Professor Russel Griggs OBE started his business life in marketing in the pharmaceutical industry and then moved to the consumer flooring industry before becoming CEO of an industrial textile company in England in the 1980s.  In 1990 he joined Scottish Enterprise in a business development role and became an Executive Director of Scottish Enterprise where he ran the investment banking and business development arms, as well as spending some years in the USA looking at outward investment for Scottish companies.

Since then he has had a number of non-executive positions in the private, public and third sector, as well as undertaking a variety of strategic work for public bodies and private companies.  From 2007 to 2010, he was Chair of the CBI’s UK SME Council and of various other government committees.  He was also until recently a Board member and Chair of the Audit Committee of VisitScotland, a Board member of Scottish Enterprise, a Non-Executive Director of the Scottish Government, and a Board member and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland.

He currently chairs the Scottish Government’s independent Regulatory Review Group who advise and work on better regulation in Scotland.  In 2011 he was appointed jointly by the banks, industry, and UK Government as the Independent External Reviewer to the task force for clearing banks in the UK to ‘audit’ their new appeals process for businesses appealing against credit being declined.

He is honorary Professor of the University of Glasgow, an associate Professor at Boston University, and a member of the board of the Business School at Georgia Southern University. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2008 for services to Scottish industry.

Alistair Cameron - Scotmas Ltd

Alistair Cameron is Managing Director of Scotmas, world leading designers and manufacturers of chlorine dioxide systems. As a microbiology graduate from the University of Edinburgh, Alistair’s scientific background has helped to develop a company which values innovation and scientific knowledge as key areas for business success. Alistair is currently the supervisor for two Knowledge Transfer Partnership research projects and oversees various academic contract research projects and partnerships with European Universities.  He is a board member of Chemical Sciences Scotland.  Scotmas received the “Most Entrepreneurial Exporter of The Year” award at the 2017 Scottish Export Awards hosted by HSBC and Scottish Enterprise.

Amanda Burgauer - Scottish Rural Action

Amanda Burgauer is a serial entrepreneur with expertise in the technology sector.  After 15 years in a senior position with one of North America’s leading companies, she returned to Scotland and now leads a consultancy focused on organisational change and improvement.  She is also involved with the third sector as Treasurer of Wiston Lodge (a charity that supports young people) and as Chair of lobbying non-profit Scottish Rural Action that represents rural communities across a wide range of activities including broadband, local democracy, transport and enterprise support.

Amanda has been involved with the LEADER programme since 2003 and has encouraged involvement with Community Jobs Scotland with several organisations over the last four years.  She also sits on the Scottish Government’s Digital Expert Panel.

Dame Barbara Kelly DBE - Crichton Leadership Group

Dame Barbara Kelly DBE has held a number of senior public appointments.  She has recently retired from chairing The Robertson Trust, Scotland’s largest giving charity, and is Chair of the Crichton Campus Leadership Group, as well as the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust’s National Centre for Children’s Literature.  A partner in a farming enterprise in Galloway for over 50 years, most of her work has been in the public and third sector.  Her main interests lie in rural and environmental matters, education and skills training, equality issues and consumer affairs.

Dame Kelly’s appointments have also included chairing the Scottish Consumer Council, the UK Architects Registration Board and the Crichton Foundation.  She also sat on the boards of Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Natural Heritage, and was Equal Opportunities Commissioner for Scotland.  Her business appointments have included Clydesdale Bank plc, the Scottish Advisory Board of  BP plc, the BT Scottish Board and the Scottish Post Office Board.  She also chaired the Millennium Forest for Scotland Trust which won multi million funding from the Millennium Commission for the re-establishment of native woodlands round Scotland.  She was promoted from CBE to DBE in the June 2007 Birthday Honours List for public service in Scotland.

Chris Brodie - Lead Head Skills Planning, Skills Development Scotland

Chris Brodie is the Lead Head of Skills Planning and Sector Development at Skills Development Scotland.  Chris leads a team of more than 30 staff who are responsible for developing a robust, industry informed evidence base to inform the skills system in Scotland.  He has directed the development of 12 industry-led Skills Investment Plans covering sectors ranging from Energy, Digital Technologies and Life Sciences, through to Tourism and Early Years Learning & Childcare.  Chris also heads a team of Regional Skills Planning Leads who work with public sector partners and industry to drive stronger alignment of the skills system with the needs of the economy at a regional level. 

