Listen to an audio clip of the launch of the Sunday Times Giving List 2007

The Sunday Times Givers List

A Scottish billionaire announced yesterday that he is to donate £1 billion to charity. Sir Tom Hunter, 46, Scotland’s richest man, pledged to give away the money over the course of his life to charities in Britain and developing nations.

It is thought to be one of the most generous philanthropic commitments made by a Briton, similar to a £1 billion pledge by Lord Sainsbury to his Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Sir Tom, who made his money in the sportswear industry, said that he would use his Hunter Foundation as the vehicle to distribute the funds. He said the money would be drawn from investments held in shopping centres and listed companies by his company West Coast Capital.

Speaking from his private jet, Sir Tom told The Times last night: “So far I have committed £100 million. The timescale to donate the rest depends on how successful West Coast Capital is. We keep the money in there so that we can keep making more, and therefore give away more.

“I know Scotsmen aren’t renowned for giving away money, but I don’t see this as giving something away, I see it as contributing to the common good. It’s a privilege to be able to do this.”

He said that the Hunter Foundation would focus on three critical issues in its investments where it would generally partner governments: poverty alleviation in Africa, prevention of young people becoming “NEET” (not in education, employment or training) and in developing system-wide and personal leadership talents.

Announcing the pledge earlier in the day, Sir Tom said: “There is more great wealth in fewer hands today than ever before in history. My own personal belief is that with great wealth comes great responsibility. Therefore you’ve got to take care of these things if wealth creation is still going to be seen as a positive force by the rest of the population.

“We’ve got all the material, goals have all been settled some time ago. So now the philanthropy is the real motivator to continue to make money. I don’t want to take £1 billion to my grave with me.”

The tycoon, from New Cumnock in Ayrshire, was ranked 22nd in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List of notable donors, after pouring millions of pounds into an initiative with the former US President Bill Clinton to help African nations.

In the coming days the two are to meet again in Malawi, to track the project’s progress. Mr Clinton once said of the Scot: “We both started in modest circumstances and took very different career paths, but wound up in the same place: wanting to give more people the same chance we’ve had to develop their potential, support their families and follow their dreams.”

Other recent notable donations by Britons include £230 million donated last year by Chris Hohn, a hedge fund tycoon, via his Children’s Investment Fund, and a £510 million project by Anil Agarwal, a London-based Indian businessman, to build a university in India.

But it is dwarfed by the philanthropy of American billionaires, including Warren Buffet, who pledged $31 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006.

Sir Tom started out selling training shoes from the back of a van, and founded the Sports Division chain of sports shops in 1984, developing a chain of more than 250 stores around the country.

He sold the company to JJB Sports in 1998 for £290 million, but despite pocketing £260 million he said that he was left unfulfilled, and that “you can only drive one car at a time”.

In the same year he established the Hunter Foundation to supporting development projects in Britain and abroad.

In April he was named in The Sunday Times Rich List as Scotland’s first home-grown billionaire, with a fortune of £1,050 million.

He is a director of the Prince’s Scottish Business Youth Trust and Schools Enterprise Scotland, and was knighted in 2005 for services to entrepreneurship and philanthropy.

In 2001 he founded West Coast Capital, a private equity partnership with shares in companies such as USC, Office and BHS.

Ewan Hunter, Sir Tom’s spokesman, said: “Over the course of his life he intends to invest £1 billion into his foundation for the common good before he slips off this mortal coil.”

He said Sir Tom was not “seeking headlines” with the announcement, but wanted to encourage others to “enjoy the benefits of philanthropy”.

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