INVERGORDON-BORN Roy MacGregor actually worked at Nigg 40 years ago and he never dreamed then that one day he would own it.
He was a teenage personnel officer involved in hiring the first 2,000 workers at the site, during time out from a marketing and business management course he was doing in Aberdeen.
Mr MacGregor then joined his family’s retail and property company in the late 70s before the business was sold to Fine Fare in 1986.
Building on previous experience in supplying food to offshore rigs, he went on to establish oil and gas contractor MacGregor Energy. By 1994, it was turning over £50million a year and was snapped up by private-equity investor 3i for an undisclosed sum.
Mr MacGregor, 58, who still lives at Invergordon, launched Global Energy in 2005. He said: “My son Donald was planning to go to Australia and his mother Morag wanted him to stay at home. I set up Global to give him a job and keep him here. He is now a director, as is my son Iain. My other two boys, Alastair and John, are also both in the business.”
Outwith business, Mr MacGregor is a passionate follower and chairman of Ross County Football Club.