Aberdeen Rich List 2025

GROUP 11

 

25. John Ray – Rigblast | Property | Oil & Gas Services

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Estimated Wealth: £100m
 

John Ray began his career in the 1970s as a painting contractor on offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1974, he founded Rigblast, a company that would become a household name in the oil and gas services industry. Rigblast specialised in providing scaffolding and remote access teams for maintenance work in hard-to-reach areas of oil platforms. The company quickly grew to become the largest and most dominant in its field, with 4,000 employees managing over 300 oil and gas platforms in the North Sea.

In addition to its offshore services, Rigblast also managed the painting of the Forth Rail Bridge in Edinburgh.

After selling Rigblast in a 1996 management buyout led by former Amec manager Sandy Clark, John shifted his focus to property investment, building a substantial portfolio. He currently owns an £18 million house on the River Thames near Henley, and holds commercial property across the UK.

 

62. Derek Nicol & Stephanie Nicol – Nicol of Skene – Civil Engineering

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Estimated Wealth £18 Million
 

Nicol of Skene was founded in 1980 by Derek Nicol, beginning with just one truck and a focus on building small roads for new housing estates across Aberdeenshire. This was during the height of the Oil Industry boom in the early 1980s, a time of rapid development and infrastructure demand in the North East of Scotland.

From these modest beginnings, Derek Nicol grew Nicol of Skene into a regional powerhouse in civil engineering and construction. The company has since taken on major infrastructure projects, including large-scale road construction, commercial and residential buildings, cable laying, and underground piping systems.

Now operating under the leadership of both Derek Nicol and Stephanie Nicol, Nicol of Skene continues to play a vital role in the region’s development. With an estimated company valuation of £22 million, the personal wealth of the Nicol family is estimated at £18 million.

 

18. Doug Duguid – Oil & Gas Services & Renewables

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Estimated Wealth: £180m
 

Doug Duguid began his career as a mechanical engineer in the oil and gas sector, but quickly proved himself as a visionary business leader and dealmaker. He rose to prominence through his work with PSL, a specialist provider of engineering and equipment rental services for major tooling in the oil and gas industry.

Doug led a management buyout of PSL, scaling the company internationally and boosting its revenues to over £110 million. He sold the business to Halliburton for £120 million, marking the beginning of a remarkable entrepreneurial journey.

Not content to rest on his success, Doug went on to found EnerMech Group, an Aberdeen-based start-up that grew into a global engineering services powerhouse across the energy, infrastructure, and power generation sectors. With a workforce of 3,500 and annual revenues of £500 million, EnerMech was eventually sold to Lime Rock Partners in a deal estimated at £490 million.

Now turning his attention to the future, Doug is tackling new challenges in the renewable energy sector with his latest venture, Aurora, which delivers engineering solutions to support the global transition to clean energy.

 

17. Tony Quinn – Pet Food, Confectionery & Motorsport

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Estimated Wealth: £260m
 

Tony Quinn’s journey from humble beginnings to multimillionaire entrepreneur is nothing short of remarkable. Born and raised in a wooden caravan in Aberdeen, Tony started working in his father Jimmy’s small-scale pet food business from a young age.

At 21, he purchased his first company, a sign-writing business in Aberdeen, which he sold a few years later for double the price. With that momentum, he moved to Australia in 1980, where he would lay the foundations of his empire.

In the 1980s, Tony founded V.I.P. Petfoods, which would grow into one of the leading pet food brands in Australia. In 2015, he sold the business for £415 million, but cleverly negotiated to retain a 10% stake—a savvy move, as the company was later sold again for £1 billion.

Not stopping there, Tony acquired the struggling Darrell Lea confectionery brand for £11 million, turning it around and eventually selling it for £200 million.

 

Rich List Number

Name

Net Worth

 

44

Ricky Simpson – Bars, Nightclubs, Property

£35M

 

29

Johanna Basford – Publishing & Bestselling Author

£90M

 

19

Leslie Benzies – Rockstar Games Visionary | Grand Theft Auto Creator | Video Game Industry Icon

£178M

 

14

Martin Dickie – BrewDog Co-Founder, Brewing Pioneer

£290M

 

7

Klaas Zwaart – Oil & Gas | Motor Racing | Investments

£560M

 

63

Colin Lawson – Transport Logistics

£18M

 

55

Stewart Proctor – Tech Industry – Motor Racing

£22M

 

50

Dan Millard – Oil & Gas Inspection and Integrity Services

£28M

 

45

Stuart Clarkson – Bars – Property Development

£32M

 

