Aberdeen Rich List 2025
Aberdeens Richest - GROUP 5
GROUP 5
29. Peter Tait – Fishing
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Estimated Wealth: £82m
Peter Tait, a former pupil of Fraserburgh Academy and Inverallochy Primary School, is the owner of the Fraserburgh-based Klondyke Fishing Company and Denholm Seafoods. His company operates some of the largest and most modern trawlers in UK waters. The Tait family is one of just five families who control 80% of the fishing rights in the UK.
Peter made headlines in Aberdeen when he purchased the most expensive house ever sold in the city, a £3 million property in Rubislaw Den.
While his business success is impressive, Peter Tait is not without controversy. His company faced significant fines in the early 2000s after illegally landing fish. However, his fleet has continued to thrive, with the highest-paid trawler captain in the UK earning a staggering £2 million in salary in 2024. His crews are among the best-paid fishermen in the country.
In 2024, the company achieved sales of £40 million, with a profit approaching £29 million.
8. Roy Macgregor - Global Energy Group
Estimated Worth £360m
Roy Macgregor isn't technically an Aberdonian, and one could say not eligible for this list being a highlander, however, he is very much part of the Aberdeen business community and has made much of his fortune through Oil & Gas and his assets based in the city. Roy is a modest man with little in the way of an excessive lifestyle. His purchase of Ross County was his only public foray into the world of financial excess, however his purchase was made through his passion for the club he supported as a boy, and once once played for. He couldn't have imagined then, he would one day be the owner of that very football club. He was a very keen sportsman in his younger years and it's rumoured he was a scratch handicap golfer. He was born into the Macgregors supermarket family, which had stores in Alness and Invergordon, and started working in the family business after his father took ill. Roy learned through his time in the family business that the customer was king. Never worry about what your competitors are doing, but make sure the customer is King, whether they were in fact right or wrong. Roy set about that as his customer mantra and focus, very much in the same way a young Jeff Bezos of Amazon did in the 1990s. His family sold the family business to the Fine Fare group of companies in the mid 1980s, but had already branched out into supplying the rigs of Nigg, and had built up numerous recruiting agency businesses and other opportunistic enterprises. Roy started the Oil & gas Macgregor Energy Services in 1986, building the business from nothing. Over the next 10 years he would increase sales to £50m per annum eventually selling the business in 1995, the company later merged with Rigblast, and Mach Ten group of companies. His business comeback was more to save his family than it ever was to generate money. His wife was distraught at the thought of losing her son Donald after he had decided he would be moving to Perth Australia in Australia to start a new life as an engineer on the other side of the world. Roy in effect created a company which could employ his son as an engineer, and hopefully he could keep the family together. With £400k in funding from Global Highland, some business partners he worked with at Rigblast (RBG) his new company Global Resourcing was born. Global resourcing was another employment agency recruiting engineers and subsea engineering teams for the Oil & gas Industry. In 2006 he acquired Maris subsea, a company providing highly specialist diving teams to the Oil & gas Industry. Around 2006, he purchased the company that would define his involvement within the Oil & Gas Fabrication Industry to this very day, when he purchased the Isleburn group. A Fabrication company welding and repairing steelwork for the Oil Industry. The company had many product lines from rig installations, subsea drilling equipment to wind turbine manufacture and rig repair. He set up shop using the old and in some cases abandoned Invergordon and Nigg in Ross-shire ports which had built the massive Oil & Gas platforms of the 1970s. His business was rebranded Global Energy, and today is now the premier Oil & Gas fabrication company in Northern Britain. He stated in 2008 he would stay at the company for 3 more years and let his sons Donald and Iain take over the company, here in 2025 Roy is still 3 years away from that. Roy is another of those few extremely successful businessmen whose feet are planted firmly on the ground, where material possessions are of no interest. He is still fully at the helm of his company and as driven as he ever was. 2025 saw him sell part of his business for £120m to Japanese firm Mitsui, He truly is a one off, and you just get the feeling his story has some considerable way to go. As of 2024, annual sales at his Global Empire group have hit a whopping £320m, seeing profits around £28m, and for all we know he could be worth twice the £265m we have attributed to him.
