William Haughey

William Haughey is Chief Executive of City Refrigeration, the UK's largest specialist refrigeration and facilities management company. 'Haughey set up City Refrigeration in 1985, starting with four employees, to provide refrigerators and technical services to pubs. In 2004, it was named by Business Week magazine as Europe’s hottest high-growth company. City Refrigeration is worth about £35m, while other assets and a property company take the family to £40m'. He gave more than £10,000 to the Labour Party in March 1999 and 'has donated an estimated £1m to the Labour party since 2003, including more than £150,000 to the party in Scotland.' He was one of the ten Scottish businessmen who wrote a letter to the Scotland on Sunday newspaper in January 1999 to express support for the Labour Party (includingTom Hunter, John Boyle, head of Direct Holidays and owner of Motherwell Football Club; Gerard Eadie of the CR Smith double glazing company; Dr John Parker of Babcock International, Ian Livingstone, chairman of Lanarkshire Development Agency; Derek Reid, former chief executive of the Scottish Tourist Board; Donald Storrie of the Donald Storrie Group; Ian McAteer, managing director of the Union Advertising Agency; and John McGuire, of the Phoenix Car Company).

City Refrigeration supplies and manages the refrigeration equipment for bars, restaurants and retailers, including all of Asda's supermarkets (in a £200 million 5-year contract). They bought the Scottish Milk Marketing Board's equipment rental division in 1997 and in 1998 they opened a Call Centre in Rutherglen. Lord Gus MacDonald, Labour Transport Minister, said at the time that he was 'delighted' by City Refrigeration's progress.

Sleaze?

a very very very very wealthy person.

A KEY Scottish Labour donor has been awarded nearly £1m of public money by the quango he chairs. William Haughey received a grant to move his company's headquarters less than two miles across Glasgow, a scheme which has already attracted £16.5m from Scottish Executive coffers. The revelation comes just weeks after Haughey's gifts to Labour topped £1m. Last night opposition MSPs called the "propriety" of the payment into question.

Haughey, a former board member at Celtic Football Club, owns City Refrigeration Holdings (CRH), whose Rutherglen base is in the path of the M74 motorway extension. The Executive has already paid CRH around £14m to acquire the land on which the headquarters of CRH and its subsidiaries stands. In March 2004, the company was also promised a Regional Selective Assistance grant of £2.4m, which was heralded as being the crucial payment which kept the company in Glasgow. But Scotland on Sunday can reveal that Haughey has also been given £970,000 of property by Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (SEG), of which he is chairman.

CRH wants to relocate to a site on Caledonia Road in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, four acres of which is owned by SEG. The quango has agreed to give Haughey the money to buy the land. Records show that the multi-millionaire businessman even chaired the meeting in September 2004 when the sale of the land was agreed, though he left the room during discussions to avoid a conflict of interest. The minutes read: "The current market value of the site is £970,000: the District Valuer will determine the actual purchase price to be paid after deduction of extraordinary site costs. The chairman... rejoined the meeting." But two months later SEG went a step further and agreed to underwrite the whole transaction.

A document entitled "Programme Approvals April 2004 - November 2005" details projects which the quango has agreed to fund. It reveals: "Relocation of City Refrigeration Holdings - Disposal of Site. Approval of up to £970,000 by way of financial assistance and in lieu of a capital receipt." Records of the meeting - from which Haughey was absent - reveal SEG executives were convinced that it was their money and not an RSA grant which was the key to keeping CRH in Glasgow.