Keynote Speaker – John Swinney MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth

John joined the SNP in 1979 and has held a number of posts at local and national levels. He was elected MP for North Tayside in 1997 and MSP in 1999, retaining a dual mandate as MP and MSP until 2001. He became the SNP's Deputy Leader in 1998. In 2000, John was elected SNP Leader, becoming Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Parliament. He stood down as SNP Leader in 2004 and became Convener of the Scottish Parliament's European and External Relations Committee.

Chairman – Grahame Steed

Managing Editor, Government Opportunities

Grahame joined Glasgow-based BiP Solutions Ltd as Production Director in 2003, following 13 years as Magazine Editor, Publisher and latterly Publishing Director at EMAP plc. He is responsible for the Media Department at BiP, which includes the Contracts Management, Proofing, Communications, Design and Distribution Teams that are responsible for BiP's diverse range of business intelligence services. In 2008 his role changed to Publishing Director to more accurately reflect the nature of his department's activities. As Managing Editor of Government Opportunities (GO), Grahame is responsible for the overall content and direction of the publication and its GO Awards and www.govopps.co.uk brand extensions.

Gerry Higgins

Chief Executive, CEiS

Gerry has worked to develop sustainable third sector organisations for over 25 years. After a period working in the disability sector in Ireland and Liverpool, Gerry became engaged with the Italian and German Social Firms movement and initiated the development of a social firm sector in the UK in 1996. This led to the establishment of Social Firms UK in 1999 with Gerry as its first Chief Executive.  He was a founding director of the Social Enterprise Coalition in the UK and worked with the DTI to develop the first Social Enterprise Strategy in 2002. Gerry’s interests include finance models for social enterprise and he is working with partners in Canada and Australia and South Africa to develop internationally transferable enterprise models. Gerry has been with CEiS for just over 3 years and leads a team which includes Scotland’s oldest Community Development Finance Initiative, DSL, and the largest business adviser team supporting social enterprise in Scotland.

Raymund Johnstone

Head of Procurement and Engineering Support, Transport Scotland

Raymund is Head of Procurement and Engineering Support in Transport Scotland’s Major Transport Infrastructure Projects Directorate. In addition to supporting the operational teams in the delivery of road and rail projects, he has responsibility for procurement policy and governance across the Agency.

In his present post Raymund has been responsible for managing a number of major procurements, including the lead consultancy commission for the New Forth Crossing and the third generation term maintenance contracts for the trunk road network.   

Raymund is a Chartered Engineer with more than 30 years’ experience in the design, construction, management and operation of roads and transport infrastructure. 

Bob Laverty

Chief Executive, Raploch Urban Regeneration Company Ltd

Bob began his career in the structural/civil engineering sector, remaining there for 20 years. He ran his own design consultancy for eight years before moving to the public sector in 1995, when he joined the senior management team at a Glasgow economic development company where he remained for seven years. In 2002 he moved to Stirling Council, taking over responsibility for regenerating the Raploch area of Stirling in 2003. Raploch Urban Regeneration Company was established in 2006, and Bob was appointed Chief Executive shortly afterwards. Raploch URC has received many accolades, and was recently selected as an exemplar project by the Scottish Government’s Sustainable Communities Initiative.

Robert Leask

Head of Utilities Portfolio Team, Procurement Scotland

Robert joined Procurement Scotland in 2007, assuming responsibility for Utilities, after running his own consultancy business. Prior to setting up his own business Robert was Head of Procurement and Supply Chain for an international chemical business, where he was accountable for sourcing materials from low cost economies in China and India. Robert has held a variety of senior Procurement positions in industry over a period of 19 years and has direct experience of sourcing all major categories of spend including utilities.

Irene McCulloch

Head of Professional Services, Scotland Excel

Irene has over 25 years’ experience within both the public sector and local government. As Scotland Excel’s Head of Professional Services Irene is responsible for leading the teams who provide a range of services which support the organisation, including Human Resources, Finance, Information Technology, Performance Reporting, Learning and Development and Special Projects, as well as managing the support services provided by Renfrewshire Council

Duncan McLaren

Chief Executive, Friends of the Earth Scotland

Duncan has been Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland since 2003 and has led the organisation in successful campaigns against nuclear power in Scotland, for tough climate change targets and for improved waste recycling. In 2008 he was surprised to be named among the 50 most influential people in Scotland by the Scotsman newspaper.

Duncan has been an environmental campaigner for twenty years. Amongst other roles, he is also a board member of Changeworks and the Environmental Law Centre Scotland, and advises the Joint Research Councils on energy research. He is also a member of the UK Green Fiscal Commission and of the editorial board of the Local Environment journal.

Mark Roberts

Portfolio Manager, Audit Scotland

Mark oversees Audit Scotland’s performance audit work in the environmental and rural affairs sector. His background is in environmental science research and he has previously worked on environmental issues within the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Sustainable Scotland Network

The Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) is a network of sustainable development officers and advocates from Scottish local authorities. At the Network's core is a small development team, funded by the Scottish Government and hosted by Keep Scotland Beautiful

SSN exists to improve local government's contribution to achieving a sustainable Scotland. The Network supports local government's sustainable development obligations under The Local Government in Scotland Act (2003).

In 2008, SSN worked with key organisations, including Scotland Excel and the Sustainable Development Commission, to establish the Sustainable Procurement Working Group. This group aims to "develop a Scotland-wide programme for local government on sustainable procurement, improving opportunities, supporting uptake and increasing the benefits for Scottish Councils".  

Further information about SSN's activities and resources can be found at: www.sustainable-scotland.net