Chris joined SDS in 2012 and has 20 years’ experience in economic and skills development.  Prior to joining SDS he was Managing Director of Slims Consulting and worked for a number of leading UK economic and regeneration consultancies. 

David Sulman - UK Forest Products and Scottish Timber Trade Association

David Sulman is Executive Director of the United Kingdom Forest Products Association (UKFPA) which represents the technical  and commercial interests of processors of British-grown timber.  He is also Secretary to the Scottish Timber Trade Association which represents the interests of timber importers and merchants in Scotland.  David is a member of various Forestry Commission expert groups and committees, taking a particular interest in skills development matters.  He is also a member of the Timber Transport Forum, chairing its Technical Working Group, as well as the Scottish Strategic Timber Transport Scheme’s Assessment Panel.  He is also involved in the work of the Forest Industry Safety Accord.

Douglas Cowan - Director, Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Douglas Cowan is Strengthening Communities Director for Highlands and Islands Enterprise and has responsibility for addressing challenges of the more remote and rural parts of the region.  This includes supporting communities to acquire and develop community assets, supporting growth of the  social economy and the social enterprise model which is critical to the economic and social development of the region. He also directs the organisation’s contribution to developing culture and heritage.  Douglas oversees Highlands and Islands Enterprise area teams in Argyll and the Islands, the Outer Hebrides, and Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross.

Gavin Stevenson - Chief Executive, Dumfries and Galloway Council

Gavin Stevenson is CEO of Dumfries and Galloway Council.  He is a native of the South of Scotland and has extensive experience across the UK in both the public and private sectors.  A qualified accountant, Gavin’s former roles include management in retail and banking sectors as well as senior positions in the Civil Service, NHS and English and Scottish public sector Scrutiny Bodies.  He has been Chief Executive of Dumfries and Galloway Council for eight years.

Helen Forsyth - Berwickshire Housing Association

Helen Forsyth is Chief Executive of Berwickshire Housing Association.  She has been operating at a strategic level both as a board member and a senior manager in a range of organisations in the housing and voluntary sector since 1995.  She was a member of the Big Lottery Scotland Committee for seven years and contributed to their strategic plan for Scotland, as well as their policy and grant funding stream development and supporting their work to tackle poverty and exclusion across Scotland.  Helen has also taken a lead role in work on the regeneration of Eyemouth and has a strong interest in social inclusion and rural community regeneration.

Iain Scott, Chief Financial Officer - Scottish Enterprise

As Chief Financial Officer, Iain Scott is responsible for ensuring effective financial management, corporate governance, planning and performance management for Scottish Enterprise.  Iain also oversees Scottish Enterprise’s Information Technology Operations.  A Chartered Accountant, he has been with Scottish Enterprise for over 20 years holding a number of finance and corporate planning roles over that period.  Iain has also held a range of non-executive and advisory positions in Scottish further education institutes and the public sector, including Lauder College, Historic Scotland and East of Scotland European Partnership.

John Fordyce - Three Stills Company Limited

John Fordyce started work with the thread division of Coats Patons PLC in 1984, working in Latin America, Portugal, Africa and Australasia.  He then joined William Grant & Sons working in Southern Europe and the Asia Pacific Region.  After a second spell in Portugal developing his own projects, John returned to Scotland in 2013 and co- founded the Three Stills Company Limited which opened The Borders Distillery® in March 2018, the first whisky distillery in the Scottish Borders since 1837. The Distillery manufactures single malt whisky, gin and other spirits and is the latest addition to the visitor attractions in Hawick.

Lorna Young - Indigo Words

Lorna Young is a Marketing and Economic Development Consultant based in Dumfries, with particular expertise in tourism, food & drink and rural development.  Lorna established Indigo Words in Dumfries in 2006 to undertake copywriting, public relations and marketing services.  Prior to Indigo Words, Lorna worked in media research, including Press Data Bureau and Scotsman Publications. 

