The wine merchant John Harvey & Sons of Bristol was founded in 1796, and when George McWatters took over as chairman in 1956, he became the fourth generation of the Harvey family of Bristol to run the company. For the next ten years, he developed Harvey's nationally and internationally. Harvey's Bristol Cream, the sweet sherry with the royal warrant on the label, became a household name. It was marketed in the United States as an after-dinner drink with the slogan “Never serve the coffee without the Cream!”.

Soon after he became chairman, McWatters launched Harvey's as a public company. Although renowned for sherries, Harvey's had a distinguished wine list, even more so when McWatters encouraged it to acquire one of the oldest wine châteaux in Bordeaux, Château Latour. It was on the cards that he would be elected as a leading member of the 14th-century Vintners Company in the City of London.

George Edward McWatters was born in 1922 in India, where his father commanded the 10th Battalion of the 1st Madras Pioneers. In 1941 McWatters was to be commissioned in the Indian Army, the 14th Punjab Regiment.

But his mother was a Harvey of the Harveys of Bristol family. McWatters was educated at Clifton and later came to serve as a governor of his old school for nearly 50 years. He first joined Harvey's in 1940, before his war service. In 1951 he became a director of Harvey's and five years later became chairman.

In 1966 George McWatters lost control of his family business when it was taken over by Showerings, maker of Babycham. As a result, McWatters accepted the invitation to become chairman of Ward White, the Northamptonshire shoe manufacturer. He left Bristol to live in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire. During his time in the county he became High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire.

But his links with the West Country remained strong. He was a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers, a Bristol city councillor, and in 1995 he stood, without success, as the candidate for the Conservative Party in Bristol South.When in 1982 he retired as chairman of Ward White, it was inevitable that he would return to Bristol. He moved into Burrington House, a beautiful Georgian house a few miles from the city.

In the 1960s he had established a television company, which by the 1980s had became Harlech Television (later called HTV), with the television franchise for Wales and the West of England. He became chairman of HTV in 1986.

As a Lloyd's name, McWatters suffered a severe financial setback in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as Lloyd's suffered a series of disasters. He and his wife were obliged to leave Burrington House for a smaller Georgian house in Bath. Together they took a leading part in the cultural life of Bath, offering great support to the Theatre Royal.

Aged 24, he married Margery Robertson, who died in 1959. The following year he married the well-known journalist Joy Matthews. Their life together was legendary for its hospitality and parties, both at Burrington House and at their Nash Terrace home in Regent's Park. McWatters, easygoing and welcoming, created the perfect backdrop to his wife's skills as a hostess.

Joy McWatters died in 2006 (obituary, March 13, 2006 ). McWatters is survived by a son and a stepson.

George McWatters, businessman, was born on March 17, 1922. He died on December 19, 2007, aged 85