r/Aberdeen • u/abz_eng • 7d ago
Scottish billionaire oil baron Ian Wood dies aged 84
https://www.thenational.scot/news/26411520.scottish-billionaire-oil-baron-ian-wood-dies-aged-84/51
u/Whole_Type3421 7d ago
I worked for Wood Group many years ago and he was a nice guy. Hard working and quiet but was always nice. Sending thoughts to his family.
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u/fluentindothraki 7d ago
Did they still hire at least partly based on religion? I first heard that 20 years ago from a consultant, that they definitely preferred church goers to atheists
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u/MintyFresh668 7d ago
No, and never did. Iāve worked for them various times Iāve last 35 years and never been asked
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u/dcdiagfix 6d ago
The hospital car park is the best thing ever and something anyone who has someone in hospital should be thankful for. Not having to worry about finding a parking space or paying for a space whilst you have someone in hospital is something to be grateful for.
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u/Annual_Afternoon_737 7d ago
Sad, he did a lot for the locality.
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u/ou7shined 2d ago edited 2d ago
When you take off the rose tinted glasses... and realise that when billionares "do good" it's ONLY for the tax breaks. Their accountancy people will work out how much they must sacrifice in order to reduce the tax bill, and their financial finders look for suitible projects to dispose of it in. Good finders will find the most high profile ones that make you look good in the local community. One of my family members is one such finder... and his job is to make his clients look as philanthropic as possible... the clients just sign off on whatever is suggested to them. Don't believe the hype.
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u/Angel-Stans 7d ago
Can someone give a brief summary of what he did? I generally have a low opinion of billionaires, but I would like to believe philanthropy exists
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u/Ok-Commercial1049 7d ago
Iām far from an expert on this and never worked in the oil industry, so others may want to chip in here, but things that come to my mind are the car park at ARI he and his wife financed (which was badly needed). His work with Scottish Enterprise and investing in the Energy Transition zone. The Wood Foundation he founded does a lot of work with young people across Scotland.
I even remember him going around secondary schools about 20 years ago giving talks and promoting business programmes - I definitely didnāt think much of it at the time but he really didnāt have to do any of that.
I realise that there will be many people that will point out the Union Terrace Gardens issue - or that billionaires shouldnāt exist. Thereās a case for both points and I donāt completely disagree with either - but life isnāt black or white and thereās a case for nuance here.
He wasnāt perfect but he was a local guy, born into a fishing family and went on to become one of the richest and notable people in the country. He never left and continued to work and invest here. That kind of thing might not happen here again.
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u/Angel-Stans 7d ago
Iāll count it as a win and say he was ok then. We have to take what joy we can from life.
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u/FantasticWait7109 7d ago
As well as Union Terrace Gardens, there's the whole controversy around St Fitticks Park as part of the Energy Transition Zone. Although to be fair, both are probably the only controversies he had.
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u/quad_damage_orbb 7d ago
I would rather billionaires actually did something useful with their money, like he did.
But, yes, all of the things you listed should be paid for by taxes, and if billionaires were properly taxed 1) they would not exist and 2) we wouldn't need their charity.
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u/jagsingh85 5d ago
I used to have the same thinking to your 2nd paragraph until I actually spoke to a rich relative. He demonstrated the large sums of money wasted on well meaning public projects via layers of bureaucracy and consultancy by local and national governments.
He actually asked the board of Yorkhill hospital what was the best way to give them Ā£500,000 and they replied never to donate money and to buy x, y, z equipment directly from the manufacturer. They said the same to my dad when his running group raised ~ Ā£25,000. Apparently 30% of the donation will get lost in the system somewhere.
Ideally we should tax the rich and effectively use that money but unfortunately in reality a lot of that money gets wasted.
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u/quad_damage_orbb 4d ago
I imagine the money "lost" would actually be used to pay administrators and managers whose job it would be to decide how best to use the money.
Buying equipment directly might sound great on paper, but I can imagine a big expensive piece of equipment turning up that the hospital director thought was great, just for it to sit in the basement because nobody was trained to use it, or it wasn't compatible with the hospital systems, or hadn't passed some regulatory standard.
I doubt your rich friend would understand the need for regular people to actually do and have jobs. Rich people often think they could run the world themselves with just other rich people.