6

Dave Cormack – Software & Football

£600M

 

66

Steve Judge – Space Solutions

£10M

 

58

Considine – The Aberdein Considine Family

£20M

 

47

Eddie Anderson – ARR Craib – Transport and Logistics

£30M

 

43

Adrian Taylor & Family –Taylors Industrial Waste

£35M

 

36

Stewart Milne – Housebuilding | Property Development

£45M

 

41

Robert Kidd – Oil & Gas Rental Equipment – ITS (International Tubular Services)

£36M

 

29

Peter Tait – Fishing

£82m

 

16

Roy Macgregor - Global Energy Group

£360m

 

10

Nicky Walker – Walkers Shortbread | Food & Drink

£320m

 

5

Martin Gilbert – Finance, Investment & Consulting

£700m

 

63

Sandy Clark – Finance Expert | Investment Strategist | Corporate Leader

£8m

 

57

Paul Lawrie – Golf

£19m

 

44

Jimmy Buchan – Fishing & Seafood Supply

£32m

 

39

Ian Dunbar – Kirkwood Homes Founder & House Building Pioneer

£38m

 

33

Marshall Family – Marshall Trailers & Agricultural Innovation

£65M

 

26

Ian Suttie – Property and Oil

£90M

 

12

Douglas Craig – Craig Group | Shipping & Offshore Services

£300M

 

9

Alistair Locke – Abbot Group | Motor Fuel Group | Distilleries

£350M

 

3

Trond Mohn – Framo & One Subsea – Oil & Gas - Inheritance

£1100M

 

35

Andy Bird – Inoapps Founder & Software Development Visionary

£48M

 

65

Mike Straughen – Executive Leadership | Management Expert | Non-Executive Directorships

£10M

 

57

Eric Evans – Oil Services | Media | International Trade

£20M

 

54

Alan Massie – Carlton Rock – Property Developer

£22M

 

40

Jim Geddie – Oil & Gas – Apex Tubulars – Motor Racing

£38M

 

32

Bob Drummond – Hydrasun | D2Zero

£80M

 

23

Tommy Dreelan – Oil & Gas | Motor Racing

£150M

 

54

64. Scott Martin – CEO Glacier Energy – Accountancy MBOs

£10M

 

40

59. Mark Cavanagh – XPD8 and Oil Plus Ltd – Property Investment

£19M

 

32

Alistair Thomson – Fishing Rights | Land Investment | Property Development

£35M

 

23

Malcolm Allan – House Building Entrepreneur

£50M

 

25

John Ray – Rigblast | Property | Oil & Gas Services

£100M

 

62

Derek Nicol & Stephanie Nicol – Nicol of Skene – Civil Engineering

£18M

 

18

Doug Duguid – Oil & Gas Services & Renewables

£180M

 

17

Tony Quinn – Pet Food, Confectionery & Motorsport

£260M

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James Watt – BrewDog | Brewing | Beer | Investment

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Glenn Gordon – Whisky – Glenfiddich – Distilling - Inheritance

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Ean Emslie – Commercial Property Rental

 

Maitland Mackie 3 – Ice Cream & Agribusiness

 

Shaun Ross – Founder of Metrol Technology (Photo Unavailable)

 

Sir Jim Milne – Balmoral Group | Hotelier | Property

 

Tom Cross – Oil & Gas | Parkmeade Group

 

Steve Mackie – Prosource – I.T. Software and Corporate I.T. Services

 

John Heiton – OEG Group | Oilfield Equipment Rental

 

Robert (Bob) Keiller – Oil & Gas Services | Business Consultancy

 

Larry Kinch – Oil & Gas Exploration

 

George Maxwell – Eland Oil & Gas | Oil & Gas Exploration

 

Doug Milne – MTM Construction – Civil Engineering

 

Alistair Langlands – WOODGROUP – Investments & Directorships

 

Graham Wood – Hotels – Bars – Property Development

 

Michael Freeman – CAN Offshore | Oil & Gas Services

 

Steven Ferguson – Ferguson Group, Oil & Gas Logistics

 

Scotoil Graham Davidson Family

 

Mackintosh Plant Hire – Moira, Suzanne, Albert, Gary, and Moira Mackintosh

 

Graeme Bone – Drum Property Group Founder | Prime Four Developer | UK Commercial Real Estate Visionary

 

Conrad Ritchie & The Ritchie Family

 

John Clark – Car Dealership

 

Sir Ian Wood – Fishing & Oil & Gas – Rig Maintenance – Philanthropy