Speakers
Sir Chris Hoy MBE
Olympic Games Gold Medal Winner
Chris is a track cyclist who represents Scotland and Great Britain. He is a multiple world champion and Olympic Games gold medal winner. With his three gold medals in Beijing 2008, Hoy became Scotland's most successful Olympian, the first Briton to win three gold medals in a single Olympic games since Henry Taylor, in 1908, and the most successful Olympic male cyclist of all time.
Chris started the 2009-10 track season at the British National Championships, held at the National Cycling Centre, Manchester, where he took only his second and third individual national titles. He took gold medals in the Keirin and Sprint and was also part of the Team Sprint team representing team SKY, along with Jamie Staff and Jason Kenny. Two weeks later, he raced in round one of the UCI World Cup at the same venue and took gold in the Men’s Keirin. He then went into day two of the competition and took gold in the sprint event.
Chairman – Ken Symon
Award Winning Journalist & Founder of Symon Media
Ken is the founder of Symon Media, a company offering public relations, public affairs and writing for business. Ken moved into communications, specialising in working for businesses and business associations, after more than 30 years as a journalist and broadcaster.
As a journalist, Ken held a variety of positions, including Business Editor of the Sunday Herald, Business Editor of The Scotsman and Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times Scotland. His journalism awards include UK Local Government Journalist of the Year and he has been repeatedly nominated in the Business and Financial Writer of the Year Award category for the Scottish Press Awards.
Ken is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and is a supporter of Motherwell Football Club.
Keynote Speaker – Jim Mather MSP
Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism
Jim was educated at Paisley Grammar, Greenock High School and Glasgow University, where he studied accountancy, law and economics.
In 1964, he became an apprentice chartered accountant. He then worked in the computer industry, running his own business before entering politics. From 2000 to 2004, he was SNP Treasurer.
At the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, Jim was elected as a Highlands and Islands MSP. As Shadow Enterprise and Economy Minister, he was a member of the SNP's Shadow Cabinet. Mr Mather became the MSP for Argyll and Bute at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election and was appointed Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism.
He has been involved in the development and promotion of the Economic Case for Independence and is a Director of Business for Scotland.
Iain McMillan CBE
Director, CBI Scotland
Iain is the Director of CBI Scotland. He was appointed in 1995 and has full executive responsibility for the CBI’s Scottish operations. He leads Scottish business representation and communicates Scottish business interests not only in Scotland, but also in the UK, the EU and beyond. He is the author and co-author of a number of publications on public policy as it relates to the business, economic and legislative environment.
Iain is also Chairman of the University of Strathclyde Business School’s Advisory Board, Chairman of the Industrial Mission Trust, Chairman of the Scottish North American Business Council, a Trustee of the Teaching Awards Trust and a Trustee of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. In 2009, Iain was appointed by Her Majesty The Queen to be Honorary Air Commodore of 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
Iain was educated at Bearsden Academy and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers; Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland; Fellow of the Association of International Accountants; Companion of the Chartered Management Institute; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; and Fellow of the Scottish Qualifications Authority. In 2003, Iain was awarded the CBE for services to lifelong learning in Scotland.
Glenn Allison
Managing Director, Stewart Milne Group Ltd
Glenn Allison joined Stewart Milne Group in 1989 as Finance Director and was appointed Group Managing Director in 2000. The Group’s turnover has grown from around £15m to its current level of around £400m, and the company has expanded across the UK.
Glenn qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1979 and has been an active member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland for over 20 years, serving on its council and being elected as President of the Institute in 2008.
He is currently Vice Chairman of CBI Scotland, having been involved with them for over six years. The development of people, forward planning and strategic vision allied to a commercial approach to expanding the business are key elements required in his position as Group Managing Director.
Melfort Campbell OBE
Chairman, Imes Group Holdings
As Chairman and CEO of Imes Group, Melfort has evolved the company over 20 years from its origins as Water Weights to a specialist engineering group working in the defence, marine, oil & gas, construction and process industries. Imes provides integrity management services aimed at preserving and increasing the lifespan of safety and process-critical equipment, helping clients optimise performance and costs over their equipment’s operating life.
Melfort served as Chairman of the CBI in Scotland from September 2005 to 2007 and was awarded an OBE in the 2003 New Year’s Honours List for services to industry in Scotland. He received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration from The Robert Gordon University (RGU), Aberdeen in December 2005 in recognition of his entrepreneurial spirit and distinguished services to the oil and gas industry. He took up the appointment of Chairman of the Board of Governors of RGU in December 2007.
