Page 435 - The Case Lab Book

Speaking of corporate conquests, the chief executive of RBS once said: "You have a long time to
regret it if you don't get it right."

When RBS swallowed NatWest, which was three times its size, in 2003, more than 18,000 staff
lost their jobs and Sir Fred gained the soubriquet "Fred the Shred" which he is said to detest, if
only for its allusion to mess, anathema to a man who values precision.

A Paisley "buddie", Sir Fred is a lawyer by training, graduating from Glasgow University. An
accountant by trade, he first slipped into the financial waters with Touche Ross (now part of
Deloitte). Yet at heart he is, as Business Week magazine once described him, "an aggressive but
careful predator".

At 30, he was in charge of the liquidation of the Bank of Credit & Commerce International,
where he clawed back half of the money lost in one of the financial world's most high-profile
frauds.

Headhunted to be first deputy, then chief executive of Clydesdale Bank, followed in 1996 by a
stint at Yorkshire Bank, he finally joined RBS in 1998 to Sir George Mathewson.

After Sir Fred took over the top job in 2000, he launched a series of takeovers - in 2003, RBS
made seven acquisitions that stretched its empire from Beijing to Ohio.

He has quadrupled the bank's assets, while in 2006 pre-tax profits rose by 16 per cent to £9.2
billion. RBS now ranks among the world's top ten banks.

In person, Sir Fred is polite and personable but can give the impression that he is already
calculating a person's usefulness to his current project.

"He's not a blokeish fellow," said one colleague, who added: "He also doesn't suffer fools
gladly."

When Forbes magazine named him "Businessman of the Year" in 2002, it ascribed part of his
success to making impossible demands on his staff.

While they may not have any free time, he has a little more, which he likes to spend with his
head under the bonnet of a classic car. He bought his first, a Hillman Imp, with money from a
summer job at a power station. He now owns a more impressive Triumph Stag.

It is rumoured he was once mugged at an RBS cash machine after his chauffeur stopped so that
he could take out some money.

Any thief would treasure Sir Fred's PIN - his annual salary is £3.5 million, but with bonuses it
could top £8 million. But one of his favourite meals is still said to be fish and chips.