John Dumbrell was born in 1937 at the Royal Free Hospital in London and was educated at Mayfield College in Sussex. He joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as an Officer Cadet and, in 1957, was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps (later the Royal Corps of Transport). His Service career was spent mainly in Germany and included three years as a helicopter pilot. As he had a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he also spent some time in the Military Vehicle and Engineering Establishment at Chobham where he was responsible for the design and testing of military vehicles.

On leaving the Army in 1978, John joined the Eastern Region of British Gas as their Transport Manager, where he was responsible for re-organising and updating their transport fleet and workshops. He was then promoted to Controller of Purchasing and Supplies. In 1989 he moved to the North Thames Region as their Controller of Purchasing and Supplies, controlling a staff of 600 and a multi-million pound budget. In this post he simplified the procedures and reduced the costs by 50%. He was promoted to Director of Services and Supplies in 1991and in 1992 he was made Managing Director of British Gas in Germany, living in Berlin for two years.

On his return to the UK, John was loaned to the Department of Trade and Industry as an Export Promoter. He spent three years helping British companies export to Germany, finally retiring from British Gas in 1996. For the last few years he has been running his own consultancy, providing help to companies wishing to export to Germany and the rest of Europe.

He is an active Rotarian and supports several charities among them LASEDAK- Rotary Aid to the Balkans- which provides help and encouragement to schools and other organisations in Kosovo. He spent a considerable time out there building a school for 300 children at Kopiliq and continued to visit and provide help on a regular basis. He also promoted the growth of businesses in Kosovo by providing free business seminars for small and medium sized companies. He now p[romotes Rotary in Hexham where he is the Secretary of the local Rotary Club.

John married his wife, Jean, in 1959 and they have five grown up children. John became a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fletchers in 1991 and recently moved to Hexham in Northumberland. He enjoys hill walking, salmon fishing and photography.