Ex-director defends FirstGroup shareholding

Published on Wednesday 25 March 2009 18:31

A FORMER leading public servant caught up in a shareholding row yesterday denied any wrongdoing.

Guy Houston told MSPs he had increased his shareholding in FirstGroup while working for Transport Scotland – which went on to extend a 2.5 billion franchise deal with the firm.

He quit as finance director of Transport Scotland after an auditor's report showed he had attended meetings at which the extension was discussed.

But Mr Houston told Holyrood's public audit committee there was a "crucial difference" between receiving knowledge and using that knowledge.

"It's quite clear from the First-Group share register that I did not use that knowledge for personal gain," he said.

The franchise extension proposal was dubbed Project Golden Key by Transport Scotland chiefs, according to Mr Houston, who said it was treated confidentially. He had declared his shareholding soon after starting at Transport Scotland – where he came from First's bus division – to chief executive Malcolm Reed, and later in writing.