Born in 1926 in
Birmingham,
England, Ibbs was the only son of
Professor T. L. Ibbs
MC DSc, and his wife, Marjorie (née Bell). He was educated at West House Prep School,
Gresham's School,
Upper Canada College (
Toronto), the
University of Toronto, and
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated
MA in Mechanical Sciences. From 1947 to 1949, Ibbs served in the
Royal Navy as an Instructor Lieutenant, then worked for C. A. Parsons & Co. Ltd, from 1949 to 1951 while also reading for a career as a
barrister at
Lincoln's Inn. He was
called to the Bar in 1952. He joined
ICI in 1952 and was a Director, from 1976 to 1980 and again, from 1982 to 1988, serving the two intervening years on secondment as Head of the
Central Policy Review Staff in the
Cabinet Office. From 1983 to 1988, he was part-time adviser to
Margaret Thatcher on Efficiency and Effectiveness in Government. Ibbs was appointed as Chairman of Lloyds Merchant Bank Holdings in 1989, continuing until 1992, and was simultaneously Deputy Chairman of Lloyds Bank Canada, from 1989 until 1990. He was Deputy Chairman of
Lloyds Bank from 1988 to 1993 and Chairman from 1993 to 1997, and also Chairman of
Lloyds TSB Group PLC from 1995 to 1997. Outside his professional career, Ibbs was a member of the Council of the
Confederation of British Industry from 1982 to 1987, of the Court of the
Cranfield Institute of Technology from 1983 to 1988, and Chairman of the Council of
University College, London, from 1989 to 1995. ==Marriages==