Brian Souter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brian Souter
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Souter in 2014
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| Born | 5 May 1954 Perth, Scotland
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| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Title | Chairman, Stagecoach Group |
| Spouse(s) | Betty Souter |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Dame Ann Gloag (sister) |
Sir Brian Souter is a Scottish businessman born on May 5, 1954. He is famous for starting the Stagecoach Group with his sister, Ann Gloag. This company runs many buses and trains. He also created Megabus, which offers low-cost bus travel, and South West Trains, a train company.
Sir Brian is also known for his charity work through the Souter Charitable Trust. He has also been involved in Scottish politics. In 2011, he received a special award called a knighthood for his work in transport and charity.
In 2019, he gave a large part of his company, Souter Investments, to charity. This donation was worth about £109 million. His charitable trust had already given over £98 million to many good causes. In 2020, his wealth with his sister was estimated at £730 million.
Life and Career
Early Life and Education
Brian Souter grew up in Perth, a city in Scotland. His dad was a bus driver, and Brian often rode along with him. This might have sparked his interest in transport!
At school, he became very interested in economics and accounting. He once said that changing his classes to include these subjects was one of the best decisions he ever made. After school, he studied to become a commerce teacher. Later, he became a Chartered Accountant, which means he was an expert in managing money for businesses.
Starting Stagecoach
In 1980, Brian Souter, his sister Ann Gloag, and his brother-in-law Robin Gloag started the Stagecoach Group. They used money from his father's redundancy payment. They began by running buses from Dundee to London.
As bus services in Britain became less regulated, Stagecoach grew quickly. They bought many other bus companies across the UK. In 1993, Stagecoach became a public company on the London Stock Exchange. This helped them get more money to expand their bus and train services, even overseas.
Stagecoach bought bus companies in Australia, New Zealand, and even Hong Kong. They also bought Coach USA in America. Sometimes, Stagecoach offered very low fares to compete with other bus companies. This was seen as "predatory" and "against the public interest" by a government commission.
In 2009, Brian Souter received a large bonus. He decided to donate most of it, £900,000, to his own charity. He felt it wasn't right to keep such a large bonus during a difficult economic time. He also gave money to the staff pension fund.
Brian Souter became the chairman of Stagecoach Group in 2013. He stepped down from this role at the end of 2019 but remained on the company's board.
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Train Operations
After Stagecoach became a public company, Brian Souter also looked into running trains. Stagecoach started a service from Scotland to London.
During the time when British railways became private, Stagecoach won bids to operate train lines. They ran the South West Trains service starting in 1996. They also ran the Island Line Trains later that year. Stagecoach continued to operate these lines until 2017.
Stagecoach also owned a part of Virgin Rail Group. This group ran the CrossCountry and West Coast train services. From 2007, Stagecoach also operated the East Midlands Trains service.
Megabus Services
In 2003, Brian Souter added Megabus to the Stagecoach Group. Megabus offers very cheap bus travel across the UK and Europe. Its slogan is "Low Cost Inter City Travel Serving Europe."
In 2013, Megabus started a new overnight sleeper bus service from Scotland to London. These special buses cost £5 million to build. They had 53 seats that could turn into 42 bunk beds. Passengers even got a onesie to sleep in! This service stopped in 2017 because it was losing money.
Souter Investments
Brian Souter manages over 200 private investments through his company, Souter Investments. This company invests in many different types of businesses. Its value has grown by 9% each year over the past 12 years, not including Stagecoach.
Highland Global Transport
In 2012, Brian Souter and his sister Ann Gloag created Highland Global Transport. This company owns many transport-related businesses. These include:
- A share in Stagecoach Group.
- Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri, a ferry company in Turkey.
- PolskiBus, a bus service in Poland, which was sold in 2017.
- Alexander Dennis, a company that makes buses and coaches.
- Argent Energy, a company that makes biodiesel fuel.
- Sunseeker, a company that makes luxury yachts.
- OnniBus, a bus service in Finland, which was sold in 2018.
- SuperBus.com, a bus service in the Baltic states.
InMotion Group in New Zealand
Highland Global Transport also bought and started several companies in New Zealand. In 2015, these were grouped together as the InMotion Group. This group had 340 buses and coaches and 17 ferries.
Some of these companies included:
- Mana Coach Services, a bus company in Wellington.
- Howick & Eastern Buses, a bus company in Auckland.
- Fullers Group (Fullers360), which runs ferry services in Auckland Harbour.
- ManaBus and Naked Bus, which were inter-city bus services.
