has come a long way from his Sunderland roots.

As chief executive of the British Airports Authority, he's in charge of seven UK airports including Heathrow, the world's busiest international hub. But Pauline Holt discovers that he still manages to keep his feet on the ground.

If how long it takes to get past a person's press aide is any indication of how precious their time is then Mike Clasper is one very busy man.

It takes literally weeks to negotiate a telephone interview... and then there's a 20- minute deadline attached.

But then being chief executive of an organisation the size of the British Airports Authority is a big, big job.

The brief brings with it responsibility for seven UK airports - including London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted - and for the 135 million passengers travelling through them each year.

And in these days of heightened terrorist alerts and concerns over the environmental impact of air travel, it's a job that brings unique challenges.

It's just over a year since Mike took on the role, having joined BAA as deputy chief executive in 2001 with the specific aim of shadowing his predecessor prior to his retirement. It was a steep learning curve for Mike, who had spent the vast majority of his career - 23 years - at Procter and Gamble, working his way up from graduate trainee to president of global home care.

But the 51-year-old believes his Wearside upbringing has stood him in good stead all along the way. "I think there's something about the combination of family and school and Sunderland which enables me to try and look at things through the eyes of your average person better than if I'd been brought up in a rarefied atmosphere," he says.

Mike's "man of the people" approach to marketing helped him make Fairy Liquid and Febreze brand leaders, just as it's now helping him sell his airport expansion plans.

"At the end of the day, at Procter & Gamble you were selling your products to every home in the country and therefore being able to think about what it means to be an ordinary person was a great talent."

"We have 135 million people a year going through our airports in this country, and knowing what the average person wants is very important. I think growing up in Sunderland probably gave me that down-to-earth approach."

Certainly, despite his high-flying career, Mike still derives a lot of pride from his roots. He retains a slight Wearside accent, although he admits: "The funny thing is, if I go back to the North East I sound posh!"

He still returns home to visit his mum, Hilda, he holds an honorary doctorate from Sunderland University and, perhaps most importantly, he still supports the Black Cats.

That's not surprising when you learn that he spent his earliest years living within the sound of the famous Roker roar.

"I was originally from near the old Roker Park football ground and I would stand on the railings to get a good view," he recalls.

It was back in the days of Charlie Hurley and George Herd. Mike's dad Douglas, who had his own building business, was a season-ticket holder and would share tickets between Mike and his brother Brian.

"So sometimes I would be in the stand, sometimes in the seats behind the director's box," says Mike. "I used to always go to the football. "I don't get to all that many games now, but I do get to some."

He saw Sunderland lose to Millwall in this year's FA cup semi-final at Old Trafford, but is understandably not too keen to be reminded of that.

It didn't change his opinion of manager Mick McCarthy though. "I think he's doing very well," says Mike.

"He had a very tough set of decisions to make because of the difference in revenue you get in the Premiership and the First Division.

"He had to make some very tough decisions to grow from the bottom up."

So, as one manager to another, does he have any advice for McCarthy? "I would hate to tell him what to do," says Mike diplomatically. But he does believe that if Sunderland want to win promotion next season they will have to buy more players.

"I think he has got a pretty good squad," he says. "But I think the thing is, if you are going to do very well in football you have to have a few players behind the first 11 who are capable of playing if someone gets injured."

Chairman Bob Murray had better look to his laurels, however, as Mike admits he has sometimes pondered the possibility of running a club.

"Sometimes I've thought about it, but never followed it through," he confesses. "I have enough to think about in my day job than to go worrying about the football results."

Mike, who was one of three children - he also has a sister, journalist Kathleen - attended Bede Grammar School, where he excelled academically and gained a place at St John's College, Cambridge, to study engineering.

"I was the first one in the family to go to university so it was quite a challenge, although I didn't think of that at the time," he says.

He returned from Cambridge with a double first . . . and his future wife Sue, who read classics at the university's Girton College.

The couple now have three children, Jacqueline, 21, who has followed family tradition and studied geography at Cambridge, Matthew, 18, who is just finishing school and Chris, who is 15.

While Matthew supports Sunderland like his dad, Chris has gone his own way and is a Magpies fan.

"It's because he grew up in Newcastle when I was working for Procter and Gamble up there . . . so it just shows you what a liberal parent I am," says Mike with a laughs. "I've even taken him to a Newcastle cup final and this season I took him to see them play at Chelsea."

Even Chelsea's multi-million-pound empire is tiny in comparison to Mike's business at BAA, whose annual turnover is currently over £2bn.

The company's typical capital investment programme runs to around £450m each year and it has more than 200 major projects in progress at a time, with over 40 major projects due to be completed each year.