Malcolm Roughead OBE - Chief Executive, VisitScotland

Malcolm Roughead OBE is Chief Executive of VisitScotland.  He joined VisitScotland from his post as Global Sales and Marketing Director for Guinness World Records in May 2001.  Malcolm has lived and worked in London, Germany and South Africa before returning to Edinburgh when he joined VisitScotland as Director of the UK and Ireland, International, Visitor Services and Business Tourism divisions.  In March 2004, Malcolm was awarded Scottish Marketer of the Year at the Scottish Marketing Awards and was awarded an OBE for services to Tourism in the January 2006 Honours List. 

Michael Cross - Director, Scottish Funding Council

Michael Cross, is the Interim Director for Access, Skills, and Outcome Agreements in the Scottish Funding Council.  He successfully applied for his post in the Scottish Funding Council on secondment from the Scottish Government, and has been in post since October 2016.  Michael has overall responsibility for outcome agreements with Scotland’s colleges and universities, and for ensuring that the Council’s ambitions for access and skills are appropriately advanced.  Prior to his current position, Michael was responsible for college policy within the Scottish Government and was Programme Director for the Government’s seven-year programme to implement Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce, SG’s youth employment strategy. 

Neale McQuistin, Airyolland Farms and Kilgallioch Community Benefit Company

Paula Ogilvie - Borders Book Festival and Bright Spark Partners

Paula Ogilvie has almost twenty years of experience in the events and arts sector.  Since 2004, she has been a director of Borders Book Festival which takes place in Melrose each June, attracting around 31,000 visitors to the Scottish Borders and creating a £2.3m economic impact for the region.  She was co-director of Lennoxlove Book Festival which ran in East Lothian from 2009 to 2013.  She was also a director of MacArts, a community arts and performance venue in Galashiels from 2014 until 2017 when she left to set up Bright Spark Partners – an independent promoter and events programming company which tours top writers and performers around Scotland.

Tom Barrie - Currie Solutions

Tom Barrie is CEO of Currie Solutions (formerly Currie European), a Dumfries-based haulage business which has been operating in the area since 1977 and operates in excess of 700 haulage vehicles.  Its depot network extends to France and Holland as well as covering the length and breadth of the UK.  Currie runs an apprenticeship system for local young people and holds an Armed Forces Covenant Silver Award, demonstrating commitment to recruiting and supporting employees from the armed forces community.  Tom Barrie was nominated for a “CEO of the Year” award in 2013 and is a member of the business networking and think-tank Business for Scotland. 

Tony Jakimciw OBE - Borders College

Tony Jakimciw OBE is the current Chair of Borders College.  As former Principal of Dumfries & Galloway College and a former vice-Principal of Carlisle College, Tony has had a career in further education for over 30 years.  He brings a strong strategic perspective of the Further Education sector across the South of Scotland.

Tracey Logan - Chief Executive, Scottish Borders Council

Tracey Logan is CEO of Scottish Borders Council.  Tracey joined Scottish Borders Council in July 2006 as Head of Human Resources and was selected as Director of Resources in November 2008.  Tracey’s former roles include being Head of Human Resources for the joint venture company, CSD, which brought together services for Suffolk County Council and Mid Suffolk District Council, delivered in partnership with BT.  Tracey has also worked in various other local authorities and spent a number of years in the private sector with BAA.

Tracey Roan - Roan's Dairy

The Roan family farm at Barnbarroch has been milking cows since 1898.  In 2015, Tracey Roan established Roan’s Dairy to bring together the family’s original farm unit in Barnbarroch and her own unit at Boreland of Colvend to supply milk direct to the doorsteps of the local community.  The business has evolved over time to respond to market changes, including using different routes to market, diversifying their product range to include organic and free-range dairy products, and creating the brand ‘Fresher than the Udders!’.  The dairy makes effective use of social media promotion and local engagement and has also featured on BBC’s ‘This Farming Life’.  Tracey is founder of the Dumfries and Galloway Dairy Women Network, a network and support platform for women in the Dumfries and Galloway dairy industry.