An icon among his peers

Nov 7 2007 By The Journal

Lifetime Achiever winner Robert Dickinson

ONE of the North-East’s best known lawyers, Robert Dickinson has a deep love of the region which he has expressed throughout his long and distinguished career by utilising his expert skills as a lawyer and financier for the good of the region and some of its most distinguished institutions.

He is credited largely with bringing about the Northern Rock Foundation which benefits thousands of people in community activities throughout the area.The same foundation also served as a ringfence against any early takeover when Northern Rock converted from a building society to a public company listed on the Stock Exchange.

And whatever criticism has been made of Northern Rock during its recent difficulties, no-one has been able to criticise with justification the good that the foundation has achieved in helping people from many walks of life.

Mr Dickinson left the region he loves for his education and for the early training in his legal career in the City of London. He was sometimes likened in his younger days to Michael Caine by jesting friends. But whereas Michael Caine would happily go to Hollywood to advance his career, Mr Dickinson would not, he said, live anywhere but in the North-East. He returned as soon as he could, and it was in the North-East thereafter that he excelled.

He reached the peak of his legal career as senior partner of Dickinson Dees (1987-97), where he was a fifth-generation member of his family. Robin Bloom, senior partner with Dickinson Dees today, says: “Without Robert’s legacy, Dickinson Dees would not have been what it is today.”

Dickinson Dees is the biggest law firm in the North-East and one of the Top 50 in the country. It provides legal services for corporate, commercial, public sector and private clients across the UK.

Today it has 71 partners and employs 925 people across its five offices. Four offices are in the North and one in London, and it is a significant member of the national business community. It was shortlisted for Regional Law Firm of the Year at the Legal Business Awards of 2005, and is also listed as a Sunday Times best company to work for in the UK.

But law apart, Robert Dickinson has excelled in so many other ways besides. He was chairman of Northern Rock from 1992 to 1999, steering it from building society status to plc status. He was chairman of Northern Investors (from 1984), and chairman of Grainger Trust (from 1992) now Grainger plc.

A look at the burgeoning success of the companies with which he has been associated gives good insight into some of his business achievements.

Northern Investors Company was formed in 1984 to provide long-term investment finance for unquoted companies in the North of England. The company’s main aim is to achieve a substantial long-term increase in the value of its shareholders’ funds, by making equity investments in well-managed businesses with growth potential.

The company has been listed on the London Stock Exchange as an investment trust since 1990. Most of the shares are held by pension funds and other financial institutions and there are more than 1,200 private investors. Today, Northern Investors Company has net assets of more than £55m.

Grainger plc develops, manages and markets homes and is the UK’s biggest “quoted” residential property holder, commanding a place in the FTSE-250.

The business batons Mr Dickinson has picked up and run with are many more besides. He has been a director of Tyne-Tees Television, Barclays Bank and Reg Vardy. He has been a non-executive director of more than 12 commercial organisations and subsidiaries whose diversity of interests has included property, financial services, insurance (Sun Alliance) and even processed cheese.

On the academic front he was appointed chairman of Newcastle University Development Trust in 2000.

Paul Woolston, senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Newcastle, which sponsors the Lifetime Achiever Award, says: “Robert Dickinson is an icon in North-East business. His contribution to the wider good of the region has been immense. And he is also great company to be with.”

Very much a family man and what is commonly called today a low-key operator, Robert nevertheless holds a CBE. He was born in May 1934 and educated at Harrow and Christchurch. His home is at Stocksfield, and his hobbies are shooting and fishing.

He says the honour has come to him as a total surprise. “I am absolutely delighted,” he added.