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A member of Rosskeen Free Church, who is also the chairman of Ross County FC, is to receive an OBE for his service to the economy and to the local community.

Roy MacGregor (pictured below) received the prestigious award in the Queen’s birthday honours’ list earlier this month.

After studying marketing and business management at university Mr MacGregor joined his family’s retail and property company in the late 1970s. The business was sold to Fine Fare in 1986.

Building on previous experience in supplying food to offshore rigs, he went on to establish oil-and-gas contractor MacGregor Energy.

By 1994 the business was turning over £50million a year and was bought by 3i for an undisclosed sum.

Mr Macgregor, 57, launched Global Energy in 2005. It now has an annual turnover of more than £200m and a world-wide workforce of more than 3,500 people.

He explains how Global Energy was launched:  “My son Donald was planning to go to Australia and his mother Morag wanted him to stay at home. I set up Global to give him a job and keep him here. He is now a director, as is my son Iain. My other two boys, Alastair and John, are also both in the business. 
Recently Global Energy purchased the Nigg fabrication yard and it is hoped that 2,000 jobs will be provided in the coming years.

Mr MacGregor said: “ This is a hugely exciting development for the company, the Highlands and Scotland.”
Mr MacGregor is also chairman of Ross County FC and has been the driving force behind their recent success in reaching the Scottish Cup Final in 2010 and this year entering into the SPL for the first time.

Rosskeen minister Reverend Iain MacAskill said: “If anyone deserves this recognition it’s Roy. He works tirelessly in his business, his community, his football club and his church.

“He has a real heart for people and the Christian ethos of the football club from the chairman down is so refreshing at a time when Scottish football is in the news for all the wrong reasons.

“Roy has a vision for the church in the community and has been instrumental in Rosskeen Free Church securing a High Street building on Alness High Street to enable the church to meet people where they are at.

“Roy is very supportive of youth work in the Church and in particular the Free Church Camps.  However, inviting the Rosskeen YF to his home may just have taken too much out of him as the photo below shows!”