George Forbes (businessman)

George Forbes (born 9 October 1945 in Coldstream, Scotland) is a Scottish farmer and property developer and former chairman of Newcastle United.

Biography

Forbes was born as a Newcastle United supporter and attended their games throughout the country from his late teens.

Forbes became a qualified auctioneer and built the family farm from a small holding to a substantial farm. Showing substantial business skills he went from an employee of a relatively small auction mart to the owner of the same mart, turning it into the biggest in the United Kingdom. He also had property interests and was a director of other varying companies.

In the 1980s, Forbes was invited to join the Newcastle United board as the current board, under substantial pressure, aimed to appease fan discontent by appointing a number of local businessmen. He moved from director to vice-chairman and to finally chairman at Newcastle on 6 December 1990. He chaired the club during an extremely difficult period for no salary and no financial gain. He was an interim chairman during the takeover by Sir John Hall.

After the takeover and his resignation as chairman in 1992, Forbes had the opportunity to remain as part of the new board but he felt Sir John Hall was the wrong man for the club since he had not been to a Newcastle game before his interest in the takeover. Clearly if he had stayed as part of this board, he would have been a very wealthy man today.^[1]

Forbes now still farms and runs a successful business, GRF Farms. He has an interest in a property development company and is a director of various businesses. He is also the chairman of the British Cereal Exports who promote the export of British cereals and advise the government.^[2]

He has two children (Sarah and Ian) with his wife, Judy.

References