Friends of Mr Watkins : Number Four

Leslie S Dalgarno



Les Dalgarno, 56, is a friend of SAF from Aberdeen days and has known him since 1976. He is essentially a commercial property lawyer, although he acted for SAF in his £11 million contract renewal talks back in 2002.

Dalgarno spent 35 years at Paull & Williamsons, Aberdeen, a partner from 1977 and eventually Head of the Commercial Property department. He is described as "one of Scotland’s most highly respected commercial property lawyers". The firm claimed to be "particularly noted for the strength in depth of its corporate, commercial property and dispute services teams and (....) highly regarded for its experience and understanding of the energy sector".

In October 2006 Dalgarno was appointed a non-executive Director of aAIM, a commercial property investment company based in London's Mayfair, and stepped down as a partner, although he remained with Paull & Williamsons as a Business Development Consultant.

This was not a new relationship with aAIM. Commenting on his appointment, Mr Dalgarno said: "I have advised aAIM during its rapid growth in the last three years and I am very keen to add value to the continuing growth of the company in the future."

In January 2003, Robert Whitton, Mark Tagliaferri and Stuart Le Gassick founded aAIM (Active Asset Investment Management) "to promote a more sophisticated and innovative approach to real estate financing recognising the rapid integration of the property market and other capital markets".

But the company's main launch came in July 2003, at a swanky champagne reception in the heart of the City of London. And as a centrepiece of the occasion, Andrew Vicari, the multimillionaire court painter to the Saudi Royal family, presented an oil portrait of Sir Alex Ferguson to none other than the Manchester United manager himself.

From the start, aAIM has used its celebrity investors as a marketing tool, and SAF has been most prominent amongst them. Other football people have also invested, including Alan Smith (even before he signed for United), Gareth Barry and John Terry. Simon Cowell is also said to be involved, and Sir David Frost chairs their advisory panel. Essentially it is a tool for creating "tax-efficient" syndicates of rich people to invest in commercial property. Many of the investors are no doubt anonymous city figures, but the footballers make it all sound sexier.

At the launch party SAF said, "The syndicate fits in well with the balance of my investments. I was impressed by the balance of the company and I liked the team. I like people who are go-ahead, young, energetic and work hard." Presumably he liked the team even more when his friend Dalgarno was included.

At the same time as Dalgarno joined, aAIM set up a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland called the Symmetry Fund, with the intention of spending £2 billion on European property. In December it picked up a string of four-star hotels, including the George in Edinburgh ("Sir Alex Ferguson backer of new owners of top Edinburgh hotel" as The Scotsman put it), the Russell in London, the Royal York in York, the Met in Leeds, the Palace in Manchester and Selsdon Park in Croydon. Since aAIM was launched in January 2003, it claims to have generated an average return of more than 80 per cent.

Another recent report also noted that "aAIM is also advised by James Chapman & Co, which counts Manchester United FC and Sir Alex Ferguson among its clients", so the friends of Mr Watkins know how to keep in touch.

Dalgarno is also a keen golfer (he visited the Masters in Augusta with a select group from the Deeside Golf Club) and is involved in charity work in Scotland. He recently organised a charity lunch on behalf of Voluntary Service Aberdeen, which ten firms each paid £10,000 to attend. Old and new employers were amongst the ten contributors. And the lunch was hosted by SAF himself.

Sources : Faisal Islam, The Observer, July 20, 2003; The Scotsman, 19 November 2006