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A Modern Philanthropist

As a successful young businessman building up a portfolio of pubs and hotels in Aberdeen and Edinburgh Garreth Wood has learned the importance of due diligence to research potential targets.

Now, as a young philanthropist, he is applying the same principles to his giving, a lesson he learned at a “Next Generation Philanthropy” course he attended earlier this year.

Next Spring he will take his philanthropic learning a stage further when he begins three workshops over 12 months in London, Mexico and New York which help guide those who want to maximise the impact of their philanthropic giving.

Garreth is the son of Sir Ian Wood and a Trustee of the Wood Family Trust which was established two years ago with a pledge of £50 million. With his businesses enjoying success Garreth is stepping up his hands-on philanthropic work. As he and his brother Nic seek out more acquisitions for Signature Pubs, which they established six years ago, they reject propositions which don’t offer value for money.

Similarly in his philanthropic work Garreth is keen to ensure that every £1 spent has the maximum impact which is why he is attending the Institute for Philanthropy workshops.

His first step into philanthropy was out of an aircraft when he was just 16 and it followed a near fatal attack of meningitis.

Garreth, then a Scottish cycling champion, was grateful for the support he and his family received from the Meningitis Research Foundation during that stressful period and decided to try to repay them.

“At that time I wouldn’t have known I was getting into philanthropy – I didn’t even know what the word meant – but I felt compelled to raise money for them and much to my mum’s horror I did a sky dive and raised £1000.

“When I started the business I felt I was making enough money to give quite significant contributions to charity and I continue to support the Meningitis Research Foundation as member of Fund Raising Committee but also Cash for Kids, Children First, VSA and recently Aberdeen Students Charities Campaign.

However, parallel to the charitable fund raising activities of his businesses, he is adopting a higher profile in the work of the WFT. He has made a number of trips to Africa to observe the projects underway there, and, while his interest in this will continue, he is focusing his efforts on two particular projects in Scotland.

The Trust has invested more than £400,000 over three years in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) which was launched in Aberdeen last year. Secondary school pupils research their communities’ grassroots charities, work with them to discover what impact a £3000 grant would make, and then make a presentation to a panel of judges. The team which presents the most compelling case in each school wins £3000 for the charity it has championed.

Following the outstanding success of the project, it has now been extended to Aberdeenshire and Edinburgh and Garreth will be motivating those involved by speaking at assemblies and sharing his experiences as a young philanthropist to highlight the real difference they can make to people who live near them.

“All those involved are raising awareness of the charities they are passionate about it and that may be even more valuable that the cash,” he said.

“I would love to have had something like this when I was at school to learn from and get engaged with but it wasn’t available. It is a fantastic for children to learn in this way and it would be great to see this rolled out as a national educational programme.

“It teaches children to be more dynamic about giving and they are actually researching and learning about the charity they choose to support.

“It is like a business. When you buy a business you do due diligence and strip that business apart to identify the strengths and weaknesses and how you can improve it and add value.

“I have almost begun to approach charities in the same way. You have to get involved, become proactive and almost strip down the charity to decide whether the money you are investing - because it is your money whether it is £100 or £1 million – is being invested cleverly and efficiently.”

The other project in which he is playing a key role is the Prince’s Trust “Get Into” Programme to which WFT has committed £240,000 over three years.

It offers unemployed 16 to 25-year-olds, who want to work but are prevented from doing so by social and other barriers, the opportunity of vocational and employability training with work experience in a specific sector – hospitality, retail, youth work or the car industry.

Garreth’s efforts are focussed on “Get Into Cooking” and he is in providing work experience opportunities as well as personal mentoring placements and giving talks to participants about the realities as well as the rewards of life in the industry.

However he is also helping the Prince’s Trust to raise awareness of the scheme within the industry and encouraging more businesses to become involved and offer what can be life changing opportunities.

“More than 80% of young people who complete the programme move on to a positive outcome – either employment or further education and training,” he said.

“This is significantly higher than the Government target of 50%. Given the rising level of youth unemployment, programmes such as ‘Get Into’ are absolutely critical and demonstrate WFT’s commitment to supporting ‘More Choices, More Chances’ – the action plan to reduce the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training in Scotland.”

branching out in business

Garreth Wood started life in the hospitality industry as a 17-year old glass collector in Berlin’s Fun Bar in Aberdeen city centre because he saw it as a way to earn money while still hanging out with friends. However he soon realised the buzz of the hospitality industry could provide a fulfilling long term career. He also worked in Cafe Society, Paramount and Espionage in Edinburgh and spent a year setting up a running a restaurant for an Aberdeen businessman.

Then he and brother Nic headed off on a three and a half month “pub crawl” across America visiting 10 to 15 carefully chosen establishments every day gathering innovative and quirky ideas for Signature Pubs which they set up on their return.

The company started with the Bieldside Inn and then Cafe Society, in which he Garreth had trained as a barman. They sold the latter in 2006 for £1m profit which has helped fund expansion.

Now added to the Signature portfolio is Paramount in Aberdeen and in Edinburgh the flagship Rutland Hotel and the bars Element in Rose Street and the Black Bull in the Grassmarket.

The company has a £6 million turnover and 200 staff and Garreth says they are seeking further acquisitions and plan to double the size of the business in the next two years.

In August he married Nicola Jolly, a former Miss Scotland and Miss UK, and they live on a small farm between Edinburgh and Glasgow. A car enthusiast he, along with Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, took part in this year’s Gumball Rally across America in a Lamborghini LP560. He and Nicola are skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts and enjoy travelling.