Unlike a football club, however, BAA is increasingly sensitive to environmental pressure and international politics.

Mike joined the company in 2001, the year that will be for ever etched on aviation history for all the wrong reasons. "Aviation security has got a lot tighter around the world since September 11," he says, but he believes technology is equal to the challenge posed by 21st-century terrorists.

Indeed, a third of all BAA's workforce is employed in security, mainly screening passengers and hand baggage after they have checked in.

The company has spent £175m on behind-the- scenes systems to screen hold baggage for all passengers flying out of the UK from its airports.

Mike also points to a new weapon being piloted at Heathrow. "We're introducing a body scan which allows us to check for materials that aren't metallic," he says.

"It's a pilot being run in co-operation with the Government. We have done a 1000-people trial at Gatwick and now we're doing a full-scale pilot across the summer."

In 1995, while working for Procter & Gamble, Mike was made a CBE for services to the environment.

Yet latterly he has come under fire from the environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth for selling out his green principles by arguing for the expansion of airports and air travel. So what does he think of their arguments?

"I don't think aviation should have a free ride on its emissions," he says, explaining that the aviation industry should be made to pay financial penalties just as polluters in other areas of industry must.

Mike also believes the expansion of BAA's airports is justified in terms of the economic benefits air travel brings.

"I think you have got to stand back and say, `What does aviation offer to the economy and to society?'" he says.

"In my view aviation is critical to economic development.

"It's not just about the jobs of people working in aviation, although that is significant - probably around half a million jobs are directly related to the aviation industry - but also, for a country like the UK which is moving towards a knowledge-based economy, it is vital that you are well-connected to the world.

"Also, every one of us likes our holidays and probably half of the people who travel through our airports are travelling for holiday reasons.

"So there are a lot of positives and a lot of negatives and what you have to do is ensure those negative impacts are either eliminated or reduced in significance."

So, when you're jetting off on your holidays this summer without a care in the world, spare a thought for the Mackem lad whose job it is to look after you and those other 135m passengers.

Factfile

Born: Sunderland

Lives: Hemel Hempstead

Educated: St John's College, Cambridge. MA engineering, double first class honours

Favourite film: Some Like it Hot

Favourite book: Any Robert Ludlum thriller

Favourite music: The Rolling Stones

Most inspirational person: My father

Dearest wish: For Sunderland to win the Premiership

(Ed;- Mike is located in the Sunderland Family Tree for CLASPER)

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From BBC News, Wednesday, 13 February, 2002

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On-line Web-site

SARA CLASPER is an artist who lives in Portreath, Cornwall, UK. She creates small landscape paintings packed with colour as well as making hooky and proggy mats. These are traditional rugs made simply from re-cycled materials.

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From Web-site

The 'CLASPER Brothers' are mentioned in two books ;-

'The Circular Steam Switchback' and 'The Travelling Cinematograph Show'

(Ed ;- Has anyone got any more info on these people?)

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From the Web-site of the Darlington Northern Echo;-

CLASPER Enid of Bedale Retired District Nurse Died June 25, peacefully in hospital, after a short illness. Enid, aged 75 years, a much loved sister, aunt and great-aunt. Funeral service to be held at Wycar Methodist Church on Friday, July 4 at 11.00 a.m., followed by interment at Bedale Cemetery. Family flowers only. Donations, if desired, for Glebe House Surgery Equipment Fund

From the Web-site of the University of Nottingham;-

Mr and Mrs Douglas Clasper in memory of Adrian. 

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Dr P. Clasper  -  Dr R Bhalla & Partners  - Wawn Street Surgery, South Shields, Tyne & Wear

(Ed ;- Jonathan is in the Poplar, Middlesex, U.K. Family Tree)

(Ed ;- Malcolm is in the Tynemouth 02 Family Tree)

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From web-site;-  http://homepage.ntlworld.com/patcouzens/pastshow/robeliz2.htm

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Jonathan qualified from Glasgow University in 1986 and completed his basic surgical training in the armed forces.

As well as a number of operational tours with the army, he gained a lot of experience in the management of sports injuries, particularly arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder, elbow, knee and ankle.

His higher surgical training included a year at a major trauma centre in Baltimore, USA, as well as 3 years at Oxford. During his time at Oxford, Mr Clasper spent 1 year working for Professor A Carr, performing shoulder and elbow surgery. Mr Clasper is the author of a number of book chapters, and of specific papers on trauma and upper limb surgery and has gained doctorates in both Medicine and Philisophy. He is regularly asked to review papers and advise on research, and teaches on both military and civilian othopaedic and trauma courses.

