Bruce Craig

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Bruce Craig (born December 1962) [1] is a businessperson, entrepreneur and owner of Bath Rugby club. [2]

Contents

As of 2017, Craig has a net worth of £300 million, according to The Sunday Times Rich List. [3]

Early life

Born in Bristol, Craig's father John Craig an English businessman worked for British American Tobacco. [4]

Craig was educated at St Brendan's College while it was still a grammar school and captained the school's rugby 1st XV. [5] At the age of eighteen he was selected to play rugby union for the south of England schools, but missed the trial for the England Under 19 final due to a fractured leg. [5] Craig then studied Sport and Business management at Loughborough University, achieving a Bachelor of Science degree.

Between 1987 and 1993, Craig played rugby for French team Racing Club de France. [6]

Career

Craig joined Marken, a logistics business founded in 1980, as a graduate. [7]

In 1997 Marken was acquired for £2.5m by Ocean Group (later to become Exel Logistics and merge into Deutsche Post).

In 1999 Craig was appointed CEO of the Company, and from that point Craig led a number of successful management buyouts over a period of 10 years.

The first transaction in 2003 saw 3I venture capital enter into the shareholding of Marken for a price of £210m. 3i then exited the business for £420m after 2 years making £100m profit from the transaction. In 2005, Craig led a secondary management buyout with the backing of ICG. [8] Craig and the management now owned a significant majority stake in the new business. [8]

By this stage Marken had become a pharmaceutical support services company, specialising in transporting pharmaceutical products between clinical trials, research companies and biotechnology laboratories. It also distributed vaccines, clinical trial kits, and investigational drugs. It was growing revenues at more than 20 per cent a year.

In 2009, the company was bought by Apax Partners for £975 million. Apax aimed to finance the company's continued expansion into emerging markets, such as Asia, South America, and central and eastern Europe. (This was the first major private equity transaction in the world after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the financial crash of 2008). Apax was understood to own some two-thirds of the business and the management team much of the remainder. Craig continued to hold a minority stake. [8] Craig stood back from the business as non-executive chairman to concentrate on other activities.[ citation needed ]

Rugby

In 2010, Craig acquired 100% of Bath Rugby and moved the club's administrative headquarters into Farleigh House, where the new training facilities were situated. [5] [6] In 2014, he advocated for an integrated global rugby season. [9] In 2018, he also announced plans to build a new 18,000-capacity stadium for the club. [10] Between 2010 and 2018 Craig is believed to have put £18m into Bath Rugby. [11] In June 2024, he claimed he had no idea how many millions he had put into Bath but that it had all been worth it. In the same interview he described the 2023–24 Premiership Rugby as his favourite season yet under his tenure as owner, despite losing the final to Northampton Saints, but outlined his vision for Bath to be at the top of both the Premiership and Champions Cup for the next 10 years and beyond. [12]

Personal life

Craig's wife Catherine is French, [13] and they have two sons. They have homes in Bath and Aix en Provence in the South of France. He has a private jet. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "Bruce Timothy CRAIG – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Richardson, Charles. "Bruce Craig interview: I don't know how many millions I have put into Bath, but it's worth it". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "The Sunday Times Rich List 2017: The richest in the Southwest". The Sunday Times. 5 May 2017. ISSN   0956-1382 . Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  4. 1 2 Kitson, Robert (22 October 2010). "Rugby's down-to-earth sugar daddy with a grand vision for Bath | Robert Kitson". the Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Gallagher, Brendan (14 April 2010). "Bath Rugby bought by millionaire fan Bruce Craig". ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Owner Bruce Craig believes Bath can be 'best in Europe'". BBC Sport. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "School of Management Advisory Board Member". www.bath.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 "Apax pays £975m in Marken buy-out" . Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  9. ↑ "It'll be a whole new ball game if Bath's supremo has his way". The Rugby Paper. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Evans, Daniel (10 January 2018). "Architects have been chosen to design new Bath Rugby stadium at the Rec". bathchronicle. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  11. ↑ "The economic answer behind superstar salaries". Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  12. ↑ Richardson, Charles. "Bruce Craig interview: I don't know how many millions I have put into Bath, but it's worth it". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "Who has the most money in Bristol and Bath's sporting world?". BristolLive. Bristol Post. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
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