Sir Adrian Alastair Montague (born February 1948) is a British solicitor and businessman. He was chairman of the insurance company Aviva from April 2015 to May 2020, and in July 2023 became chairman of financially troubled

Thames Water Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is a large private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in most of Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, north Wiltsh ...

Early life

Adrian Alastair Montague was born in February 1948. He earned a master of arts degree from

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

Career

Montague began his career as a solicitor for Linklaters & Paines, where he worked from 1971 to 1994. He worked for the investment bank

Dresdner Kleinwort Kleinwort Hambros is a private bank owned by Société Générale that offers financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Kleinwort Hambros focuses on private banking, providing a range of services for high ...

from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, he joined the public sector to serve as the chief executive of the Private Finance Initiative Task Force at

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

until 2000, and deputy chairman of

Partnerships UK Partnerships UK plc (PUK) was an centralized unit responsible for furthering public-private partnerships in the United Kingdom. It was a public limited company formed in 2000, owned jointly by HM Treasury and the private sector. It ceased activity ...

from 2000 to 2001. He was the chairman of

British Energy British Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France (EDF) in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal-fired power ...

from 2002 to 2009. In 2008, when Montague was chairman of the insurance company

Friends Provident Friends’ Provident Insurance was a banking institution founded in 1832 to serve the needs of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Based in Bradford, it concentrated on sickness and annuity policies until its life fund acquired Century Insurance ...

, he turned down an offer from the private equity firm

J.C. Flowers J.C. Flowers & Co. is an American private equity investment firm, focused on investments in the financial services sector. The firm, founded in 2001, is based in New York City and run by billionaire J. Christopher Flowers, a former Goldman Sach ...

to take over the company for 150p a share, only to see

Clive Cowdery Sir Clive Cowdery (born 26 May 1963) is an English businessman and philanthropist who made a personal fortune in the insurance industry, founding two FTSE100 insurers and a third insurer which has deployed circa $5bn in capital with $90bn in a ...

Resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

buy it 12 months later for a mere 79p a share. Montague was the chairman of Aviva from April 2015, succeeding

John McFarlane John McFarlane OBE (born 14 June 1947) is a British businessman. He served as Group Chairman of Barclays from 2015 to 2019. Early life He was born in Dumfries and attended Dumfries Academy. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, Cr ...

, stepping down in May 2020. In June 2023, with the UK government reportedly on standby for a potential taxpayer rescue,

appointed Montague as its new chairman to lead fundraising efforts with effect from 10 July 2023.

Personal life

Montague has been married three times. He was married to Pamela Evans from 1970 to 1982; they had a son and two daughters. He was married to Penelope Webb from 1986 to 2009, and they had a son. In 2015, he was married for a third time, to Innes Daubeney.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montague, Adrian Alastair Living people 1948 births Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge British businesspeople British chief executives in the energy industry Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Aviva people British solicitors British chairpersons of corporations