Jim McColl
Encyclopedia
James Allan "Jim" McColl OBE (b. 22 December 1951) is a Scottish
businessman and entrepreneur
. He is responsible for the development of Clyde Blowers plc
. In 2007, he was placed tenth on the Sunday Times Rich List
in Scotland. The Daily Record
reported in November 2008 that McColl had overtaken Tom Hunter
as "Scotland's richest man" with an estimated fortune of £800million.
, the son of a butcher
was raised in a small village outside East Kilbride
, and educated at Rutherglen Academy.
McColl left school at 16 to take up an engineering apprenticeship with Weir Pumps
of Cathcart
, Glasgow
. After gaining City & Guilds certificates at lower and higher level, he gained a BSc Degree in Technology and Business Studies at Strathclyde University. He returned to Weir Pumps in 1978, studying for the next three years for an MBA.
McColl joined Diamond Power Speciality Ltd in 1981, an engineering company supplying equipment to the power industry worldwide; during his tenure he studied part time for a Masters Degree in International Accounting and Finance. Head hunted
by Coopers & Lybrand, in 1985 he became a consultant
, working with companies in financial difficulties that needed guidance. In 1986 he left Coopers to become a self-employed "company doctor", during which he made money through two successful turnarounds.
. After taking it private and increasing his holding to 70% in 2001, over the following five years Clyde Blowers bought six of eight major competitors, and now have a 55% global market share of their original core business. In May 2007, Clyde Blowers bought Weir Pumps from the Weir Group
plc, the same company McColl started his career at. In September 2008, McColl led a team which enabled Clyde Blowers to acquire the entire Fluid & Power Division of Fortune 500
multi-industry company Textron
, in a deal worth over $1 billion. Clyde Blowers presently consists of 85 companies in 27 different countries, employing 5,000 people around the world, with an annual turnover in excess of £1.35 billion.
. McColl won an "Alumnus of the Year" award from Strathclyde University in 1998, was awarded an honorary doctorate by Napier University
in 2003, and an honorary doctorate by Glasgow University in 2007. McColl won the Entrepreneurial Exchange ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ for 1999/2000, and the Ernst & Young
"Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award" for 2001. In July 2005, McColl was awarded The Prince Philip Medal 2005 ‘Certificate of Achievement’ for an outstanding contribution to the engineering industry. In May 2006, McColl was presented with a Scottish International Business Achievement award from The Princess Royal
. In 2006 he was awarded the Elite Insider of the Year Award and the Entrepreneurial Exchange Philanthropy Award. In 2007 Jim received an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by Glasgow Caledonian University. Also in 2007 he was honoured with The Standard Life Elite Insider Readers Award. In 2008 he won the Scottish Engineering Award, the Lord Provost's Award for Business and also an Honorary Doctorate of the University of Glasgow. In 2009 he became the Institute of Directors 'Director of the Year', he won the Insider Dealmaker Award for 'Deal of the Year' and 'Investment of the Year', the Great Scot Business Award and the Elite 'Leader of the Year'. He received two more Doctorates in 2010, one from Strathclyde University and one from Stirling University
. He also has a home outside Glasgow, and indulges his personal passion for cars, owning two Bentleys, a Ferrari 430 Spider, a limited collection of Classic Cars and a Range Rover Sport.
Resolutely bi-partisan on politics, McColl is a member of the Scottish Council of Economic Advisers
, and spends much of his spare time working on a Glasgow based welfare-to-work programme.
that, after discussions with the Rangers Supporters Trust about a takeover designed to make the football club a supporter-owned entity, McColl was believed to be backing their bid for Rangers F.C. However, McColl later told BBC Scotland that he had no interest in any personal financial involvement but was providing finance advice to the Rangers Supporters' Trust.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
businessman and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. He is responsible for the development of Clyde Blowers plc
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
. In 2007, he was placed tenth on the Sunday Times Rich List
Sunday Times Rich List
The Sunday Times Rich List is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the United Kingdom, updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times since 1989...
in Scotland. The Daily Record
Daily Record (Scotland)
The Daily Record is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It had been the best-selling daily paper in Scotland for many years with a paid circulation in August 2011 of 307,794 . It is now outsold by its arch-rival the Scottish Sun which in September 2010 had a circulation of 339,586 in...
reported in November 2008 that McColl had overtaken Tom Hunter
Tom Hunter
Sir Thomas Blane Hunter is a Scottish businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.In April 2007, Hunter was reported in the Sunday Times Rich List as the first ever home-grown billionaire in Scotland, with an estimated wealth of £1.05 billion...
as "Scotland's richest man" with an estimated fortune of £800million.
Biography
Born in CarmunnockCarmunnock
Carmunnock is a conservation village within the City of Glasgow boundary, lying within three miles of East Kilbride and Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, and Busby, East Renfrewshire....
