David Webster, chairman of InterContinental Hotels Group, is seen by many as the perfect gentleman. So the “brutal” sacking yesterday, at his instigation, of Richard North, the chief executive, may seem a little out of character.
Contrary to appearances, the Glaswegian who sold Safeway, the supermarket group he founded and chaired, to Wm Morrison this year, is well-versed in the lessons of life. Being transplanted, aged 11, from a prep school in Kent to Glasgow Academy, proved to be a formative experience and one that Mr Webster describes variously as “a shock to the system” and “a first-class education”.
Mr Webster, 59, sought to be a lawyer after graduating from Glasgow University, but instead became an accountant. He soon tired of that, switched into corporate finance with Samuel Montagu and went on to build up Argyll, now Safeway, with James Gulliver and Sir Alistair Grant.
Mr Webster, son of a former Glasgow Herald London editor, Comyn Webster, is married with three sons. Outside work he enjoys sailing and military history and relaxing at his holiday home in Devon.