Laura Gordon
Managing Director, Laura Gordon Associates
Laura is Managing Director of Laura Gordon Associates Ltd, a business development and communications consultancy. In 2006, she was appointed as the first Director for Glasgow: Edinburgh Collaboration, an innovative Scottish Government supported economic development initiative between Glasgow and Edinburgh Councils and Scottish Enterprise. Thereafter, Laura was Commercial Director of ICS, one of the UK's largest private education services companies. Laura is also a member of the Council of CBI Scotland and is on the West of Scotland Committee of the Institute of Directors. She is a former director of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, was on the Board of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce for four years and is the founder of the Scottish Women’s Investment Group.
Gordon MacIntyre Kemp
Founder and Managing Director, Intelligise
Gordon was a pioneer of online business networking (now called social media) in the late 1990s. His business networks First Tuesday and Now Business were credited with helping to revolutionise the UK business networking scene. Gordon now writes on social media for The Drum magazine and advises clients throughout Europe on combining sales, marketing and social media marketing to generate breakthrough results.
Gordon has a blue chip sales and marketing background and twenty years of sales and general management experience. Beginning his career at Procter & Gamble in sales and marketing, he worked on major brand launches for Pantene, Wash & Go and Oil of Olay.
As a National Accounts Manager at Northern Foods, Gordon grew multimillion turnover accounts such as Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. He was also Director of Graduate Recruitment at Search Consultancy and spent three years as a Director of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.
Alastair Merrill
Director of Procurement, Scottish Government
Alastair is the Director of Procurement in the Scottish Government, a post he has held since summer 2009. He is responsible for delivering greater efficiency and value for money in public sector procurement in Scotland.
Alastair joined the then Scottish Executive in 2001, where he set up the first integrated analytical services division in the Education Department, which brought together statisticians, economists and social researchers to deliver evidence-based policy making. He moved in 2003 to the Office of the Permanent Secretary to lead the Executive’s culture change programme, Changing to Deliver, and reform corporate performance management.
As Deputy Director for Police from 2005-2008, Alastair was closely involved in the development of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework, the re-launch of the ACPOS People Strategy, and advising Ministers on policy. In 2008 he moved on promotion to the Scottish Prison Service as Director of Corporate Services, responsible for corporate strategy and governance, legal policy and information management.
Alastair joined the civil service fast stream in 1986. He served in a variety of posts in the MOD and the Foreign Office, including secondments to NATO, Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance and the UN peacekeeping force in the former Yugoslavia. In 1996 Alastair left the UK civil service to work as a private secretary to NATO’s Secretary General in Brussels, a post he held until 2001.
John Rendall
Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Scotland
Appointed to the role of CEO of HSBC Scotland in June 2009, John has been tasked to lead the growth and development of HSBC’s business north of the border, while raising the brand’s profile in the region.
With over 22 years’ experience with HSBC, John has held a variety of high-profile roles within the organisation. Most recently, he spent two years as Chief Operating Officer for HSBC Mexico. In this capacity, he was responsible for the implementation of an innovative fraud identification infrastructure and managed the overall improvement of customer service quality, cost-effectiveness and improving the quality of internal controls.
Prior to his time in Mexico, John held the role of Chief Operating Officer for HSBC Commercial Banking. This role encompassed responsibilities for all aspects of planning, strategic development, management information and finance within the UK Commercial Banking business.
Niall Stuart
Chief Executive, Scottish Renewables
Niall was appointed Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, the representative voice of the renewable energy industry in Scotland, in September 2009. He is responsible for the organisation’s key task of influencing the legislative, regulatory and financial framework to deliver the best possible conditions for the growth of the renewable energy industry, including the representation of the views of members in print and broadcast media. Niall also oversees the organisation’s comprehensive events programme and development of a wide range of responsive and targeted member services and is co-Chair, along with the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, of the Forum for Renewable Energy Development Scotland. Niall was previously Press and Government Affairs Manager at the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI). Before joining SCDI in October 2007, he spent five years at the Federation of Small Businesses, where he ran the Scottish Press and Parliamentary Office. Previously Niall worked for Anne Begg MP at Westminster and in her constituency of Aberdeen South.