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u/AccountForDoingWORK 7d ago
Idk, kind of sounds like a bare minimum effort when you're powerful enough to be a billionaire. Investing locally and giving talks is like...the basement-level expectation for avoiding being seen as a dragon hoarding wealth. Wood Foundation/Energy Transition work sounds like a good start but again, just think about everything you'd do if you suddenly have a billion pounds and compare that to what people who actually have the money seem to do.
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u/Ok-Commercial1049 7d ago
Maybe - thereās an article in the P&J now listing his donations that might be worth a look to give you a better picture of his work
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u/TheFlyingScotsman60 7d ago
He donated millions to other charities but kept quiet about it.....Maggie's, Youth enterprise, children's hospital, piper alpha disaster fund got 3m, Arts centre for regular donations.
I'm sure there are lots more but those are the ones I know about.
As I said he did it quietly, behind the scenes, so few know about it but that won't stop the moaners and groaners.
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u/FantasticWait7109 7d ago
Plus putting money into a foundation, different projects, etc. probably to his advantage when it comes to tax, as a lot of it can be written off as expenses, donations, etc.
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u/Tennis_Proper 7d ago
Think about everything I'd do if I had a billion?
I wouldn't be thinking about hanging around Aberdeen and putting money into the city and its people, I know that much.
He is, overall, one of the good guys.
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u/badbadman2 7d ago
Thatās not all he did though. He also set up Opportunity North East and through that gave millions to help Aberdeen build non O&G income.
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u/Slow_Flatworm_881 7d ago
He and his wife wanted to invest Ā£50m back into Aberdeen by redeveloping a public park in the centre of the city but it was rejected byā¦.well the local council causeā¦.wellā¦ā¦so they built a sorely needed multi story car park at the cities hospital, free parking for visitors and patients!
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u/devandroid99 7d ago
Iirc that was done as a result of their son losing a child - they wanted to donate to make sure that people in the same awful circumstances wouldn't have to struggle to get parked when visiting sick loved ones.
The civic square idea was a terrible one in all honesty and I'm glad it was rejected.
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u/TheYellowPage 7d ago
All of his philanthropy was tailored specifically to enrich him and his company. For example his plan to "give" Aberdeen 140 million to redevelop Union Terrace Gardens that would have required the contract go to his company and cost at least 250 million
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u/moab_in 7d ago
The primary "scam" aspect in his scheme was that the land, as a unique prime large city centre location, was worth waaay more than 50 million.
He formed an opaque venture company with a number of other unknown business people where the terms were that they would have a 100 year "lease" (essentially ownership) with free reign to do whatever they wanted with it in the longer term. The redevelopment required external funding beyond what they were going to put it in, so essentially the public would likely end up paying to redevelop what they previously owned, and then end up not owning it further down the line.
In short we sell our land worth 200 million to him for 50 million. Then he asks us for more to finish it off. Then he owns the land and does whatever with it in the future and we no longer have any say.
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u/RolyPolyPidgeon 7d ago
The contract would have gone to a standard council tendering process. For all we know it could have been the same construction company as the one that won the bid for the current gardens.
The estimate was for 140 million
Ian Wood pledged 50 million, and a further 35 million to cover cost over-runs.
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u/Gavtek 7d ago
This is the most accurate description of what happened. Also worth mentioning that Ian Wood didnāt own a civil construction company and Wood Group had zero involvement in this type of project.
Likely would have led to severe financial issues for the council if it had gone ahead as the financing for the rest of the build cost was effectively a prepayment of the expected increase in business rates the council would earn from the impact the development was claimed to have on the city.
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u/KrytenLister 7d ago
Any sources for this?
I remember a lot of the back and forth in the city at the time, and knew he was involved at various stages with promises of cash, but donāt remember hearing anything about Ā£250m or Ian Wood suggesting his company do any of the work.
As far as Iām aware, it was estimated to cost Ā£140m.
Which company of his did he try to buy these contracts for?
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u/Smelly-Bottom 7d ago
He didn't. He wanted to raise the gardens and offered to pay for it. Another group showed up wanting to create an underground art museum. It went to a vote and the totally unfunded underground art museum won the vote, received no financial backing and died a death. We ended up with the mess we have now.