10. Nicky Walker – Walkers Shortbread | Food & Drink
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Estimated Wealth: £320m
Walkers Shortbread is arguably Scotland’s most iconic export—a product so universally recognised that you’ll find it in airport shops from Tokyo to Toronto. The origins of the company trace back to 1898, when Joseph Walker, a 21-year-old baker from Torphins, Aberdeenshire, opened his first bakery with a £50 loan and a simple mission: to create “the world’s finest shortbread.”
As demand grew, Joseph expanded operations to Aberlour, purchasing a horse and cart to increase distribution. The business passed through generations, thriving under Joseph’s son Jim Walker, who elevated the brand to international acclaim. By the 1960s and ’70s, Walkers Shortbread was gracing the shelves of high-end department stores like Harrods, and exporting to over 60 countries worldwide.
Today, the business remains family-owned and fiercely independent, with Nicky Walker, Joseph’s great-grandson, now serving as CEO. Under Nicky’s leadership, Walkers continues to grow while staying true to its heritage and traditional recipes.
The company now generates annual revenues of £180 million, employs over 1,500 staff, and maintains a reputation for quality that few food brands can match. Walkers isn’t just a business—it’s a Scottish institution, and the Walker family’s commitment has ensured its legacy remains strong for over 125 years.
5. Martin Gilbert – Finance, Investment & Consulting
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Estimated Wealth: £700m
Martin Gilbert has had one of the most illustrious and influential business careers in Aberdeen’s history. A key player in some of Britain’s largest financial deals, Gilbert’s journey is marked by both triumph and controversy. Born into a Scottish rubber-planting family, he was educated at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, later studying law and accountancy at the University of Aberdeen.
In 1982, Gilbert joined the investment department of local law firm Brander & Cruikshank. A year later, he led a management buyout of the department, forming Aberdeen Fund Managers in 1983 with just £10,000 in capital and £70m of assets under management. However, his career faced a major setback in 2002 when the company suffered heavy losses. This led to Gilbert being summoned before the Treasury Select Committee, where he faced criticism, with the committee chair describing him and Aberdeen Asset Management as “sophisticated snake-oil salesmen.” During this time, the company’s share price plummeted by 97%, and it ended up paying £125m in compensation.
Despite this, Gilbert went on to build the company into a major force in the financial world. In 2014, he acquired Scottish Widows Investment Partnership from Lloyds Banking Group for £550m, expanding Aberdeen’s assets to £325bn. However, his defining achievement came in 2017, when Aberdeen Asset Management merged with Standard Life in a deal worth £11bn, creating the UK's largest fund manager and the second-largest in Europe with £670bn under management.
Today, Gilbert is recognized as one of the most successful and influential figures in Aberdeen’s business history, cementing his legacy as an elder statesman of the financial world.
Rich List Number
Name
Net Worth
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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
Sandy Clark – Finance Expert | Investment Strategist | Corporate Leader
Paul Lawrie – Golf
Jimmy Buchan – Fishing & Seafood Supply
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Ian Dunbar – Kirkwood Homes Founder & House Building Pioneer
Marshall Family – Marshall Trailers & Agricultural Innovation
Ian Suttie – Property and Oil
Douglas Craig – Craig Group | Shipping & Offshore Services
Alistair Locke – Abbot Group | Motor Fuel Group | Distilleries
Trond Mohn – Framo & One Subsea – Oil & Gas - Inheritance
Andy Bird – Inoapps Founder & Software Development Visionary
Mike Straughen – Executive Leadership | Management Expert | Non-Executive Directorships
Eric Evans – Oil Services | Media | International Trade
Alan Massie – Carlton Rock – Property Developer
Jim Geddie – Oil & Gas – Apex Tubulars – Motor Racing
Bob Drummond – Hydrasun | D2Zero
Tommy Dreelan – Oil & Gas | Motor Racing
64. Scott Martin – CEO Glacier Energy – Accountancy MBOs
59. Mark Cavanagh – XPD8 and Oil Plus Ltd – Property Investment
Alistair Thomson – Fishing Rights | Land Investment | Property Development
Malcolm Allan – House Building Entrepreneur
John Ray – Rigblast | Property | Oil & Gas Services
Derek Nicol & Stephanie Nicol – Nicol of Skene – Civil Engineering
Doug Duguid – Oil & Gas Services & Renewables
Tony Quinn – Pet Food, Confectionery & Motorsport
James Watt – BrewDog | Brewing | Beer | Investment
Glenn Gordon – Whisky – Glenfiddich – Distilling - Inheritance
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
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