The globalscot network is extremely fortunate that we have members who are very well placed to provide strategic advice and support to many Scottish companies.

Download bios of registered globalscots (PDF, 165kb)

Keynote speakers already secured for this event include:

• Nick Donofrio
  IBM Executive Vice President, Innovation and Technology
• Derek Blackwood
  President Americas, Wood Group Engineering and Production Facilities

Speaker Profiles

Guy Crawford has over 30 years of international hospitality experience and expertise, having previously worked in Europe, North Africa and the Caribbean. Guy worked for Forte Hotels for many years and was a main board member when he left.  At Jumeirah, Guy is responsible for all aspects of business operations.

Jumeirah International operates some of the world’s most impressive hotel and leisure facilities – including the Burj al Arab, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Emirates Towers - all in Dubai and also the Carlton Tower and the Lowndes Hotel in London. The group has won numerous international awards and is regarded as a world leader throughout the international travel and hospitality industry sector.

In 1985 Jim was headhunted by Coopers & Lybrand as a senior consultant involved mainly in "corporate care" assignments. This meant working in various companies who were in financial difficulties and in need of turnaround.

In 1986 he left Coopers to become a self-employed "company doctor" and, after two successful turnarounds, he bought 29.9 percent of a small Scottish engineering company, Clyde Blowers PLC, which had a full listing on the London Stock Exchange.   Turnover at that time was around £4 million, with a loss making core business subsidised by investment income. Clyde Blowers now has over 55 percent of the world market in its original product line, and has expanded into other growth engineering sectors.

Over the past 10 years Clyde Blowers has grown at an annual rate in excess of 35 percent and has developed into a truly Global portfolio of 37 Companies in 19 different countries around the world.

Hugh is Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Monsanto, a leading global provider of agricultural products and solutions. Since 1991, Hugh has held a variety of management positions, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, where he chairs the Executive Committee. He also serves on the board of PPG Industries, Inc.

Nicol Stephen was elected leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats on June 23, 2005, in succession to Jim Wallace and took over the portfolio of Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning.  Mr Stephen is a former Member of Parliament for the Kincardine and Deeside constituency. He was a member of the teams which negotiated the Partnership Agreements for the coalition government after the Scottish Parliament elections in 1999 and 2003.

Mr Stephen was previously Minister for Transport from 2003 and before that Deputy Minister for Education and Young People for two years. He has been Deputy Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs and Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 1999 - 2000.

He was also a founding director of Grampian Enterprise, the local enterprise company for the North East of Scotland, now known as Scottish Enterprise Grampian.

John Stewart was appointed Managing Director & Group Chief Executive in February 2004. John joined National Australia Group Europe in August 2003 as Chief Executive, Europe and Principal Board Member.

Prior to his joining NAGE, he was Deputy Group Chief Executive of Barclays Bank PLC following the acquisition of Woolwich plc by Barclays in October 2000. He was a main Board Director of Barclays and also a member of the Executive Committee and was specifically responsible for Barclays Private Clients and the combined operation of Personal Financial Services, which included the Woolwich business. He was also responsible for the successful delivery of the Barclays/Woolwich integration programme which has ongoing benefits of £400m per annum to the Barclays Group.

Andy became Chairman of Disney Consumer Products in May 2003, having served as its president since joining The Walt Disney Company in January 2000.

Andy oversees the worldwide day-to-day operations of Disney Consumer Products, which extends the rich Disney entertainment experience to a broad selection of merchandise ranging from toys, apparel, home décor and books to interactive games, food and beverages, electronics and fine art. This is accomplished through several business lines: Disney Toys, Disney Softlines, Disney Hardlines, Disney Publishing, Buena Vista Games, Baby Einstein and The Disney Store.

As Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Sun, Greg Papadopoulos directs the company's approximate $2B in R&D portfolio with an eye toward innovation, simplicity, and eco-responsibility. With more than 20 years experience in the technology industry, Papadopoulos is responsible for managing Sun's technology decisions, architecture, and standards.

Passionate about technology and its possibilities, Greg supports open development models that stimulate communication, creativity and innovation, which he promotes through his blog, Greg Matter, as well as numerous speaking engagements.

During his tenure with Sun, Greg has held several positions, including vice president of technology and advanced development for the company's systems business, chief scientist for server systems engineering, and chief scientist for enterprise servers and storage. Before joining Sun in 1994, he was senior architect and director of product strategy for Thinking Machines, where he led the design of the CM6 massively parallel supercomputer.

Ashley is a managing partner of Trump Golf Management, LLC, which consolidates under one umbrella all Trump golf properties, their operations and marketing. In addition, he serves as chairman of the Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster (N.J.), where he oversees sales, marketing and club concept development.

In his new assignment Ashley will attract national and international events to the Trump golf properties, and to help identify additional sites for potential development. Ashley will also project manage the development of Trump’s new world class, £300M golf and leisure resorts in Aberdeenshire.

Jack Perry became Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise in February 2004. Prior to this, until December 2003, he was the managing partner of Ernst & Young in Glasgow. In addition he was Regional Industry Leader for Scotland and Northern Ireland for Ernst & Young’s Technology & Communications practice.

