Sir Peter Alexander Burt

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(6 March 1944 – 28 November 2017) was a Scottish businessman, former Chief Executive and later Governor of the Bank of Scotland.

Early life

Burt was born in 1944 in East Africa, and educated in Scotland. He graduated from the University of St Andrews and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and later worked in the computer industry in California and Scotland.

Bank of Scotland

Burt joined the Bank of Scotland in 1975, working in the international and oil and energy department. He rose to become head of the international division in 1985, treasurer and chief general manager in 1988 and eventually Chief Executive in 1996. The main events of his stewardship were the failed takeover bid for the

NatWest Bank National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

and the merger with Halifax plc to form HBOS. Following the merger, he served as Deputy Chairman of HBOS and Governor of the Bank of Scotland, (a largely ceremonial role) from 2001 to 2003, and left the board afterwards. By September 2008 HBOS was revealed to be in a poor financial condition and word broke of advanced merger talks with Lloyds TSB, the reports were later confirmed. In light of this development, news surfaced on 8 November of a letter from Burt and his contemporary Sir George Mathewson to HBOS Chairman Lord Stevenson. The letter recommended the immediate resignation of Lord Stevenson and HBOS Chief Executive Andy Hornby. The letter explained that the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive would be filled by Mathewson and Burt respectively and that HBOS would continue to trade as an independent bank majority owned by The Treasury. However the proposal was rejected by the bank in a swift response by Lord Stevenson and failed to win the endorsement of the UK Government The proposal was withdrawn on 20 November 2008.

Other work

In 2004, he was appointed

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of ITV plc. He also served as a non-executive director of Royal Dutch Shell until 2006, Chairman of Dyslexia Scotland and on the boards of a number of charities.Times Online- Sir Peter Burt
/ref> He died in 2017 and is buried in the northern extension to Whitekirk graveyard in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Peter Alexander 1944 births 2017 deaths British bankers British chief executives British chairpersons of corporations Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Governors of the Bank of Scotland Alumni of the University of St Andrews Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Knights Bachelor People educated at Merchiston Castle School 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh