Stagecoach co-founder Sir Brian Souter said he was “honoured and privileged” to collect the Outstanding Contribution prize at the Courier Business Awards.
The top honour, made at the discretion of a judging panel, was awarded to Sir Brian and his sister Dame Ann Gloag who founded the Perth transport company more than 40 years ago.
Stagecoach, which has its headquarters at Inveralmond Industrial Estate, has become a global giant and now has more than 20,000 staff worldwide.
Collecting the award Sir Brian said: “I’m really quite overwhelmed. When I heard we were getting this award, I was very excited.
“It has been an amazing journey. My old man was a bus driver and we lived in a council house in Letham in Perth.
“We’re really proud of our origins and roots. We’ve had some great breaks and great opportunities.
“In business, you’ve got to choose something you’re passionate about and you enjoy doing.
“We had a lot of fun over the 42 years at Stagecoach.”
Courier Business Awards 2022 coverage
Origins of Perth transport firm
Their business journey began when they used their dad Iain’s redundancy money to purchase two second hand buses.
They provided the first coach services running between Scotland and London for the fare of £6.75. It proved an instant hit.
After the Transport Act of 1985 allowed private operators to run bus services throughout Great Britain, the Perth company expanded rapidly.
By the end of the decade, they also became the first UK transport company to expand overseas, buying buses in Malawi.
Part of their success over the past four decades has been to continually look for new ideas.
This has included further international expansion into Scandinavia, America and New Zealand.
And it has created different brands, invested in technology and hundreds of millions of pounds into making its fleet greener.
The company also started operating the UK’s first privatised train service.
Their Perth company is now a giant operating all over the world and its turnover is measured in the billions.
Charity work
Sir Brian and Dame Ann’s achievements also extend beyond their business.
They are well known for their charity work, which ranges from improving health in Africa to supporting Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance in Perth.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Souter said: “Ann and I learned there are things you can enjoy from making money.
“Winston Churchill said ‘we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’.
“I’ve learned there’s an enormous sense of satisfaction from taking money and doing something good – whether that’s helping women in Africa, or helping people liberating people from trafficking.
“That can really transform people’s lives.
“We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve had a lot of lucky breaks.”
Plans for the future
Earlier this year, Stagecoach accepted a £595 million offer from investor DWS Infrastructure to buy the company.
At the time, Stagecoach said the DWS bid offers greater certainty for investors and employees. It also said it would secure Perth jobs.
Mr Souter said the time was right to step aside after 42 years running the company.
However, the businessman remains involved with Souter Investments
“It was a good time for us to exit. We’re getting older and it wasn’t going to be a family succession.
“I was really pleased we sold it to an infrastructure firm because they kept all the local people on.
“It also means our head office remains in Perth, which was important to us.”
Conversation