Sir Fred splashes out £3.5m on luxury Edinburgh home

Tuesday 15th June 2010

Former CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Fred Goodwin, has reportedly bought “one of Edinburgh’s finest houses” for £3.5 million.

Two years since the global financial crisis, the poster boy of banker bashing has finally come out of exile and returned to the United Kingdom, having upped and moved his family to France in the wake of the near-collapse of RBS in autumn 2008.

The £3.5 million property is hidden from public view, which is probably for the best, following an attack on his former family home last March where an anti-banker vigilante group smashed his windows and damaged his Mercedes, warning bankers that this was “just the beginning”.

Sir Fred’s new home also has a private drive and an electric security gate, just to be on the safe side, as well as extensive grounds, a Japanese garden and a floodlit tennis court.

Royal Bank of Scotland was bailed out by the Government, as part of a £37 billion rescue package. It is now 84% owned by the taxpayer.

During the banking crisis, Sir Fred sparked outrage for leaving his job with a £700,000 a year pension, having been blamed for bringing the bank to its knees after a string of disastrous acquisitions and managing decisions.

He later agreed to reduce his payout by £200,000 a year, having already taken £2.7 million as a lump sum.

Nicknamed “Fred the Shred” for his ruthless style of managing, thousands of jobs at RBS were cut and the bank posted losses in 2008 reaching nearly £28 billion, in what was called the most disastrous annual loss in British commercial history.