Sir Donald Hood Brydon (born 1945) is a British businessman who is chairman of the

Sage Group The Sage Group plc, commonly known as Sage, is a British Multinational corporation, multinational enterprise software company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. it is the UK's second largest technology company, the world's third-largest ...

and of the Charities Chance to Shine and The Science Museum Foundation. He was previously chairman of

London Stock Exchange Group London Stock Exchange Group plc, also known as LSEG, is a global provider of financial markets data and infrastructure headquartered in London, England. It owns the London Stock Exchange (on which it is also listed), Refinitiv, LSEG Technol ...

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

Smiths Group Smiths Group plc is a British, Multinational corporation, multinational, diversified engineering business headquartered in London, England. It operates in over 50 countries and employs 15,000 staff. Smiths Group is listed on the London Stock Ex ...

, the

London Metal Exchange The London Metal Exchange (LME) is a futures and forwards exchange in London, United Kingdom with the world's largest market in standardised forward contracts, futures contracts and options on base metals. The exchange also offers contracts on ...

Amersham plc Amersham plc was a manufacturer of radiopharmaceutical products, to be used in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures. The company became GE Healthcare following a takeover in 2003, which was based at the original site in Amers ...

Taylor Nelson Sofres Kantar TNS is a global market research and market information group with offices in over 80 countries. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, the firm was acquired by WPP Group for £1.6 billion in ...

, ifs School of Finance, the Medical Research Council and EveryChild and a Director of

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was a multinational company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent and the world's second-largest spirits gro ...

and

Scottish Power Scottish Power Limited, trading as ScottishPower, is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola. ScottishPower is the distribution network operator for Central an ...

Biography

Brydon attended

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

, before studying at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and graduating in Mathematical Science in 1967. During this time he was chairman of the University's Conservative Association alongside his fellow Watsonian

Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2 ...

, who was secretary. He was also elected President of Edinburgh University Union. Brydon remained in Edinburgh to teach at the University for three years after graduation. In 1977 Brydon began a 20-year career working at

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

, during which time he became chairman and chief executive of the company's investment arm, BZW Investment Management. From 1997 to 2002 Brydon was chief executive officer at

Axa Investment Managers Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) is a global investment management firm. It operates as the investment arm for Axa, a global insurance and reinsurance company. History In 1994, Axa created an investment management subsidiary under the name, ...

. In 2004 Brydon was awarded a

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 ...

for services to the financial industry. As chairman of the Royal Mail, whilst in office for a period of six years Brydon oversaw the controversial privatisation of the 499-year-old institution. He resigned from the Royal Mail Group in 2015 and became chairman of the London Stock Exchange Group. Brydon was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to Business and charity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brydon, Donald 1945 births Living people People educated at George Watson's College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British business executives Royal Mail people Barclays people Sage Group people Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) people Axa people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire London Stock Exchange people Knights Bachelor