Sir Robert Paul Reid (1 May 1934 – 28 May 2025) was a British businessman who was

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

from 1985 to 1990 and

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, 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 gro ...

of the

British Railways Board The British Railways Board (BRB) was a State ownership, nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that operated from 1963 to 2001. Until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to d ...

from 1990 until 1995.

Early life and education

Reid was born in

Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...

, Fife on 1 May 1934, the son of William Reid, a butcher, and Elizabeth (nee Paul). When he was nine years old, an accident involving a mincing machine in his father's shop resulted in the loss of his right hand. He studied political economy and modern history at

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, graduating in 1956 .

Career

In 1956 he joined

as a management trainee. He worked for the company in Malaysia, Nigeria and Kenya before returning to Nigeria as managing director from 1970 to 1974. He later served in Thailand and Australia. In 1983 he became the company's coordinator for supply and marketing in London. He served as chairman and chief executive of Shell UK from 1985 to 1990.

Chairman of British Rail

He became chairman of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

in 1990, taking over from Sir Robert Reid (no relation), a position he held until 1995.. His period with BR was dominated by the privatisation of the railways. Although not opposed to privatisation in principle, he argued strongly for a different model, in which the privatised businesses would be run as integrated organisations. He later said that separating

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the railroad, track, railway signalling, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the railway station, stations of the Transport in England#Rail, British railway syste ...

from the rest of the industry was a major mistake.

Later career

After his time on the railways, he served as chairman of the

International Petroleum Exchange International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, deputy governor of the

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

, and chairman of London Electricity,

Avis Europe Avis Europe plc is a United Kingdom-based company which holds the licence to operate the two main vehicle rental brands of Avis Budget Group (Avis Car Rental and Budget Rent a Car) in Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as Asia in the c ...

and

Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-l ...

Death

Reid died on 28 May 2025, at the age of 91. His wife, Joan, died in 2017. They are survived by their three sons: Paul, Michael and Douglas.

References

External links

* * 1934 births 2025 deaths British Rail people Alumni of the University of St Andrews People from Cupar People associated with Robert Gordon University Knights Bachelor Scottish knights Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Scottish chairpersons of corporations Shell plc people Alumni of European Business School London 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople {{Scotland-business-bio-stub