Through the storm, and well out of it

much surprised by events, no matter what. Perhaps that was one reason

for his being headhunted to help clear up the mess at Burmah Oil as part

of Sir Alastair Down's team.

That was no ordinary job for a finance director, as the size of

Burmah's debts due to its exposure to shipping created one of the worst

crashes of the 1970s.

Urquhart had the vision that this company -- once a great Scottish

company which still has its annual meetings north of the Border -- ''had

to be restored after a betrayal of 90 years of history''. The first

part of the task was to make Burmah financially viable. A major

rehabilitation came with a #60m sterling loan backed by the world's five

best banks -- the next step was the restoration of the dividend in 1980.

Burmah had been saved but it was a ragbag of interests including

caravans, Quinton Hazell car exhausts and the Halfords motorist' shops

as well as the seemingly then over-the-hill Castrol. Out went most of

the peripheral activities including Rawlplug. And also with great

regret, went oil interests including the substantial stakes in Ninian

and Thistle as well as the people who were to form the core

of the British National Oil Corporation.

Then came his challenge at Castrol. It had been starved of cash and

financial controls and had a negligible market share in the US. He

reassured management and then encouraged it through profit-sharing.

The growth of Castrol to arguably the strongest lubricant brand name

in the world -- number three in the US and leader in Germany -- is the

achievement that brings him most satisfaction.

Managementspeak at Burmah Castrol -- the second name was added in 1990

-- is that it is an international marketeer of specialised oil and

chemical products and with the stress on the analogy between Castrol and

chemicals.

An early decision set Urquhart on the road to his current position. He

decided to study English law at King's College in London as he felt

Scottish law was more confined. But instead of becoming a barrister, he

joined Price Waterhouse and was indentured to a Scottish partner,

qualifying as a CA in 1961. A life of grind.

For four or five years at PW, he had been heavily involved with the

Shell audit. So it was a natural decision to join the oil giant, and he

soon found himself in Venezuela with his newactress wife Elizabeth.

There the big decision had to be taken. To get to the top of Shell,

the way is through the international side -- and through his parents, he

had seen enough of the life of expatriates not to want that.

So there followed a four-year stint at the PA management consultants

with some steep learning curves and then six at Charterhouse. Then came

the three years at TKM, which he left, with a feeling of some relief,

for Burmah.

Relaxation is playing the piano and, despite his handicap of 19, golf.

Outside interests include a much-cherished non-executive directorship at

Scottish Widows, at the BAA airports group and at English China Clays.

His office in London's Mayfair is modest for a company valued at #1250m.

There are no Rolls-Royces, aircraft or country houses. The

headquarters are in Swindon, which underlines the point -- although the

quiet company anonymity is replaced by large blasts of the trumpet when

promoting Castrol. Altogether a feeling of reassurance.