Memorial service held for 'titan of industry' Sir Ian Wood

Tributes have been paid to the Aberdeen-based businessman and philanthropist Sir Ian Wood at a memorial service, following his death in July at the age of 84.

Sir Ian was one of the UK oil and gas industry's most respected leaders, who turned his family's fishing boat repair yard into a global engineering giant.

At its height, the Wood Group was valued at more than £5bn, carrying out work around the world in the energy sector.

A memorial service in Aberdeen heard him described as being a "titan of industry".

Sir Ian was one of Scotland's wealthiest people, with a personal worth estimated at £1.8bn.

Sir Ian was born in Aberdeen in 1942 and educated at Robert Gordon's College, later graduating from the University of Aberdeen with a first-class honours degree in psychology in 1964.

Wood Group started as a family fishing business before Sir Ian took over in 1967.

Over the following decades, he formed a separate engineering company servicing the rapidly-growing North Sea oil business.

It went public in 2002 and was sold to a Dubai company last year.

Sir Ian, who was knighted in 1994, retired as chief executive in 2006 and a year later began concentrating on his charitable work.

He created The Wood Foundation, which is involved in agriculture and conservation in Africa, as well as projects in Scotland.

His family said he died peacefully at home at the end of July.

The memorial service at MacRobert Hall at Robert Gordon's College was attended by family members, friends, and business colleagues.

Broadcaster Jackie Bird compered the ceremony, and described Sir Ian as a "very special human being" with a "laser focus".

She said very few people made an indelible mark, but Sir Ian was that person.

Despite him being a titan of industry, Jackie said "family came first".

He was married to Helen for 55 years, was father to Nic, Graham and Garreth, and a grandfather of seven.

Garreth told the service his father would have been "deeply touched" by the event, albeit perhaps a little "uncomfortable" about people taking a day off work to be there.

He said quality time with the people he loved was the most important thing in Sir Ian's life.

Former Conservative minister Michael Gove - a fellow former pupil of Robert Gordon's College - described Sir Ian as "the best of us".

He said Sir Ian was "unflappable", adding: "Shaped by this city's institutions, he dedicated his life to making Aberdeen more prosperous, secure and confident.

"And he used what he learned here, and what he built here, to make the whole north-east, Scotland and the world, a better place."

First Minister John Swinney said in a video tribute: "It is beyond question that Sir Ian helped to craft modern Scotland.

"His achievements were extraordinary. He built a family business into a global enterprise."

Sir Ian remained interested in the oil and gas business after standing down from the Wood Group, and he intervened in the Scottish referendum debate in 2014, questioning some of the assumptions being made about oil and gas revenues.

He supported the move to transitioning from oil and gas to renewable energy, but also warned that the UK had to keep drilling for new oil in the North Sea.