Oration - Alan Lind Bain

Alan was born in 1936 in England of Scottish parents and his love of Scotland was encouraged by holidays in Scotland, mainly in the Dundee area where his father’s family lived, and the jute company for which he worked was located.

He was sent to a boys’ private school and, despite a difficult early school career, Alan found himself being given responsible roles in the school community. Rising to the challenge, he became Captain of both cricket and rugby, and Head Boy.

In 1954, he won an English Speaking Union Exchange Scholarship to a school in Washington, Connecticut, where he met his future wife, Linda. Alan then returned to the UK and served in the army for two years, before studying law at Cambridge. Instead of proceeding to the English Bar, he decided to go to Columbia University’s Law School - with a view to eventually establishing a transatlantic legal practice.

After four challenging years in a private New York City Law Firm, he realised that he was not well suited to this sedentary life. He joined a publicly held computer leasing business in New York where his entrepreneurial talent could flourish. In his itinerant life as an acquisitions specialist, Alan had realised that, for business people who travelled regularly, there was no easy way of working while on the road without access to secretarial, telex or phone services. Alan went on to establish World Wide Business Centres, a company which offered office space and support services to business travellers.

Having identified a lucrative niche market Alan opened an office in New York. In 1972, British Airways asked him to open an office in London and appointed him as a consultant, enabling him to further develop the business.

Alan’s company is the world's oldest international network of serviced office facilities. It is a consortium of world-wide members, each owning and operating one or more locations in a particular geographical area. Members are integrated in a network of communications and support services, and benefit from mutual referrals and cooperatively financed marketing programs. Alan has calculated that, of the 38 years he has been in business,19 of them have been in a recession – and still his company has survived.

When Alan initially arrived in New York, he joined a number of Scottish societies, but always enjoyed the American-Scottish Foundation events most. In 1993, he was invited to take over as President, a role he held until 2008. During his time in office he developed the Foundation into one of the most active organisations of its kind, helping to promote cultural and trade links between Scotland and America.

In 2004, he and his family invested in Harris Tweed Textiles Manufacturing Limited, operator of a Harris Tweed mill in the Outer Hebrides and, in 2005, formed Harris Tweed Textiles (USA), Inc. to be the mill’s US distributor. The mill is dedicated to meeting the design needs of its international clientele and the production of limited editions to reflect the universal appeal and natural organic character of Harris Tweed.

In this year of Homecoming, it is a pleasure to recognise Alan’s contribution to international business and the promotion of Scottish culture.

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