Tom Farmer

Sir Thomas Farmer, KBE, KCSG, better known as Tom Farmer, is a Scottish entrepreneur and millionaire.

He was born on 10 July 1940 in Leith, Edinburgh, one of seven siblings in a devout Roman Catholic family. He created his fortune, after having left his former school, Stewart's Melville College, by founding the Kwik Fit chain of garages, which he has since sold. He was named Scottish Businessman of the Year in 1989. [1] [2]

In 2006, he donated £100,000 to the Scottish National Party to help fund their campaign for the 2007 Scottish Parliament general election. He has however commented since that the donation does not indicate his political allegiance. Indeed, during the 1980s, he was known to be a great admirer of Margaret Thatcher.

As a devout Roman Catholic and philanthropist, he was made a Knight of St. Gregory, the highest honour that the Catholic church can bestow on a layman. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1997.

He owns Hibernian Football Club in Edinburgh. He saved Hibernian from extinction as it was in a weak financial position at the time of his intervention and was threatened during 1990 by a proposed "merger" with local rivals Hearts. Farmer stated at the time of the takeover that he had no great love of football (he rarely attends matches), but felt it was important to the local community that Hibs should continue to exist.

Sir Tom Farmer also owns the island of Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth.

He lives in Barnton, Edinburgh, with his wife of 36 years, Anne. They have one daughter, one son and three grandchildren (as of 2006).

External links

• Gazetteer for Scotland: Biography of Tom Farmer
• Carnegie UK trust: Dead link
• The Entrepeneurial Exchange: Info on Sir Tom Farmer CBE
• BBC News: “Business: The Company File Farmer reaps Kwik-Fit rewards”
• The Scottish Parliament: “Andrew Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy 2005”