The organisation’s portfolio rose by 8% per annum, over the 18 years ended 31 March 2025, while over £450 million is invested in its current portfolio. 

The review revealed that more than 100 unquoted companies invested in since 2006, spanning sectors from infrastructure services and technology to energy and healthcare.

Writing in the preface of the report, Sir Brian Souter, who founded Stagecoach with his sister Dame Ann Gloag over 30 years ago, and oversaw its sale in 2022, revealed his personal appetite for taking risks. 

He said: “My kids would probably tell you I have an all too healthy appetite for risk, as I regularly throw myself off bridges with bits of elastic tied round my ankles. It is certainly true that the team at Souter Investments’ more measured and structured way of thinking has sometimes saved me from myself.

“However, I can’t help thinking that in wider society the risk/reward pendulum has swung too far towards avoiding mistakes, rather than seeking opportunities to back your convictions and take calculated risks in the pursuit of progress and wealth generation.

“This is not a rant about the nanny state or health and safety gone mad but a conclusion I have formed based on the evidence I see of a risk-averse attitude all around us. There are many examples I could give, ranging from bloated overheads in most large organisations where first instincts often prevent business rather than enable it, through to a distinct lack of support for new business creation from all levels of government, particularly in the taxation system.”

He also stressed his firm belief in the value of partnerships, adding: “it is apparent how three key partnerships have been central to all that I have achieved. Moreover, it occurs to me that each of them has allowed me to remain “risk-on”, knowing that the stability of these partnerships underpins everything I do. They provide me with the confidence and additional skillsets to deliver on opportunities and to help pick up the pieces if things go wrong.”

These partnerships included that with his sister Ann, the foundation of Souter Investments with Andy Macfie in 2006, and the Souter Charitable Trust which he undertook with his wife Betty in 1992. 

He concluded: “Whilst these partnerships are all unique in what they aimed to achieve – and indeed how they went about it – what is common to all three is the level of trust and integrity that is shared between people striving to do the best for a common cause. 

“The team here at Souter Investments aims to apply those same principles to building successful partnerships with our network of management teams, independent sponsors and portfolio companies. They, after all, are really the people who generate our returns.”