A FORMER Tesco chairman with strong north-east connections has started 2012 with a new job and a knighthood.
Sir David Reid, 64, gained his title in the New Year Honours, around the same time as took up the post of chairman at Intertek Group.
Intertek, which tests products from toys and clothes to oil and renewable technology, employs more than 30,000 people at 1,000 sites across 100-plus countries. Its UK business includes various operations in Aberdeen.
Sir David is a frequent visitor to the north-east, where he and wife Prue have a holiday home at Cruden Bay.
Educated at Lathallan School, near Johnshaven, and Fettes College, in Edinburgh, he joined Tesco’s board in 1985 and became the retail giant’s chairman in 2004.
He was born in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, where his father – from Auchenblae – taught agriculture. His mother’s family farmed at Loanhead of Savock, Auchnagatt.
School summer holidays were spent at Peterhead, where his uncle was a GP, and Sir David later trained as a chartered accountant with James Jeffrey in Aberdeen.
He holds honorary degrees at both Aberdeen and Robert Gordon universities.
Sir David is a former chairman of fast-fit and automotive-part replacement specialist Kwik-Fit and currently senior non-executive director at publisher and information provider Reed Elsevier Group. Among other roles, he is chairman of the Whizz-Kidz charity and one of the prime minister’s business ambassadors.
Tesco announced his departure last May, when Richard Broadbent was named as his successor from November 30.
Sir David replaced Vanni Treves as Intertek chairman on January 1, although he joined the board as a non-executive director last month.