Swire started his career for a subsidiary of the family business, Butterfield & Swire Far East, in 1956 before returning to run the London operations office in 1961. He was president of the
General Council of British Shipping from 1980 to 1981. He was the chairman of John Swire & Sons from 1987 to 1997, and from 2002 to 2004. He was on the board of directors of
Cathay Pacific, an airline partially owned by the family business, from 1965 to 2005. ==Honours==