Stock Exchange honour for long-serving broker Keith Loudon
VETERAN Yorkshire stockbroker Keith Loudon opened the London Stock Exchange yesterday morning as the market honoured him on reaching his 80th birthday.
Mr Loudon, senior partner of Leeds-based national firm Redmayne-Bentley, who turned 80 on April 8, was joined in opening the stock market by a number of colleagues and friends from the investment community including Brian Winterflood, non-executive chairman at Winterflood Securities; Tim May chief executive, APCIMS; and Ruth Martin, managing director of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments.
Mr Loudon commented: “I’m delighted and honoured to have been invited to open the London Stock Exchange and it’s a wonderful way to celebrate my recent birthday. I would like to thank everyone at the London Stock Exchange for all of their hospitality.”
Keith Loudon qualified as a chartered accountant in 1956, and then joined Redmayne & Co stockbrokers in 1962, where his father Gavin was a partner.
Following changing regulations at the Stock Exchange, he and his father orchestrated the merger of Redmayne & Co, J.W. Granger & Co and F.W. Bentley & Co to form Redmayne-Bentley.
Since then, Mr Loudon has played an integral part in overseeing the transformation of the firm, which has grown considerably.
From a four-man operation in Leeds, Redmayne-Bentley today has more than 300 staff and almost 40 branches across the UK and Ireland, making it one of the largest independent stockbrokers and investment management firms in the UK.
As well as heading up Redmayne-Bentley, Mr Loudon has also been heavily involved in politics; he served on Leeds City Council for over 40 years in many capacities, including as Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1993-4. He also has a number of charitable interests, and has been a trustee for Heart Research UK for over 15 years.