He is married to Gina and they have 4 children

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Durham County Record Office Web-site

Catalogue Title:  Lamesley St. Andrew Parish

Ref No. EP/Lam 7/127
Order for the removal of Thomas Clasper, his wife, Mary, and children, Catherine and Sarah, from Jarrow to Lamesley, 12 March 1817
(1 paper)

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From Web-site;-

http://www.raf38group.org/rohc

Royal Air Force WWII 38 Group Squadrons Reunited

Roll of Honour

 

CLASPER

John Percy

28

R159971

Warrant Officer

620 Squadron

18 June 1944

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You can help, says leukaemia sufferer

 Jan 8 2005

By Daniel Thomson, The Journal

A teenager fighting her second battle with leukaemia is making a desperate plea for bone marrow donors to help fellow sufferers.

Lucy Clasper, 16, was first diagnosed with cancer when she was just 11.

She had chemotherapy for more than two years before beating the disease.

But in August, just as her life was returning to normal, the leukaemia returned.

Since then, Lucy, of Queen's Drive, Sedgefield, County Durham, has had more chemotherapy at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

She is extremely ill and is due to have a bone marrow transplant soon.

But the Sedgefield Community College pupil, who enjoyed kick-boxing and dancing before her illness, has found the strength to appeal for people to register as bone marrow donors to help other leukaemia sufferers.

Lucy said: "We want as many people to come forward as possible. It's really important, because there are so many children and young people with leukaemia.

"I am hoping to get a transplant by late February and am really looking forward to going back to school and seeing all my friends as I am sick of being in hospital.

"I want to make a fresh start after the transplant and get on with my life."

Lucy's mother Christine last night said: "Lucy had been clear for 18 months and had returned to school and was doing really well.

"We had been told that the leukaemia had gone completely, but the thought that it could come back was always there in the back of our minds - although it was still a terrible shock when it did.

"It has completely changed our lives.

"I've had to quit work and my husband Brian and I take turns staying in hospital with Lucy, who has been extremely sick as she has undergone a year's chemotherapy in three months.

"She has also been susceptible to all sorts of illnesses because her immune system is so low and has been in and out of intensive care with pneumonia and E.coli.

"It has been very hard - but Lucy has been so strong and is determined to get through this."

Lucy's brother David, 21, and sister Amy, 19, are both students at Northumbria University. Neither were suitable donors for their sister, but a possible donor has been found and it is hoped Lucy will have a transplant by March.

The donor is not a perfect match, but doctors are prepared to go ahead with the transplant. Lucy will consequently need stronger anti-rejection medication, which will add to her pain and discomfort.

Christine said: "Lucy will have to undergo two days of heavy chemotherapy followed by five days of radiotherapy before the transplant.

"Following the transplant she will have to spend eight weeks in isolation in hospital and a further five weeks at home as she gradually builds up her immune system again - so there is a long way to go.

"Although the transplant is extremely tough for Lucy, it is a very simple operation for the donor and that is why we need to increase people's awareness with this appeal and get people to register as donors.

"They need to know that the smallest contribution from them can save lives."

What to do

Lucy Clasper is backing the appeal for more bone marrow donors to attend a recruitment clinic being held by a cancer charity.

The Anthony Nolan Trust is holding the event in County Durham to appeal for people to sign up to the register.

Leukaemia and other potentially fatal bone-marrow disorders affect thousands of people in the UK every year. Many will not survive without a transplant.

Donors must be aged 18 to 40, in good health and be willing to donate stem cells from either their bone marrow or their blood stream.

The procedure is very simple and could save someone's life.

The donor clinic is taking place on January 25 at Harbinson House doctors' surgery, Front Street, Sedgefield, County Durham, from 5pm to 7pm.

For more information visit www.anthonynolan.org.uk.

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http://www.prewarboxing.co.uk/boxer%20lists/C%20list.htm

Ginger Clasper(Gateshead)
T Clasper(Newcastle)

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http://www.ralphrobson.co.uk/ralph1.htm

Two days after I arrived I went to the drafting office to see if there was a draft for me which there wasn't and on turning to come away who should I discover behind me but Harry Clasper. This was an old friend from Blaydon, a smallish man married to a large woman who was bigger than Harry and enormously fat. I waited until he looked at the board and when he came back to me I realised that something had happened. Harry said "I've got a draft!". So I waited until he came out of the office. He came out all smiles. He said "I've been drafted to submarines at Blyth". After a little more conversation we said goodbye. I discovered afterwards that after he had completed the submarine course he was drafted to a sub which went on patrol and never came back.

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