Swire served in the
Irish Guards from 1945 to 1948, both in the UK and in
Israel. Swire started his career at Butterfield & Swire, a subsidiary of the
Swire Group in
Hong Kong, in 1950. He served on the Board of Directors of John Swire & Sons Ltd from 1955 to 1997, as its Chairman from 1966 to 1987, and Honorary President from 1987 to 1997. He became its Life President in 1997. Swire served on the Boards of Directors of
British Bank of the Middle East,
Ocean Transport & Trading,
James Finlay & Co, and
Shell Transport & Trading Co. He served on the London Advisory Committee of
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation from 1969 to 1989. He became a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1977. He was an Honorary Fellow of
St Antony's College, Oxford in 1987 and received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the
University of Hong Kong in 1989. He was knighted in the
1990 New Year Honours. He served on the Advisory Council of the
Stanford Graduate School of Business from 1981 to 1990. He then served as the Deputy pro-Chancellor of the
University of Kent from 1993 to 1999. He was a member of the
Worshipful Company of Fishmongers. == Personal life ==