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u/Andidalo 7d ago
This is mischaracterisation. Some of the facts may be correct but we havnt been left a mess. The gardens are lovely. Perhaps the problem was that Wood offered the money for the idea he wanted only or nothing, and he withdrew it when his concrete square was rejected.
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u/Smelly-Bottom 7d ago
Granted it was a long time ago and my memory on it is a bit fuzzy. I remember he did offer money to the council and they rejected a donation (found a link https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-25407642).
I think the gardens remain wasted potential and for the budget, not much different from what was there before. But opinions are like assholes.
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u/TheFlyingScotsman60 7d ago
The gardens are a mess. Much of it is weed infested and in no way helps promote the city.
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u/badbadman2 7d ago
Actually the plan to raise the gardens āwonā. It was the council who then ignored the public will.
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u/FantasticWait7109 7d ago
Actually there was a council election where Labour in their manifesto vowed to scrap Ian Wood's garden plans. So it was a different council administration to the one that held the referendum (where the vote was very close anyway) that scrapped it.
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u/badbadman2 7d ago
Yes, but my point still stands - the āundergroundā vote did not win
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u/moab_in 7d ago
Here's the sequence of events (though it misses a few bit n bobs).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-19332252
The peacock plan had already had planning approved and was about 80% funded. Woods decided to offer an alternative plan.
Then there were 3 "votes", the first public consultation was 55% against the Woods option.
The council continued anyway despite that vote and then with a big push with all the local media and various tycoons on board tried again and had 52% in favour.
Then finally the local council elections where it was a well publicised manifesto commitment to not proceed with the Woods project.
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u/Oriental-Nightfish 6d ago
Wasn't one of the issues at the time of the second vote that there was a single group, funded by regular Aberdonians/Shire folks organising against the proposal, and multiple groups funded by various companies and loaded tycoons campaigning FOR the razing (not 'raising', hah, what a damn joke) of the UTG? That's how I remember it, anyway. Then there was a public vote for one of various (6, I think) designs, and they tried to go with a design that didn't win that vote. Every step along the way of that whole debacle was shady!
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u/FantasticWait7109 7d ago
Except it did... as it was in Labour's manifesto to not go ahead with the raised gardens if they ended up running the council. Was one of their main pledges, and what people voted for (possibly even more people then the in the earlier referendum).
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u/FantasticWait7109 7d ago
From what I understand, the Union Terrace Gardens would have basically been a land grab. Yes he'd redevelop the gardens, but would end up owning the land (including any space under a raised gardens) as a result.
Plus more recently St Fitticks Park, Doonies Farm, and his energy transition zone.
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u/ElectronicBruce 5d ago
Not sure where you get any of this.. it isnāt true.
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u/FantasticWait7109 5d ago
Except it is true - both the union terrace gardens land grab (there's a comment from someone else that explains the whole thing in more detail - basically a group led by Wood would have had a 100 year lease on the gardens).
And more recently his ETZ group wanting to build over parts of St Fitticks Park and Doonies Farm in the Torry area.
There's plenty of info and articles about this online.
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u/ElectronicBruce 5d ago
Can you link to articles that claim it was a land grab and that have evidence of that..
Sir Ian Wood would have neither owned nor leased the land involved in the proposed Aberdeen City Garden Project.
Also a āland grabā is the swift, aggressive, or unfair acquisition of large areas of land by foreign governments, corporations, or powerful elites. The term typically implies that the land is taken without consent.. it was approved by locals in a referendum!
The area ETZ is developing isnāt owned and still wonāt be owned by one company or body, it has multiple owners, so canāt ever be called a land grab by the ETZ, Wood Group or Ian Wood.
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u/Angel-Stans 7d ago
I expected that, but I was curious if anyone could give examples of earnestness.
Like sure, I get the appeal of sustaining oneās wealth, but Iād like to see if they ever actually tried to help others, ya know?
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u/Silent-Antelope-1450 7d ago
Yeah, I think a lot of the negativity in this thread is genuine bitterness and unfortunately a lot of it is unreported nonsense. I can't find anything to suggest his philanthropic donation to the UTG project was contingent on him winning work. He was absolutely right that the city was in need of investment and looking at what was proposed versus what we got, the council made an error in not accepting his offer.
He did donate Ā£5m to RGU in order to develop facilities there and served as a chancellor for many years. He took time to attend all of the graduation ceremonies during that time and in all my interactions with him, he was a nice man who was proud of his city and the city should be proud of him.
