Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Who is Bob Keiller? The blockbuster resume of business legend ‘mad enough’ to try and save Union Street

Meet the energy stalwart now spearheading efforts to boost Aberdeen city centre.

Bob Keiller is leading efforts to reverse Union Street's fortunes.
Bob Keiller is leading efforts to reverse Union Street's fortunes. Image: Scott Baxter/Roddie Reid

Could Bob Keiller be the man to save Union Street?

Arresting the years of decline that have left Aberdeen’s once-proud Granite Mile a shadow of its former self isn’t a task the businessman takes lightly.

But Bob is nothing if not determined.

He tells us: “If somebody like me doesn’t step forward, then who does?

“It’s a massive challenge… And there’s lots of voices out there who are hugely critical of anything like this.

“Who in their right mind would get involved with this?

“But if I don’t do it, who does do it?”

Bob is heading up Our Union Street, the new campaign set up to give the city centre a much-needed boost.

But what is it about the 59-year-old business stalwart that could make him the ideal man for the job?

Bob Keiller and Jeanette Forbes at a P&J business breakfast. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

From paper round to royal honour…

Bob Keiller’s business achievements were highlighted when he was made a CBE in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

And he was “chuffed” when he received an honourary doctorate from Edinbugh’s Napier University last summer.

This must all have felt like a long way from his first foray into the world of work: doing the local paper round while growing up on a council estate in Jedburgh.

Bob Keiller receiving his honorary doctorate at Edinburgh’s Napier University. Image: Supplied 

What were Bob’s business career highlights?

The Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and Asco chairman is a former chief executive of Aberdeen-based engineering firm Wood.

He was also chairman of economic development agency Scottish Enterprise.

Bob Keiller when he was managing director of KBR Production Services at Dyce in 2014. Image: Colin Rennie/DC Thomson

During a high-profile career in oil and gas, Bob created energy services firm PSN through a £236 million management buyout from Halliburton, in 2006.

He was then at the heart of the £606 million sale of PSN to Wood in April 2011.

After that, he reigned as Wood’s chief executive from November 2012 to December 2015.

Towards the end of that spell, he was inducted into the Entrepreneurial Scotland Hall of Fame.

Bob as chief executive at Wood.

Efforts to inspire enterprise

Following his exit from Wood, he launched Aberdeen-based consultancy AB15 to pass on some of his entrepreneurial wisdom to others.

Another award arrived in 2018 when he was named “icon of the year” in the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards.

Since then, he has been doing his best to motivate others.

As part of this, he was instrumental in bringing TEDx talks to Aberdeen, with the first event taking place in 2021.

Could Linkedin connections help Bob Keiller to boost Union Street?

Bob is also something of a social media influencer, with more than 160,000 followers on Linkedin.

Those contacts, he tells us, could come in handy when attracting businesses to Aberdeen.

Why was Bob chosen to lead Our Union Street?

The partnership behind the initiative needed a “unifying figure” – and Bob agreed to provide his services for free.

“I want to help because I care – I want Aberdeen to have a vibrant and clean Union Street,” he said.

“I have not stepped forward because it sounds easy – I have chosen to get involved because it will be hard.”

Bob Keiller on Union Street. Image: AGCC

Time will tell whether Bob is the man to secure Union Street a bright future.

And he freely tells us he is happy to step aside should a better-placed leader emerge.

But for now, Aberdeen city centre needs all the friends it can get – and having a few in high places can’t hurt.

Learn more about Our Union Street here.

Conversation