The Board, appointed by Scottish Government ministers, has overall responsibility for ensuring Scottish Enterprise fulfils its statutory duties and the aims and objectives set out by the Scottish Government in its Economic Strategy.
Board members:
- Adhere to a Code of Conduct which sets out expectations of those who serve on the board and the way in which they should conduct themselves in undertaking their duties.
- Declare any potential conflicts of interest and we maintain a register of interests.
Chairman
Crawford Gillies
Mr Gillies was appointed Chairman of Scottish Enterprise in February 2009. After graduating with an LL.B. from Edinburgh and an MBA at Harvard Business School, Crawford Gillies joined Bain, the international management consultants and became a partner in 1988. He has worked with clients throughout Europe in a wide variety of sectors on issues of strategy, organisation and performance improvement. From 1996 to 2001 he was responsible for Bain & Company's business in the UK and assumed leadership of the firm's European business from 2001 until he stepped down at the end of 2005.
He is currently a Non Executive Director of Standard Life plc, and Chairman of Control Risks Group Holdings Ltd. He was an independent member of the DTI's Management Board and Strategy Board from 2002 to 2007. He is a former Chairman of CBI London.
Chief Executive
Dr Lena C Wilson
Dr Lena Wilson is Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise – Scotland’s national economic development agency.
Prior to this, Lena was Chief Operating Officer of Scottish Enterprise and the CEO of Scottish Development International, leading Scottish Enterprise in supporting companies to grow and Scottish Development International in helping to promote Scottish businesses overseas and attracting new high value investment to Scotland.
In a career spanning over 25 years, she has held a range of positions covering all aspects of economic development.
During a 2 year secondment to the World Bank in Washington DC, she worked in over 20 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia advising governments on economic development with particular emphasis on the development of the private sector and the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment.
Lena has held a range of non-executive positions in business, arts, sports and voluntary organisations. She is currently an Ambassador for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, an advisory board member of the University of Strathclyde business school and a member of the Financial Services Advisory Board (FISAB).
Ian J Crawford
After a short period working in finance in Rolls Royce Ian joined IBM as an inventory accountant in 1978 progressing through various staff and management roles in finance eventually becoming Financial Controller IBM Greenock in 1982. His career then moved into operational roles in manufacturing, logistics and supply chain and, after various senior roles in Greenock and international assignments in Paris and Raleigh, North Carolina he was appointed as Site Director IBM Greenock in 1994. His success in this position was recognised by his nomination to IBM’s Senior Leadership Team (top 300 executives in IBM) by the IBM chairman Lou Gerstner and ultimately his promotion to Vice President in 1998. He held various VP roles in IBM’s procurement operation based in Raleigh North Carolina and as Vice President Strategic Sourcing was ultimately responsible for sourcing all of IBM’s global external spend with a budget of $45B managing a team of 1500 people in over 40 countries worldwide.
In August 2005 he returned to Scotland running his worldwide sourcing team from the IBM site in Greenock and once more taking over the leadership role of the location. He retired from IBM in August 2007.
He is on the Board of Directors of Riverside Inverclyde URC and a member of the Management Committee of Kilmarnock Football Club. Ian is also Chair of the Advisory Board of 2in10.
In his spare time he enjoys golf and music and has co-written and published two books on shipwrecks around the Scottish coastline.
Professor Russel Griggs, OBE
Professor Russel Griggs, OBE started his career in the pharmaceutical industry in Marketing and then in similar areas in the consumer flooring industry before becoming the CEO of an industrial textile company.
Russel holds a number of non-executive positions in the private sector as well as running his own consultancy business which does a variety of strategic work for public bodies and private companies.
In addition he is:
- Chair of the CBI's UK SME Council
- Chair of the Scottish Government's independent Regulatory Review Group in Scotland (which seeks to make Scotland the home of better regulation)
- Chair, Dumfries & Galloway College
- Board member of VisitScotland
- Member of the Scottish Committee of the Quality Assurance Agency
- Member of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council.
