Sir Ian Gerald McAllister (born 17 August 1943) is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

businessman. Formerly Chairman of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

UK, he was Chairman of

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

from 2002 to 2009.

Biography

McAllister was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

to Ian McAllister and Margaret Mary McAllister. The family moved to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

when he was a child, and he received a Catholic education at

Thornleigh Salesian College Thornleigh Salesian College is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the Astley Bridge area of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. History Thornleigh College was originally a boys school founded in 1925 by the Salesians of Don Bosco at the ...

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

. McAllister graduated from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1964, where he gained a BSc in economics.

Ford

McAllister joined Ford as a finance trainee and progressed through various positions in sales and marketing in the UK and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before becoming the marketing director for Lincoln Mercury in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, returning to become managing director and latterly Chairman of the UK company which then encompassed just the Ford brand built at

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

. During his chairmanship, he returned the company to profitability from losses of £660Million in 1990, but transferred production of the new Mondeo to

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

under Ford's global brand program; while retaining Escort estate production at

Halewood Halewood is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England, near the city of Liverpool's southeastern boundary, bordered by the suburbs of Netherley, Hunt's Cross and Woolton. Historically part of Lanca ...

and Fiesta production at

Outside Ford

While chairman of Ford, he held various industry positions, including becoming President of the

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is the trade association for the United Kingdom motor industry. Its role is to "promote the interests of the UK automotive industry at home and abroad." History SMMT was founded by Frede ...

. After retiring from Ford, McAllister has undertaken mainly Government orientated work, with his only non-executive post at Scottish and Newcastle. McAllister was appointed Chairman of Network Rail in October 2002 following the acquisition of

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 ...

. On 3 October 2008, he announced that he will not stand for re-election to continue as chairman of

. He has held this position for six years. In making the announcement, Sir Ian noted that as Network Rail moves to a "new phase in its development," it is appropriate that there be a new chairman to lead it there. He was formerly: Deputy Chairman of the

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA), previously known as the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), was a charity, and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Education. In Engl ...

; a member of the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment; an Advisory Council member of The Management School,

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

; Chairman of

the Carbon Trust The Carbon Trust is a consultancy established in March 2001, with offices across the world. Its aim is to accelerate the pace of private and public sectors decarbonisation and increase energy efficiency in organisations worldwide. The Carbon ...

(2001-2011); a member of the

Energy saving trust Energy Saving Trust is a British organization devoted to promoting energy efficiency, energy conservation, and the sustainable use of energy, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions and helping to prevent man-made climate change. It was founde ...

; a member of the advisory board of

Victim Support Victim Support is an independent charity in England and Wales that provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime. Activities ;Support for victims of crime: Trained volunteers and employees offer free, inde ...

Personal life

He is married to Susan and they have four offspring. He was appointed Commander of the

Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(CBE) in the 1996

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and ...

. He was awarded an honorary

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

in July 1999. A committed

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, McAllister enjoys gardening and supports

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAllister, Ian 1943 births Living people British manufacturing chief executives Businesspeople from Glasgow Scottish Roman Catholics Alumni of the University of London Scottish businesspeople Ford executives Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor