 |
The Lord Haughey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 2 July 1956 [1] |
| Occupation(s) | Chairman, City Refrigeration Holdings UK Ltd |
| Political party | Labour |
William Haughey, Baron Haughey, OBE (born 2 July 1956) is a Scottish businessman, philanthropist [1] and chair of City Facilities Management Holdings Ltd.
Haughey was educated at Holyrood Secondary School [4] followed by Langside College. [5] He then worked in the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry in Abu Dhabi before returning to Scotland to set up his own business with £70,000 of savings he had accrued. He founded City Refrigeration, a refrigeration equipment and maintenance supplier, with his wife Susan in 1985. [6] [7]
After securing a service contract with the Tennent's company in the 1980s which led to agreements with further breweries, he sold a majority stake to the 3i equity firm. [5] A downturn in the financial situation caused Haughey to sell two other small companies he had established back to City to increase turnover and broaden the range of services provided by the firm. In 1997 the firm signed a deal with Asda to maintain refrigeration equipment in stores throughout the United Kingdom. Due to the success of that venture, Haughey and his wife found themselves able to buy back almost full control of City from 3i in 1999, [8] allowing them to have decisive input on its future strategic direction; [5] a gradual, continuous expansion of its operations followed over the subsequent decades. [8]
Haughey backed the Entrepreneurial Spark start-up accelerator, hosting the Glasgow 'hatchery' in his City Refrigeration Headquarters. [5]
While the City technical division is located in Clydesmill Industrial Estate near to Cambuslang, its corporate headquarters are at Caledonia House in Gorbals, Glasgow, having relocated from nearby Shawfield in 2009 when those premises were demolished for construction of the M74 motorway completion. [5] The new site was virtually on the site of Haughey's childhood home which had been demolished years earlier [4] with the family moving on to the newly built Toryglen neighbourhood a short distance to the south. [9]
By 2017, the company had been rebranded as City Facilities Management and launched a European arm, headquartered in Paris. [10] Their international clients include Coles Supermarkets in Australia. [5]
In 2020, Lord Haughey, who helped rescue Celtic from going into receivership in the early 1990s, flatly rejected suggestions that he was interested in a plan to acquire Rangers. [11]
Haughey married Susan in 1978; Lady Haughey was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire in 2017. He has one son Kenny. [5] In his spare time he enjoys playing golf and tournament poker. He once revealed that he winds down every Friday night with a fish supper. [1]
Haughey is a Celtic F.C. season ticket holder and was formerly a non-executive director of the club. [12] He was close friends with former Celtic player Jimmy Johnstone before his death, [1] [13] [14] and is a collector of club memorabilia, [15] much of which (including the medal collections of Johnstone and Tommy Gemmell) he has loaned back to Celtic for display in their museum. [16] [17] [18] [19]
Haughey also provided £2 million in funding to the Scottish Cup while the tournament did not have a main sponsor between 2008 and 2010, [20] with the Scottish Government allowed to use the 'branding space' competition to promote their Homecoming Scotland 2009 [13] [21] and Active Nation [22] initiatives.
Haughey gave over £5 million to charity over a five-year period. [20] In January 2011 Haughey presented a cheque for £100,000 to UNICEF ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson to support the charity's work with child flood victims in Pakistan. [23] [24] In 2010 alone, he made charitable donations of £1.3 million. [20]
Haughey donated over £1 million to the Labour Party between 2003 and 2010. [25] He was awarded an OBE in 2003 [26] and was knighted in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to business and philanthropy. [27] [28] On 1 August 2013, it was announced he was going to be a Labour peer in the House of Lords. On 18 September 2013 he was created a life peer taking the title Baron Haughey, of Hutchesontown in the City of Glasgow. [29]
Haughey has been named in several newspaper reports in connection with the resignation of Steven Purcell, the leader of Glasgow City Council until 2010. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36]
In 2011, Haughey had planning permission for the conversion of Greenleeshill Farm, [37] situated on greenbelt land in South Lanarkshire, with panoramic views over Glasgow [38] into a mansion resembling the White House US presidential residence. [39]
The 2017 edition of the Sunday Times Rich List estimated Haughey's family's fortune at £265 million. [40]
In 2018, Haughey was reported as having become involved in discussions between the Scottish Football Association and Queen's Park F.C. over the future use of Hampden Park, the stadium used by the former but owned by the latter. With the SFA threatening to move their matches to Edinburgh and unwilling to pay more than £2 million to buy Hampden from Queen's Park while the club demanded £6 million, Haughey stepped in with an offer to 'split the difference' by adding a contribution to raise the purchase offer to £4 million, in order for Scotland matches and cup finals to remain in their traditional Glasgow home. [41] [9] He had already donated funds to Queen's Park a decade earlier to help improve the facilities at their Lesser Hampden training ground, [42] which would become the first team match venue in 2021 once the sale of the main stadium was completed. [43] Also in 2018, Lord Willie Haughey has been elected overall winner of the "2018 EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Scotland". [44]
: Knight Bachelor (2012)
: Officer, Order of British Empire (2003)  |
|
The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic, is a professional football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the Irish–Scots population in the city's East End area. They played their first match in May 1888, a friendly match against Rangers which Celtic won 5–2. Celtic established themselves within Scottish football, winning six successive league titles during the first decade of the 20th century. The club enjoyed their greatest successes during the 1960s and 70s under Jock Stein, when they won nine consecutive league titles and the 1967 European Cup. Celtic have played in green and white throughout their history, adopting in 1903 the hoops that have been used ever since.
