Brian Dennis McGowan (born 1945) is the co-founder of

Williams Holdings Williams Holdings was a major British conglomerate. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established by Nigel Rudd and Brian McGowan in Derby in 1982 to acquire under ...

, one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's largest conglomerates.

Career

Educated at Isleworth Grammar School, Brian McGowan initially trained at a firm of accountants in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

.Profile: Angler takes the hook: Brian McGowan had planned a life of leisure. Then came the call to lead House of Fraser to market
The Independent, 25 July 1993 McGowan joined ''London & Northern'', a minor conglomerate, before moving to P&O and then becoming

Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Sime Darby Sime Darby Berhad () is a Malaysian trading conglomerate. Its core businesses operate and serve in the industrial, motors and logistics sectors as well as the healthcare, and insurance segments. Background The modern Sime Darby Berhad corpo ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. In 1991, together with Nigel Rudd, he acquired a majority stake in W Williams, a small Welsh

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

business and, as

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, expanded it into one of the

's largest conglomerates. He retired from the business in the early 1990s. He then became Chairman of House of Fraser in 1993. From 2004 to 2008 he was Chairman of

Rentokil Initial Rentokil Initial is a British business services group based in Crawley, England. It was founded in 1925 as a pest-control business but subsequently expanded and diversified, in part through organic growth under the leadership of Sir Clive Thom ...

. From 1997 to 2009 he was also Chairman of Umeco plc. Since 2002 he has been chairman of international corporate finance advisory firm Catalyst Corporate Finance.Catalyst Corporate Finance: Senior Team

References

British businesspeople 1945 births Living people {{UK-business-bio-1940s-stub