Sir Angus McFarlane McLeod Grossart (6 April 1937 – 13 May 2022) was a Scottish businessman who was the founder, chairman and executive director of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

-based

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in comm ...

Noble Grossart.

Personal life

Grossart was born on 6 April 1937 in

Carluke Carluke (; ) is a town that lies in the heart of the Lanarkshire countryside in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, northwest of Lanark and southeast of Wishaw. Carluke is largely a commuter town, with a variety of small stores and supermarkets a ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

, one of three sons to Mary and William Grossart. He was schooled at

The Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldes ...

. He proudly recalled honing his business skills at a Barrowlands stall selling reject toffee. As a young man, he displayed a talent for golf and was runner-up in the 1957 British youth championships. He studied law at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and studied for the Scottish Bar in

under James MacKay. He then worked in corporate tax law before cofounding the merchant bank Noble Grossart in 1969. In 1977, he purchased Pitcullo Castle, a 16th-century house that he restored over many years. In 1978, he married Gay Thomson with whom he had a daughter. He was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1990 and was knighted in 1997. He died at his residence in

on 13 May 2022 at the age of 85 following a short illness.

Career

Grossart cofounded the merchant bank Noble Grossart in 1969 with

Sir Iain Noble Sir Iain Andrew Noble, 3rd Baronet, (8 September 1935 – 25 December 2010) was a businessman, landowner on the Isle of Skye and a noted Scottish Gaelic language activist. Early life Noble was born in Berlin in 1935 the son of a British di ...

, buying out Noble's share of the business two years later. The bank provided finance and advice to up-and-coming companies, its success aided by the emerging exploitation of oil in the North Sea. Noble Grossart provided backing to a number of Scottish businesses and entrepreneurs, including Pict Petroleum, an oil and gas exploration company, the

Wood Group John Wood Group plc, commonly known as Wood, is a British multinational engineering and consulting business with headquarters in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. As of February 2025, the group employs 35,000 people ...

, a company proving services to the oil industry, Sir Tom Farmer, founder of the

Kwik Fit Kwik Fit is a car servicing and repair company in the United Kingdom. As of , there are over six hundred Kwik Fit locations in the United Kingdom. Kwik Fit also has locations in continental Europe. History Tom Farmer opened the first Kwik Fi ...

chain of garages, Sir Brian Souter, founder of the

Stagecoach Group Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses and express coaches in the United Kingdom. Stagecoach was originally founded in 1976 as ''Gloagtrotter'', a recreational vehicle and minibus hire business. Dur ...

of bus and rail operators, Benny Higgins, a banker with the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

, and James Gulliver, founder of

Argyll Foods Argyll Foods plc was the fourth biggest supermarket operator in the United Kingdom, through its acquisitions of a number of smaller supermarkets. In 1987 the company acquired Safeway Inc.'s UK subsidiary and in 1996 it changed its name to Safew ...

. Grossart's initial investment of £30,000 grew into over £300 million. In June 2019 he received the majority of a £5.3 million dividend paid out by Noble Grossart. Grossart was also vice-chairman of

from 1982 to 2005 and was appointed chairman of the

Scottish Futures Trust The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, established in September 2008 to improve public infrastructure investment. SFT operates at arm's length from the Government but works closel ...

in 2000. Other roles included chairman of the Scottish Investment Trust between 1975 and 2003, director at Murray International Holdings, chairman of

Lyon & Turnbull Lyon & Turnbull is a privately owned international auction house located in Scotland. It was established in 1826 and is Scotland’s oldest auction house. The company is the largest independent auction house in the United Kingdom outside of Lo ...

, and he was on the boards of

Scottish & Newcastle Scottish & Newcastle plc was a brewing company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, which expanded from its home base to become an international business with beer volumes growing almost tenfold. The company was listed on the London Stock Exc ...

and

Trinity Mirror Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...

and Alexander & Alexander, the insurance company. His public roles included chairmanships of the

National Galleries of Scotland The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...

, the

National Museums of Scotland National Museums Scotland (NMS; ) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It runs the national museums of Scotland. NMS is one of the country's National Collections, and holds internationally important collect ...

and the Burrell Renaissance group overseeing the refurbishment of the

Burrell Collection The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. It houses the art collection of William Burrell, Sir William Burrell and Constance Burrell, Constance, Lady Burrell. The museum opened in 1983 and reopened on ...

building, and deputy chairman of the

National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund, which had fulfilled t ...

. He was also a trustee of the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and the

Scottish Civic Trust The Scottish Civic Trust is a registered charity. Founded in 1967, and based in the Category A- listed Tobacco Merchant's House in Glasgow, the Trust aims to provide "leadership and focus in the protection, enhancement and development of Scotlan ...

, and a director of the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

and the

Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) () is a Scottish orchestra, based in Glasgow. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the Orchestra has played an important part in Scotland’s ...

Awards

Pushkin medal The Medal of Pushkin () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation awarded to its citizens and to foreigners for achievements in the arts and culture, education, humanities and literature. It is named in honour of Russian author and poet Al ...

(2018) - presented by Vladimir Putin, returned in 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossart, Angus 1937 births 2022 deaths People educated at the Glasgow Academy Alumni of the University of Glasgow Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Scottish chairpersons of corporations People from Lanarkshire 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople Scottish company founders