Sir Paul Douglas Nicholson, KCVO, Kt (born 7 March 1938) is an English industrialist and was Lord Lieutenant of County Durham from 1997 to 2013. Nicholson was born in Co. Durham and educated at Harrow School and Clare College, Cambridge. Between Harrow and Cambridge, he was commissioned during National Service in The Coldstream Guards. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, he joined Vaux Breweries in 1965 and, from 1976 until 1999, he was Chairman of the Vaux Group, one of the most successful companies in the North East of England.