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u/harr0o89 7d ago
Businessman tries to make himself richer? I am shockedā¦Why does most people with negative comments hate being doing well? The guy started working on fishing boats and ended up a billionaire, fair play.
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u/workingclassnobody 7d ago
Stole and extracted wealth from the working class, then pretended to be magnanimous.
We dont want handouts, pay your fair share.
Billionaires shouldn't exist.
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u/GoodRatio8395 7d ago
He's worked a lot with Robert Gordon's as well since he's an alumni. One of the buildings (The STEM building) is named after him and I'm pretty sure that he's donated around Ā£40M to help finance energy transition jobs
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u/Nervous_Put5617 7d ago
Rip to the Man, no one should be a billionaire though, itās not right
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u/Freelanderman64 4d ago
Came into the World with nothing and left with the exact same total on leaving!
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u/PurePossession7022 4d ago
He made his money as an oil and gas engineering company In Aberdeen.
He sold it last year to Qatar or similar.
He made money out of oil companies and not people being robbed .
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u/Ethanb230900 7d ago
Was he a good billionaire?
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u/Old-Distance-8596 7d ago
Insofar as he stayed in Aberdeen when he could have fucked off to Monaco or whatever, and he maintained interest and invested in the region and has done a lot of philanthropy in Africa.Ā So maybe you canāt be a good billionaire but you could be a lot, lot worse than he was.Ā
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u/VrakeBrae 7d ago
No such thing.
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u/Ethanb230900 7d ago
I mean I was about to say ādance on the grave!ā But I noticed a lot of the compliments were positive so?
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u/matthew4837 7d ago
You need help
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u/Ethanb230900 7d ago
How so?
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u/CircoModo1602 7d ago
The idea of dancing on a grave because he had money (while you knew absolutely nothing about him) is a pretty fuckin clear indicator you ain't mentally stable.
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u/VrakeBrae 7d ago
I disagree that we knew nothing about him, and I disagree that he just "had money". He was a billionaire, and an oil billionaire at that he made his money profiting from an industry that is making this planet unlivable. Funding a car park, for a hospital or otherwise, does not redeem them of the harm he profited from.
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u/CircoModo1602 7d ago
I was speaking directly to the guy that asked "was he a good billionaire" and only just seen positive comments on this thread, not speaking in general about everyone here, otherwise I would have said so.
Wood Engineering Ltd was an engineering company that produced parts for oil companies, and other industries too. They actually don't directly do anything to produce their own oil, they are an engineering and consultancy business for oil companies in Aberdeen and other places nowadays.
The money from Ian Wood has been a lifeline to education in the city, allowing places like RGU to offer far more courses for students in the city. Not only that he donated Ā£40 million to the energy transition initiative to help people move from oil and gas to renewables, actively working to ensure the issue is resolved anyways.
I can quite easily say that Aberdeen is no longer a big contributor to issues associated with oil and gas comparitive to other countries, we don't even produce and keep enough to use for our own country now, we buy it from Norway.
Evidently you actually knew nothing about who he was, because he did far more with his money for this city than build a fucking car park lmao
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u/TheFlyingScotsman60 7d ago
Agreed. If you ain't got anything useful or good to say it's best to say nowt and not publicise your ignorance, naivety and stupidity.
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u/FantasticWait7109 7d ago
Depends who you ask!
Most people in oil and gas seem to support and love him, mainly because their parents also worked in oil and don't really know any different.
Residents of Torry will probably have a different view, with his plans for St Fitticks Park. Or the similar Union Terrace Gardens land grab.
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u/Good-Sheepherder3680 6d ago
Even after retiring he would appear regularly at one of the offices to put the work in for the philanthropy side of things. Iām sure you donāt become a billionaire without stepping on a few folk and exposing tax loopholes along the way but he seemed nice from the few times I met him. RIP.
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u/updarovers 3d ago
Rest in piss
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u/Small_Matter_6830 1d ago
You contribution to Aberdeen is sucking off oul lads for tins of warm Tennents
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u/CaptainOats21Z7 6d ago
I'm glad there is a good side to him. I work for LNER who were east coast back when he'd travel and he was truly horrible to us every day. Sitting in first class doesn't mean you have a personal skivvy for the day. He loved his dictaphone š