Sir Peter Alexander Burt

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(6 March 1944 – 28 November 2017) was a Scottish businessman, former Chief Executive and later Governor of the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

Early life

Burt was born in 1944 in East Africa, and educated in Scotland. He graduated from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

's Wharton School and later worked in the computer industry in California and Scotland.

Bank of Scotland

Burt joined the

in 1975, working in the international and oil and energy department. He rose to become head of the international division in 1985, treasurer and chief general manager in 1988 and eventually

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 ...

in 1996. The main events of his stewardship were the failed takeover bid for the

NatWest Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

and the merger with Halifax plc to form

HBOS HBOS plc was a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland plc, which operated the Ba ...

. Following the merger, he served as Deputy Chairman of HBOS and Governor of the Bank of Scotland, (a largely ceremonial role) from 2001 to 2003, and left the board afterwards. By September 2008 HBOS was revealed to be in a poor financial condition and word broke of advanced merger talks with

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...

, the reports were later confirmed. In light of this development, news surfaced on 8 November of a letter from Burt and his contemporary Sir George Mathewson to HBOS Chairman Lord Stevenson. The letter recommended the immediate resignation of Lord Stevenson and HBOS Chief Executive

Andy Hornby Andy Hornby (born 21 January 1967) is an English businessman, currently chief executive of The Restaurant Group, a British chain of restaurants and public houses. Biography Hornby was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, but brought up in ...

. The letter explained that the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive would be filled by Mathewson and Burt respectively and that HBOS would continue to trade as an independent bank majority owned by The Treasury. However the proposal was rejected by the bank in a swift response by Lord Stevenson and failed to win the endorsement of the UK Government The proposal was withdrawn on 20 November 2008.

Other work

In 2004, he was appointed

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on th ...

. He also served as a non-executive director of

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

until 2006, Chairman of Dyslexia Scotland and on the boards of a number of charities.Times Online- Sir Peter Burt
/ref> He died in 2017 and is buried in the northern extension to

Whitekirk Whitekirk is a small settlement in East Lothian, Scotland. Together with the nearby settlement of Tyninghame, it gives its name to the parish of Whitekirk and Tyninghame. Whitekirk Whitekirk is from North Berwick, from Dunbar and east of ...

graveyard in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the his ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Peter Alexander 1944 births 2017 deaths British bankers British chief executives British chairpersons of corporations Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Governors of the Bank of Scotland Alumni of the University of St Andrews Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Knights Bachelor People educated at Merchiston Castle School 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh