28 July 1933 - 26 January 2024
Charles Murray Stuart, known as Murray, was born in July 1933 and gained a MA and Bachelor of Laws at Glasgow University and was subsequently a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
His career in finance started with the Ford motor company, and he then moved to Hepworth’s before joining ICL as Finance Director and deputy MD before taking up his post at Metal Box.
Murray joined Metal Box plc in 1982 as Finance Director when the country was undergoing a severe recession and much of industry was facing financial difficulties caused by interest rates soaring well into double digits.
The Bank of England had earlier in the year visited the chairman of Metal Box, Dennis Alport, to warn him that in the bank's view, there was a real risk that Metal Box would not survive in the current financial conditions.
Murray was instrumental in pushing through very significant reforms which involved changing management attitudes, focussing on cash flow and substantially slimming down staffing levels by closing unprofitable factories. These changes restored the company to profitability and in 1989 led the way to the merger with the French company Carnaud to create the largest packaging company in Europe with Murray as Deputy Chairman.
Murray embraced developments arising from “big bang” and the company was one of the first at this time to be involved in capital market issues using warrants and convertible stock to lower the cost of finance.
He joined the ACT in 1984, and although he never sought any active role within the organisation, he was always extremely supportive and encouraged his treasury staff to participate fully and to take the examinations .
He had an extensive portfolio of non-executive directorships. He was on the boards of Intermediate Capital plc, Hill Samuel, NatWest Bank plc, Old Mutual plc and Chairman of Scottish Power. He was also on the main board of Veolia, the French recycling and waste management company, where he had to conduct business in French.
In public service he was Deputy Chairman of the Audit Commission for England and Wales, for which he was awarded a CBE. He was Chairman of Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust - one of the largest NHS Trusts in the UK and served as a Non-Executive Director of the Meteorological Office and as Representative for Scotland on the Panel of the Private Financial Initiative.
He is survived by his wife Netta whom he married in April 1963 after they met at University in Glasgow and two children David and Alison and a grandson Marcus.