, the son of a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
was raised in a small village outside East Kilbride
East Kilbride
East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
, and educated at Rutherglen Academy.
McColl left school at 16 to take up an engineering apprenticeship with Weir Pumps
Weir Group
The Weir Group plc is an engineering company headquartered in East Kilbride, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
of Cathcart
Cathcart
Cathcart is an area of Glasgow between Mount Florida, King's Park, Muirend and Newlands. The White Cart Water flows through Cathcart, downstream from Linn Park....
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. After gaining City & Guilds certificates at lower and higher level, he gained a BSc Degree in Technology and Business Studies at Strathclyde University. He returned to Weir Pumps in 1978, studying for the next three years for an MBA.
McColl joined Diamond Power Speciality Ltd in 1981, an engineering company supplying equipment to the power industry worldwide; during his tenure he studied part time for a Masters Degree in International Accounting and Finance. Head hunted
Executive search
Executive search is the consultative process of recruiting individuals to fill senior executive positions in organizations. Executive search may be performed by an organization's board of directors, or by an outside executive search organization....
by Coopers & Lybrand, in 1985 he became a consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
, working with companies in financial difficulties that needed guidance. In 1986 he left Coopers to become a self-employed "company doctor", during which he made money through two successful turnarounds.
Clyde Blowers
In 1992 McColl bought 29.9% of the family-owned engineering company Clyde Blowers plc for £1million, which was then losing money on a turnover of £4million, but had a full listing on the London Stock ExchangeLondon Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
. After taking it private and increasing his holding to 70% in 2001, over the following five years Clyde Blowers bought six of eight major competitors, and now have a 55% global market share of their original core business. In May 2007, Clyde Blowers bought Weir Pumps from the Weir Group
Weir Group
The Weir Group plc is an engineering company headquartered in East Kilbride, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
plc, the same company McColl started his career at. In September 2008, McColl led a team which enabled Clyde Blowers to acquire the entire Fluid & Power Division of Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
multi-industry company Textron
Textron
Textron is a conglomerate that includes Bell Helicopter, E-Z-GO, Cessna Aircraft Company, and Greenlee, among others. It was founded by Royal Little in 1923 as the Special Yarns Company, and is headquartered at the Textron Tower in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.With total revenues of...
, in a deal worth over $1 billion. Clyde Blowers presently consists of 85 companies in 27 different countries, employing 5,000 people around the world, with an annual turnover in excess of £1.35 billion.
Recognition
McColl was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2001 Queen's Birthday HonoursQueen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...
. McColl won an "Alumnus of the Year" award from Strathclyde University in 1998, was awarded an honorary doctorate by Napier University
Napier University
Edinburgh Napier is one of the largest higher education institutions in Scotland with over 17,000 students, including nearly 5,000 international students, from more than 100 nations worldwide.-History:...
in 2003, and an honorary doctorate by Glasgow University in 2007. McColl won the Entrepreneurial Exchange ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award’ for 1999/2000, and the Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
"Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award" for 2001. In July 2005, McColl was awarded The Prince Philip Medal 2005 ‘Certificate of Achievement’ for an outstanding contribution to the engineering industry. In May 2006, McColl was presented with a Scottish International Business Achievement award from The Princess Royal
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
. In 2006 he was awarded the Elite Insider of the Year Award and the Entrepreneurial Exchange Philanthropy Award. In 2007 Jim received an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by Glasgow Caledonian University. Also in 2007 he was honoured with The Standard Life Elite Insider Readers Award. In 2008 he won the Scottish Engineering Award, the Lord Provost's Award for Business and also an Honorary Doctorate of the University of Glasgow. In 2009 he became the Institute of Directors 'Director of the Year', he won the Insider Dealmaker Award for 'Deal of the Year' and 'Investment of the Year', the Great Scot Business Award and the Elite 'Leader of the Year'. He received two more Doctorates in 2010, one from Strathclyde University and one from Stirling University
Personal life
For tax reasons, McColl and his family are now resident in MonacoMonaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
. He also has a home outside Glasgow, and indulges his personal passion for cars, owning two Bentleys, a Ferrari 430 Spider, a limited collection of Classic Cars and a Range Rover Sport.
Resolutely bi-partisan on politics, McColl is a member of the Scottish Council of Economic Advisers
Council of Economic Advisers (Scotland)
The Council of Economic Advisers is a group of economists and captains of industry who advise the Scottish Government. It was established in 2007, meeting for the first time on 21 September....
, and spends much of his spare time working on a Glasgow based welfare-to-work programme.
Possible Rangers takeover
On 28 March 2010, it was reported in the Sunday HeraldSunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
that, after discussions with the Rangers Supporters Trust about a takeover designed to make the football club a supporter-owned entity, McColl was believed to be backing their bid for Rangers F.C. However, McColl later told BBC Scotland that he had no interest in any personal financial involvement but was providing finance advice to the Rangers Supporters' Trust.