The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded in Scottish culture. It has reflected and contributed to political, social and religious division and sectarianism in Scotland. As a result, matches between them have had an enduring appeal around the world.
Rutherglen is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, three miles from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lost its own local council and administratively became a component of the City of Glasgow District within the Strathclyde region. In 1996 the towns were reallocated to the South Lanarkshire council area.
Cambuslang is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be considered the largest village in Scotland. It is within the local authority area of South Lanarkshire and directly borders the town of Rutherglen to the west. Historically, it was a large civil parish incorporating the nearby hamlets of Newton, Flemington, Westburn and Halfway.
Celtic Park is a football stadium, currently the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also known as Parkhead or Paradise.
James Connolly Johnstone was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years, and was part of the 'Lisbon Lions', the team who won the 1967 European Cup Final, as well as winning nine consecutive Scottish championships. He scored 129 goals for Celtic in 515 appearances and was voted the club's greatest ever player by fans in 2002.
The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic team that won the European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967, defeating Inter Milan 2–1.
Paul Michael Lyons McStay, is a Scottish former professional footballer who spent his entire career with Celtic, making his senior debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained both Scotland and Celtic at all age levels. He was capped 76 times for his country and scored nine goals. He helped Celtic win three league titles, the last in 1988.
James Quinn was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic for 15 years, becoming one of the club's leading goalscorers of all time. He also represented Scotland.
James Farry served as chief executive of the Scottish Football Association from 1990 to 1999. Farry was forced to leave that post due to a dispute with Celtic over the registration of player Jorge Cadete.
James McMenamin, was a Scottish footballer who most notably played for Celtic from 1902 to 1920 and later served as assistant manager in the 1930s. He has been described by the club as "a true Celtic legend".
Thomas Gemmell was a Scottish football player and manager. Although right-footed, he excelled as a left-sided fullback and had powerful shooting ability. Gemmell is best known as one of the Celtic side who won the 1966–67 European Cup; he scored the first Celtic goal in the final. Gemmell played 18 times for Scotland, and also played for Nottingham Forest, Miami Toros and Dundee. After retiring as a player in 1977, Gemmell managed Dundee and Albion Rovers.
Allan Glen's School was, for most of its existence, a local authority, selective secondary school for boys in Glasgow, Scotland, charging nominal fees for tuition.
Lesser Hampden is a football stadium in Mount Florida, Glasgow, Scotland, owned by Queen's Park F.C. and located immediately beside the western end of the national stadium, Hampden Park. Since 2023 its sponsored name has been The City Stadium.
James Anthony Kelly is a Scottish politician who has served as General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region between 2016 and 2021, having previously been MSP for Rutherglen from 2007 to 2016.
The 1932–33 Scottish Cup was the 55th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Celtic who defeated Motherwell in the final.
The 1888 Scottish Cup final played at the second Hampden Park in Crosshill on 4 February 1888 was won by Renton, who beat Cambuslang 6–1.
Brian Dempsey is a Scottish businessman.
The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cup Committee (GCCC) at their discretion, but no criteria were ever published.
Events from the year 1946 in Scotland.
