Brian Souter

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Sir Brian Souter (born 5 May 1954) is a Scottish billionaire businessman and philanthropist.

Ann Gloag, his brother, founded the Stagecoach Group of bus and railway operators.

He also founded Megabus, the train operating company South West Trains' parent company, Souter Holdings Ltd, and the Souter Charitable Trust. Souter has also been politically active in Scotland and has aided the Scottish National Party financially.

Souter started the Keep the Clause campaign in 2000, when the Scottish Executive tried to repeal Section 2A of the Local Government Act, which barred local authorities from "promoting homosexuality," and urged them to reconsider their plans by investing one million pounds of his own money to organize a private referendum in Scotland.

Opponents have alleged homophobia in connection with his campaign and other recent remarks. He was honoured a knighthood in 2011 for his contributions to transportation and the voluntary sector.

The honour was criticized by Scottish Labour Party leaders and gay rights campaigners. Souter made what is undoubtedly the largest charitable donation from a Scot since Andrew Carnegie gave away his fortune in October.

Souter and his sister Ann Gloag's donation of £109 million came on top of the £98 million he had already donated to the Souter Charitable Trust, which has sponsored 13,000 worthwhile causes over the past 13 years, according to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2019.

Personal life

Souter referred to English Northerners (who account for a substantial number of his clients) as "the beer-drinking, chip-eating, old Labour-voting masses."

Souter and his wife and four children live in Perth, Perth. He is a member of the Church of Nazarene and attends Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Perth.

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Life and career

Souter was born in Perth, Scotland. His father was a bus conductor, and as an adult, Brian used to travel on bus routes with his father. He developed an interest in economics and accounts at school, which he later said, "Changing my timetable from maths to economics and accounts was one of the finest things I've ever done."

He went to the Abertay University to become a commerce teacher after leaving school. He completed his studies at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, where he obtained a CA Diploma in Accountancy and Economics. Souter became a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen & Co. following his graduation.

He formed the Stagecoach Company in 1980, operating buses from Dundee to London using his father's redundancy money, as well as his sister Ann Gloag and his brother-in-law Robin Gloag. Following the deregulation of bus services in the United Kingdom, expansion continued, and Stagecoach acquired National Bus Company subsidiaries in Cumberland and Hampshire, as well as the East Midlands, Ribble, Southdown, and United Counties companies in the late 1980s. Stagecoach also bought bus services in Scotland, Newcastle, and London, with Manchester being added a few years later. Stagecoach's value was set at £134 million and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1993 to gain access to new markets for buses and trains in Asia.

Stagecoach began to work in Australia and New Zealand by the mid-1990s. With the acquisition of Citybus, an operator of buses and ferries in Hong Kong, and Coach USA, the country's largest bus and coach operator, the company has widened. Souter became the CEO and later sold a majority of Coach USA.

Stagecoach acquired a few of the new small bus companies and sold free or low-fare buses to local competitors, which put them out of business. Stagecoach subsidiary Busways in Darlington gave drivers from the existing bus service and free buses to discourage the competitor's chosen bidder from taking over the operation. According to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, this activity was deemed "predatory, deplorable, and in violation of the public interest."

Souter received a £1.6 million compensation in 2009. He gave £900,000 to his own charity, the Souter Charitable Trust, which supports humanitarian projects in the UK and overseas, saying, "it was felt" that "in the current economic environment, it would not be appropriate for any individual to pocket a £1.6 million reward package. The bulk of the funds were donated to the employee pension fund, which was the bulk of the remainder.

Souter would become Chairman of Stagecoach Group, according to finance director Martin Griffiths, who took over Souter as CEO in August 2012. Souter would step down from his position as Chairman at the end of the year, according to the year's calendar, but he will remain on the board as a non-executive director.

He turned his attention to British railways shortly after Souter floated Stagecoach on the London Stock Exchange. The first experiments involved a Stagecoach Rail from Scotland to London with carriages attached to the Caledonian Sleeper. Stagecoach attempted to run the South West Trains franchise from 1996 to 2011, followed by the Island Line Trains later this year. When retendered in 2001 and 2006, Stagecoach was able to hold both before they transitioned to South Western Railway in 2017.

Stagecoach acquired a 49% interest in Virgin Rail Group, which operated the CrossCountry and West Coast brands in 1998. Stagecoach introduced the East Midlands Trains brand in 2007. Virgin Trains East Coast, in which Stagecoach owned a 90 percent interest, operated the InterCity East Coast franchise from April 2015 to June 2018.

Souter introduced the bus and coach operator Megabus to the company in 2003. Its tagline, "Low Cost Intercity Travel Serving Europe," it promoted discounted travel throughout the UK and Europe. It was active in 31 cities in the United Kingdom in 2012, with annual sales of over £250 million.

Souter revealed a new Megabus overnight sleeper service from Scotland to London in April 2013. The sleeper coaches cost £5 million to build, and they have 53 leather seats that can be converted into 42 bunk beds. Passengers are issued a onesie for sleeping in during the trip. Due to continuing loss, this service came to an end in May 2017, and the coaches are now only used on daytime operations.

Souter Investments, Souter Investments' firm, has more than 200 private investments, which are managed by his company. It makes investments in a number of asset classes, with a strong emphasis on private equity and a diversified portfolio of more than 25 direct unquoted investments. The total portfolio, which excludes Stagecoaching, has increased in value by 9% per annum over the past 12 years.

In 2012, Souter and his sister Ann Gloag formed Highland Global Transport. Its portfolio of transportation-related investments, which include:: more than £600 million, includes:

Highland Global Transport has purchased and established a number of subsidiaries in New Zealand. These buses and coaches were combined under the InMotion Group in August 2015, which was the InMotion Group, which also had 17 ferries.

On July 15, 2018, ManaBus and Naked Bus stopped service, with the bus fleets being sold to Ritchies Transport. In February 2019, Reesby Buses was also sold to Ritchies. Both Mana Coach Services and Howick & Eastern Buses were sold to Transdev Australasia in October and November 2019. Fullers Group (Fullers360) is Souter's sole subsidiary in New Zealand as of November 2019.

Souter was officially appointed Vice President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in April 2015, alongside newly appointed President Jim Pettigrew. Souter, who started as a Chartered Accountant in 1984, was the only contender for the vice president position. In May 2017, the company named him as its president.

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