An honorary Professor of the University of Glasgow he is married and has two married children. He lives in Sanquhar in Dumfries and Galloway and when not working he enjoys his garden and playing with his grandson.
Professor Jim McDonald
Professor Jim McDonald joined Strathclyde University in 1984 and was appointed Rolls-Royce Professor of Electrical Power Systems in 1993.
He advises government, industry and commerce on power networks, distributed generation and renewable energy. He is Chairman of the Institute for Energy and Environment, the largest power engineering and energy systems research group internationally. He was appointed Deputy Principal in 2006 focussing on research enhancement and commercialisation.
In August 2009 he was appointed as Chairman of the Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering (SRPE), part of a major research pooling investment across Scotland. He is a member of the Scottish Enterprise Board and was a member of the UK Trade and Investment Energy Excellence Board.
He Chairs the Scottish Energy Technology Partnership (ETP) that involves the energy research intensive Scottish universities. He co-chairs (with the First Minister) the Energy Advisory Board in Scotland. He became Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in March 2009. He is Chairman of the Independent Economic Commission for the City of Glasgow, and Chairman of the Board of the Glasgow Science Centre.
John McGlynn
Mr McGlynn founded his first business, Airlink, as a hobby whilst at University having been on the Scottish Enterprise “New Ventures Programme”. Airlink is now the largest Scottish parking group and has various other property and storage businesses. John is Vice-Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Exchange in Scotland and founding Director of the Entrepreneurial Exchange in London. He is a member of the National Economic Forum, Ambassador to Business Club Scotland and Glasgow Airport.
Iain A McLaren BA, CA
Iain was formerly Senior Partner of KPMG in Scotland. During his professional career he focussed on audit and transactions work for some of Scotland's largest listed and private companies - primarily in the energy, construction and technology sectors.
He is currently Senior Independent Director of Cairn Energy plc and a director of two investment trusts. He is on the Court of Heriot-Watt University and a board member of SCDI as well as Vice-president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
Jeremy Peat
Jeremy Peat is an economist with over 25 years experience of watching the Scottish economy. He was very aware of the work of Scottish Enterprise during his 8 years as Senior Economic Advisor at the Scottish Office and 12 years as a Group Chief Economist at RBS. He is a member of the Competition Commission, currently chairing a review of the bus sector across Great Britain GB, and Director of the Edinburgh-based David Hume Institute. Jeremy is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and a monthly columnist for the Herald newspaper.
Grahame Smith
Grahame Smith is General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC). A graduate of Strathclyde University, where he obtained an Honours Degree in Economics and Industrial Relations, he has worked at the STUC for 20 years.
He was previously Deputy General Secretary and headed the STUC’s Policy and Campaigns Department before being appointed General Secretary in December 2006.
He is a Board member of SCDI and a former member of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council. He is the Vice Chairperson of Glasgow North Regeneration Agency.
In December 2007 he was appointed as a Commissioner for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
Linda Urquhart, OBE
Linda Urquhart has led one of Scotland’s largest law firms, Morton Fraser, for over eleven years, first as Chief Executive and now as Chairman. Trained as a commercial lawyer, she has advised businesses of all sizes across a variety of sectors.
Linda is a member of the board of the CBI and Chairman of Investors in People Scotland.
She is also a member of the Prince’s Trust Scotland Development Board and the Edinburgh Business Forum. Her executive and non-executive roles have given her exposure to a wide range of businesses in Scotland, and an insight into both the challenges they face and their opportunities for growth.
Graeme Waddell
Graeme Waddell is Director of Energen Biogas an energy renewable company which he has recently established. He is a former Business Director of Rolls Royce Aero Repair and Overhaul responsible for providing leadership and business focus for the 1,000 people employed by Rolls Royce in East Kilbride.
Graeme is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and holds a BA and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde.Graeme joined the Scottish Enterprise Board on 1 August 2008. He is Chairman of the West Regional Advisory Board and also Chairman of the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service. He is married, has three children and enjoys sport of all kinds.