Sir Robert Smith


(Lord Smith of Kelvin)

1944 -

Banker and businessman. Born in Maryhill (Glasgow), Smith was educated at Allan Glen's School in the city before training as a chartered accountant. He went on to senior positions at the Royal Bank of Scotland, Charterhouse Development Capital; Morgan Grenfell Private Equity and Deutsche Asset Management, developing a reputation as an astute deal-maker. He has been Chairman of Stakis Plc (1998-99), Weir Group (2002-13), Scottish and Southern Energy (2005-15), the UK Green Investment Bank (2012-) and British Business Bank (2017-). He has also been chairman of the National Museums Scotland, a BBC governor, Head of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland and Chair of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games organising committee. For Government, he produced the Smith Report on audit standards in 2003 and chaired the Smith Commission on extending Scottish Devolution (2014).

He was appointed as Chancellor of the University of Paisley (2003) and Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde (2013). He holds honorary degrees from the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and West of Scotland.

Smith was knighted in 1999 and elevated to a peerage in 2008, taking his seat as an independent in the House of Lords. He was appointed Knight of the Thistle (2014) and to the Order of the Companions of Honour (2016).

Lord Smith lives at Eshiels in the Scottish Borders, but also owns the small island of Inchmarnock in the Sound of Bute, where he breeds Highland cattle.


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