Angus Francis MacDonald was born on the 7th of November, 1962 in London. Son of Donald ‘Rory’ MacDonald, descendant of distiller 'Long John' MacDonald, and Nancy MacDonald (nee Hill, of Philadelphia). The second of five children, he was brought up in the Clachaig Inn, Glencoe.
After school, MacDonald attend RMA Sandhurst before joining the Queen's Own Highlanders as a Second Lieutenant. He served in Falklands immediately after the ceasefire, from July – December 1982, where the regiment led the operation to restore normality on the islands, and in Northern Ireland the following year.[3]
Career
Business career
MacDonald left the army in 1983 and after a few years at stockbrokers Laing & Cruickshank, ran a number of publishing businesses in the financial services sector, including Edinburgh Financial Publishing, Financial News and eFinancialCareers, the latter two of which he and his co-investors sold in 2007 to a consortium including Dow Jones for £79 million.[4] MacDonald later expanded his business interests to encompass renewable energy, online education and waste management.[5][6][7]
MacDonald has been a patron of the National Trust for Scotland since 2009, serving on the strategic review panel in 2010 under Lord George Reid, before serving as Vice-President for almost a decade.
It was while running Edinburgh Financial Publishing in Hong Kong in the early 1990s that MacDonald took part in a 100km race along the famous MacLehose Trail. Taking this idea he founded the Caledonian Challenge in 1997 with a friend, Alex Blyth, to raise money for Foundation Scotland. More than 17,000 people took part in the 52 mile race down the Scottish West Highland Way and together raised over £13 million for Scottish communities.[19] MacDonald competed in the event eight times himself, though never managed to beat the time of his wife, athlete Michie MacDonald.
In addition to his charitable and business pursuits, MacDonald been involved with various social enterprises and non-profit endeavours to foster Highland traditions, culture and entrepreneurialism in Lochaber, most notably the Highland Cinema, an independent cinema in Fort William which was voted "Cinema of the year under 24 screens" in 2023,[20][21] and Dragon's Glen, an annual competition inspired by the Dragons Den TV show that awarded £10,000 grants to aspiring local businesses.[22][23][24]
In 2014, MacDonald was awarded an OBE for services to the Highlands.[25]
Personal life
MacDonald is a practising Christian. He is married to his wife Michie MacDonald, from Ireland, and both live in Fort William which is within his constituency. Together have four adult sons.[26]