A dual Scottish/American national, Jack was educated at both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities and is a graduate scientist. He is also a Chartered Accountant and a United States Certified Public Accountant.

He has worked in both the United States and the United Kingdom in a career covering most professional disciplines and industries. In September 2001 Jack took office as Chairman of CBI Scotland, demitting office at the end of his two-year term in September 2003.

Alan is Global Group Vice President for Spreads, Cooking Products, and Dressings in Unilever’s Foods Category, responsible for some €6 billion of Turnover.

Prior to January 2006, Alan was President and Group VP for Unilever’s Home & Personal Care business in North America, the €4 billion division with such well-known brands as Dove, Suave, all, Snuggle, Degree, Axe, and Vaseline.

Alan joined Unilever in 1985 and worked in a number of Sales and Marketing roles in London and Connecticut until 1995. From 1995-1998 he served as Division Director for Unilever Thailand where he built the Thai Personal Products and the Asia-Pacific Hair Care businesses. From 1999-2000 Alan was in Chicago as Vice President of Marketing for Unilever’s Hair and Deodorant businesses.

Don was Chief Financial Officer from 1991-2001. From 1981 through 1990, he held senior management positions in finance, operations and marketing in England, Scotland, Germany, and the United States.

Don joined National in 1978 and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Stirling. He is a UK Chartered Accountant.

After joining the Department of Energy in 1979 and undertaking a numer of roles, Jim subsequently moved to head up and expand DTI's Aberdeen office with responsibility for offshore oil and gas development activity in the UK, Norwegian and European markets.

Subsequent changes meant that he became responsible for Industry and Export issues within the Infrastructure and Energy Projects Group of British Trade International before heading up the Oil and Gas Development Directorate in the DTI's Energy Group.

In January 2003, Jim became Head of the DTI's Licensing and Consents Unit (now Energy Resources Development Unit) which is responsible for UKCS oil and gas licensing, environmental and decommissioning regulation, onshore energy infrastructure consents and developing the legislative framework for the licensing of offshore renewable activity.

Nick is Scotland’s best known chef and one of the country’s most popular figures. He started his career working in the Merchant Navy, but a passion for cooking soon led him to open his first restaurant, Braeval, in 1986 and by 1991 he was Scotland’s youngest chef ever to be awarded a Michelin star.

He opened Nairns restaurant with rooms in 1997 to international acclaim and in 2000 launched Nairns Anywhere, an event catering business boasting restaurant quality food in any location.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw's pioneering efforts in biotechnology have drawn global recognition both for Indian Industry and Biocon. Her unique vision has steered Biocon's transition from an industrial enzymes company to an integrated biopharmaceutical company with strategic research initiatives. Biocon is today recognised as India's pioneering biotech enterprise.

As Chairperson and Mission Leader of CII's National Task Force on Biotechnology she has led several delegations to USA, Canada, UK, etc. to propel India into the global super league of biotech trailblazers. She chairs Karnataka's Vision Group on Biotechnology and also serves on the Board of Science Foundation, Ireland. Co-author of several patents in Biotechnology, she been instrumental in bringing government, industry and academia together, to chart a clear and progressive growth path for Biotechnology in India.

Ms. Shaw is the recipient of several prestigious awards including Best Woman Entrepreneur, Model Employer, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Life Sciences & Healthcare, Leading Exporter, Outstanding Citizen, Technology Pioneer, etc. Her most cherished award is however, the PADMASHRI (1989) presented to her by the erstwhile President of India, for her pioneering efforts in Industrial Biotechnology.

Dr. Tom Shepherd has over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in the areas of general management and business development.   Before joining CXR, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Neurotech S.A. in Paris, a Biotechnology company with research operations in France and the USA.   He has previously held Vice President positions with IntraBiotics Pharmaceuticals and ICN Pharmaceuticals in California, and several senior management positions in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Korea. Dr. Shepherd obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow in 1981.

Mike was born and brought up in the Borders and graduated from NewcastleUniversity with a B.Sc. Hons. Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1972.

He has worked in the Oil and Gas Industry ever since and first came to Aberdeen to work in 1973 on the BP Forties overland pipeline and has subsequently worked both on and offshore in the North Sea, South America and Far East.

He has been with AMEC for over 20 years and his current role is as Chief Operating Officer of AMEC's global Oil & Gas business.   He is also the Director responsible for Health and Safety in the Group as well as for Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Charles L Cooney is Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and Co-Director of the Program on the Pharmaceutical Industry at MIT, Cambridge, MA. He obtained his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966. His Master's degree and PhD degree in Biochemical Engineering are from MIT in 1967, and 1970, respectively.

After working briefly at the Squibb Institute for Medical Research, he joined the faculty of MIT as an Assistant Professor in 1970, and as a full Professor since 1982. From 1995-2001 he was the executive officer of the department of chemical engineering. He serves as a consultant to a number of Biotech and Pharmaceutical companies, is on the board of directors of Genzyme and CUNO, inc. and is on several editorial boards of professional journals.