Diversity was one of the key agendas of 2019, with companies ramping up efforts to address the gender imbalance in boardrooms and C-suites. And in many cases, it appears that words were matched with actions.
Many of the key appointments in Scottish business this year involved women, which can only hearten those in the ranks below them and at the beginning of their careers. We take a look back at the biggest hires of 2019 for both Scottish companies and Scottish business leaders of both sexes making their mark.
Alison Rose, Royal Bank of Scotland
The most hotly anticipated appointment in Scotland in 2019 was the replacement for Ross McEwan at the helm of RBS. Rose, 49, is and a veteran of the Edinburgh-based group having led its NatWest brand and had long been seen as the favourite for the role which saw her become the first female boss of a major British bank.
Andy Briggs, Phoenix Group Holdings
The former Aviva UK boss – who left the insurance group earlier this year after missing out on the group’s top job – was named as the new chief executive of Phoenix Group Holdings. He is to replace Clive Bannister at the helm of the firm, which last year acquired Standard Life Assurance taking on thousands of staff in Scotland, early in 2020.
Stephanie Bruce, Standard Life Aberdeen
Former head of financial services assurance with PwC, Bruce took one of the top jobs in the sector in Scotland when she was appointed chief financial officer at Standard Life Aberdeen. Although investors welcomed her appointment there was a backlash over the £750,000 ‘golden hello’ package for University of Edinburgh law graduate.
Christian Brown, EnerMech
Aberdeen-based mechanical and electrical services company EnerMech appointed the industry heavyweight as its new CEO. Brown was previously CEO of global engineering and construction company, Kentz, where he successfully oversaw growth from a small AIM-listed business to a £1.9 billion revenue company. He has also held senior leadership roles in US Fortune 500 companies Kellogg Brown & Root and Foster Wheeler. EnerMech founder Doug Duguid had returned to the CEO role on an interim basis after his initial replacement John Guy stood down from the role for “personal family reasons”.
Alison McGregor, Malcolm Group
The former HSBC Scotland chief executive joined the board of the Scottish haulage business ahead of her becoming chairman. McGregor is also a non-executive director of Scottish Power Energy Networks Holdings, the CBI, the Beatson Cancer Charity, co-chair of the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board and a board advisor to Glasgow University Adam Smith Business School.
Mike Holliday-Williams, Aegon UK
Former Direct Line executive Holliday-Williams was named as the new man to head up the Edinburgh-based pensions provider. He will succeed Adrian Grace, who is stepping down in March following ten years with the business.
Gordon Craig, Snapdragon
Edinburgh-based online protection business Snapdragon secured something of a coup when it appointed the Craneware founder as its chairman. Craig served as Craneware’s chief technology officer for 16 years and helped the company develop into one of Scotland’s most successful software companies.
Claire Reid, PwC
Reid become PwC’s first female regional leader north of the border when she took over the role from Lindsay Gardiner. She joined PwC’s Glasgow office 20 years ago, previously led on assurance work north of the border and had also headed up the Big Four firm’s technology risk practice across the UK.
Will Whitehorn, Craneware
The former Virgin executive replaced George Elliott as chairman of Edinburgh health tech firm Craneware. Whitehorn was a close aide to Sir Richard Branson as his corporate affairs advisor and global brand development director. Elliott had been non-executive chairman at Craneware since August 2007 when he helped lead its flotation on AIM.
Maurice Tulloch, Aviva
Falkirk-born Tulloch, previously Aviva’s CEO for international insurance, was named as the new boss of the group. Tulloch joined Aviva, which has a large presence in Perth dating back to the General Accident days, in 1992 and was appointed to the board in June 2017. He replaced Sir Adrian Montague, who had been standing in since former CEO Mark Wilson went on gardening leave.
Ally Scott, EY
EY appointed the first non-chartered accountant into its top role in Scotland when it named Scott as its new managing partner. Scott, who joined the Big Four practice in 2016, took over from Mark Harvey in the summer. The Hearts supporter had previously been managing director of Barclays corporate banking in Scotland.
Benny Higgins, Buccleuch and AAB Wealth
Former Tesco Bank chief executive Benny Higgins took up two high-profile posts during the year to add to his portfolio of roles. Higgins became non-executive chairman of Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB) Wealth and executive chairman of property group Buccleuch. His other roles include strategic advisor to the First Minister of Scotland on the creation of the Scottish National Investment Bank.
Lena Wilson, Chiene + Tait
In the latest in a series of boardroom appointments following her departure from the top job at Scottish Enterprise, Wilson was appointed chair at Edinburgh-headquartered accountancy firm Chiene + Tait. Wilson is also a non-executive director for RBS, testing company Intertek and foreign exchange services firm Argentex Group.
Lord Smith, Scottish Enterprise
One of Scotland’s most experienced business leaders, Lord Smith of Kelvin became chairman of Scotland’s main economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise. During his long career Lord Smith has held chairmanships at Weir Group, SSE, Alliance Trust, British Business Bank, IMI, Forth Ports and Clyde Gateway.
Sarah Thiam
Tiam became chief executive of the body which seeks to influence governemt on behalf of public, private and social sectors of Scotland’s economy. She was previously director of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Her predecessor Mark Bevan lasted 15 months in the job and quit amid claims he faced resistance to change in an “old fashioned” organisation.
Malcolm Cannon, Institute of Directors (IoD) Scotland
Cannon, who has previously held top jobs at property firm ESPC and wellington boot brand Hunter, took up the post as national director at IoD Scotland. Cannon, who replaced David Watt, joined from Cricket Scotland where he had helped to restructure the organisation.
Jane Morrison-Ross, ScotlandIS
Tech industry trade body ScotlandIS appointed Morrison-Ross as its new chief executive after Polly Purvis announced plans to step down. Morrison-Ross is a previous board member of ScotlandIS who has held senior roles at Capgemini and was most recently CEO of the Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre in North Uist.
Jim Mullen, Reach
The former Ladbrokes Coral boss took on one of the biggest jobs in British media when he replaced Simon Fox as CEO of Reach. Mullen, from Blantyre in Lanarkshire now oversees titles including the Daily Record, Sunday Mail, Daily Mirror, dozens of local papers and Scottish Business Insider.
Euan Jarvie, Dentsu Aegis UK
The Napier University graduate from Perthshire was credited with growing Mediacom Scotland from nothing to a £60 million turnover operation in eight years. He’s since gone global and in February was promoted to CEO of advertising giant Dentsu Aegis’s UK and Ireland operation.
David McMillan, esure
The Arbroath boy and Heriot-Watt graduate is a veteran of financial services who became CEO of Aviva’s business in mainland Europe, Turkey, India. In May, the QBE insurance COO took the top job at esure.
