Previously, John was the Finance Director of Associated British Foods, the international food, ingredients and retail group, with sales of £15.4bn, 133,000 employees and operations in 50 countries across Europe, southern Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australia. ABF owns Primark.
He joined ABF as Finance Director in 1999, from Bunzl plc where he was Finance Director. Before that, John held several senior positions at United Biscuits. John is also a Non-Executive Director of Bloomsbury Publishing plc and SSE plc, and former Chairman of FareShare, the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste by redistributing surplus food.
John is a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He is married with three children.
Primark is a leading international clothing retailer employing more than 80,000 colleagues in 17 countries in Europe and the US.
John leading The King’s Seeing is Believing visit to Hounslow in March 2025
The King’s Seeing is Believing programme brings together CEOs and senior business leaders in small groups to re-connect with communities across the UK. In March 2025, John Bason led The King’s Seeing is Believing visit to Hounslow, convening leaders to understand the challenges faced by those living and working in the borough, leading to high levels of deprivation. Despite its vibrancy and ongoing regeneration efforts, the borough faces entrenched issues including high unemployment, food and digital poverty, youth disengagement, and poor access to quality education and employment.
The visit resonated strongly with delegates, who came to the shared conclusion that the challenges they witnessed cannot be solved by short-term or isolated actions. From this visit, in part, apprenticeship programmes, youth mentoring programmes, and support programmes for carers emerged, backed by these businesses and in collaboration with communities to support their most critical needs and build pathways to employment and inclusion.
Find out more about this visit and its lasting impact by downloading our Hounslow case study.
As business leaders we can drive meaningful change in the communities with the most deprivation. It is my hope that this visit will inspire the collective business actions to bring about that change. By working together and harnessing the work of the Hounslow local authority and community groups we can build a better future.
John on the Lens
Primark and Prada: Weaving a passion for communities within business
Every month, The Lens: UK Responsible Business Podcast brings together a global business leader and an emerging future leader for an open and unscripted conversation. It will challenge the way you think about responsible business.
In this episode, John Bason and Montunrayo Olaogun, Sales and Business Management at Prada join our host, Sarah Travers, in discussing the importance of bolstering communities across the UK and further afield. John and Montunrayo have seen first-hand the challenges communities are facing and are personally passionate about making a difference.
Listen now and follow The Lens on Acast, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast provider.
