Kenneth Cork

---

title: "Kenneth Cork" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1913-births", "1991-deaths", "people-educated-at-alleyn-court-school", "sheriffs-of-the-city-of-london", "20th-century-lord-mayors-of-london", "20th-century-english-politicians", "british-accountants", "knights-grand-cross-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "knights-of-the-order-of-st-john", "honourable-artillery-company-soldiers", "honourable-artillery-company-officers", "british-army-personnel-of-world-war-ii"] description: "British accountant (1913–1991)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Cork" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British accountant (1913–1991) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Sir Kenneth Cork
honorific_suffix
office	Lord Mayor of London
term_start	1978
term_end	1979
birth_name	Kenneth Russell Cork
birth_date	21 August 1913
death_date
occupation	Accountant
::

| honorific_prefix = | name = Sir Kenneth Cork | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | office = Lord Mayor of London | term_start = 1978 | term_end = 1979 | birth_name = Kenneth Russell Cork | birth_date = 21 August 1913 | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Accountant | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = Sir Kenneth Russell Cork (21 August 191313 October 1991) was a British accountant and insolvency expert, and the Lord Mayor of London from 1978–1979. He is best known for chairing a major review of UK insolvency law (whose report issued in 1982 is widely referred to as the Cork Report and led to the passing of the Insolvency Act 1986).

He was a partner in Cork Gully, a well-known firm of insolvency practitioners (established in 1935 with his father, WH Cork, and Harry Gully) which in 1980 became part of Coopers & Lybrand. Cork was recognised as an "insolvency baron" who had a dominant role in that field which set him apart from mainstream accountancy.

Prior to his election of Mayor he had served as a sheriff of London for 1975–76.

He also contributed to governance of the arts, as Vice Chairman of the Arts Council and Chairman of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and guiding other bodies including the Philharmonia Orchestra and London Festival Ballet.

Family

Sir Kenneth's son, Sir Roger Cork (31 March 1947 – 21 October 2002), followed in his footsteps, both as a partner in Cork Gully and as Lord Mayor of London (1996–1997).

In 2010 Stephen Cork, great grandson of the original founder William Henry Cork, acquired Cork Gully from PwC and established Cork Gully LLP, as a new restructuring and insolvency firm in London.{{cite web|title=Cork Gully re-established by great grandson |url=https://www.accountancyage.com/2010/11/10/cork-gully-re-established-by-great-grandson/ |publisher=Accountancy Age|accessdate=10 January 2024}}

Publications

• Cork on Cork: Sir Kenneth Cork Takes Stock.{{cite book |title=Cork on Cork: Sir Kenneth Cork Takes Stock |author=Kenneth Cork |year=1988 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-44479-5

References

| years = 1978–1979 }}

References

1. [http://www.icaew.com/index.cfm/route/155667/icaew_ga/en/Home/About_us/History_of_accounting/Coopers__Lybrand Coopers & Lybrand] Family Tree, [[ICAEW]]
2. (1 Jan 1993). "Profile – Michael Jordan of Cork Gully (Cork's successor as senior partner)". Management Today.
3. [http://www.bowyers.com/history/personalities/rogerCork.html Sir Roger Cork] {{Webarchive. link. (19 July 2008, The Worshipful Company of Bowyers)
4. "Company number 01852516".
5. (22 November 2010). "Cork Gully returns today: Cork continues family heritage". Insolvency News.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::