WHILE not a household name across every part of Scotland, Martin Gilbert is well known in his hometown of Aberdeen and a titan of the UK business scene and of the investment world globally. In 1983, the same year that Aberdeen beat Real Madrid to win the European Cup Winners Cup, he started Aberdeen Asset Management. A fund manager, their role was to invest money as cleverly as they could on behalf of savers and investors.

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They grew by consolidating other firms in Scotland and beyond, and by winning new business. Operating across the world, it went through many ups and downs. In 2017 it merged with another Scottish titan Standard Life and by 2018, was managing over half a trillion pounds of assets on behalf of pensioners and savers across the globe.

There was clearly something in the northeast air in 1983. The energy sector boomed, Alex Ferguson’s dandy Dons did too. And less famously for most Scots, one of the most successful firms in our country’s story was born as well. Gilbert left the company yesterday after more than a quarter of a century of leadership and work.

He will no doubt appear in new projects and boards and has always been ambitious for his country too. We should learn to celebrate people like Martin Gilbert more. Every leader has success and failure, it is how they navigate both that counts. He has done more than most to create jobs, wealth, success and a positive reputation for Scotland in London, New York and across the globe. We need more people with that ambition, gumption, drive and talent. Well done, and all the best for whatever comes next.