ManaBus and Naked Bus stopped operating in 2018. Mana Coach Services and Howick & Eastern Buses were sold in 2019. As of November 2019, Fullers Group (Fullers360) is Brian Souter's only company in New Zealand.
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
In 2015, Brian Souter was appointed vice president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He had become a Chartered Accountant in 1984. In 2017, he became the president of this organization.
Political Activity
Public Opinion Poll
In 2000, the Scottish Executive planned to remove a law called Section 28 (also known as clause 2A in Scotland). This law prevented local councils from "intentionally promoting homosexuality." Brian Souter strongly opposed removing this law.
He started the Keep the Clause campaign and spent £1 million of his own money. He organized a private postal poll across Scotland to see what people thought. A spokesperson for Souter said he was doing this as a father and a Christian.
About 3.9 million ballot papers were sent out. Around 31.8% of people voted, which was lower than any Scottish national election. Of those who voted, 86.8% wanted to keep the law, and 13.2% wanted to remove it.
Souter said that more people voted to keep the law than voted for any single political party in Scotland in the previous ten years. However, the campaign was not successful, and the law was eventually removed.
Many groups who disagreed with Souter called for people to boycott his poll. They said that because only a minority voted, it was a defeat for his campaign. Scottish politicians also largely ignored the poll. They said the public had been given "misinformation and lies" by Souter's campaign. Some gay rights campaigners criticized Souter's actions, calling his campaign "hateful."
Donations to Political Parties
Brian Souter has been a big financial supporter of the Scottish National Party (SNP). In 2007, he donated £500,000. He said he wanted to balance the funding in Scottish politics, as he felt the case for Scottish independence lacked money compared to those who wanted to stay in the UK.
After this donation, the SNP leader, Alex Salmond, was criticized for accepting the money. Salmond thanked Souter, calling him a great businessman. One month later, the SNP changed its plan to re-regulate bus networks, though they denied any direct link to the donation.
In 2011, Souter promised to donate up to £500,000 more to the SNP if they raised money themselves. He said Salmond and the SNP deserved another term in power. The SNP won the election, and Salmond became First Minister again.
In 2014, the BBC reported that Souter had donated £1 million to the campaign for Scottish independence. After Nicola Sturgeon became SNP leader in late 2014, Souter did not make any more donations to the SNP. However, in December 2014, he gave £3,500 to a local branch of the Liberal Democrats.
In 2023, Souter helped the Scottish government organize a dinner for businesses. Some politicians, like Patrick Harvie, stated that the Scottish Government did not share Brian Souter's views.
Charitable Work
In 1992, Brian Souter and his wife started the Souter Charitable Trust. This trust helps humanitarian projects in the UK and other countries. Many of these projects have a Christian focus. They work on things like preventing malaria and providing daily meals to schoolchildren in Africa. The Trust has given over £98 million to 13,000 good causes.
Some of the groups that receive money from the trust every year include Tearfund, The Message Trust, Oasis Trust, and Jam International.
In April 2019, Brian Souter's company, Stagecoach Southeast, was announced as a sponsor for the Turner Prize, an award for visual artists. However, the sponsorship ended a few days later due to public criticism of Souter's involvement.
Honours and Awards
Brian Souter has received many awards and honours throughout his career:
- In 1997, he received an honorary degree from Strathclyde University.
- In 1998, he won the Scottish Entrepreneur Award.
- In 1999, he received another honorary degree, this time from Abertay University.
- In 2004, he was named Businessman of the Year.
- In 2008, he received a Special Recognition Award for his work in the bus industry.
- In 2010, he received a Special Career Service Award at a European public transport exhibition in Paris.
- Also in 2010, he was named the Ernst & Young UK Master Entrepreneur of the Year.
- In 2011, he received an outstanding achievement award at the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Business Star Awards.
- In 2012, he was inducted into the British Travel and Hospitality Industry Hall of Fame. He was the first public transport entrepreneur to receive this honour.
Knighthood
Brian Souter was made a knight in 2011 for his services to transport and charity. This decision caused some debate. A Scottish Labour politician, Cathy Jamieson, suggested there might be a link between the knighthood and the large donations Souter made to the Scottish National Party. She questioned the relationship between the First Minister and wealthy individuals.
Alex Salmond, the First Minister, denied any wrongdoing. An independent report later cleared Salmond of any issues.
Some gay rights campaigners also criticized the knighthood. They felt it was insulting to the gay community and seemed to reward views they disagreed with, given Souter's past campaign. A petition to have the knighthood removed received 5,000 signatures.
Personal Life
Brian Souter lives in Perth, Scotland, with his wife and four children. He is a member of the Church of the Nazarene and attends Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Perth.
