Governance

Non-Executive SRUC Board Members

Andy Peddie

Born in the village of St Monans in the East Neuk of Fife I have lived and worked all my life in the East Neuk, later moving few miles along the coast to Cornceres near Anstruther. We farm Cornceres with 200ha of combinable crops and my family also run Silverdyke Park, a diversification project, which has 120 static holiday homes and 31 tourer spaces.

I studied at the East of Scotland College of Agriculture leaving with an HND in Agriculture in 1979. I was a keen member of the young farmers movement working my way up through club and regional hierarchies to become national Chairman of SAYFC in 1989. More recently I rejoined the board of SAYFC becoming Hon President in 2018.

I have held positions in many different agricultural bodies, including board positions in NFUS and QMS. I served on the board of SAOS for 14 years becoming Chair in 2012 and am currently Chair of Tayforth Machinery Ring.

My family and I live in a vibrant tourism focussed area and I have enjoyed being involved in various bodies within the community. I have been chairing our local tourism association and am currently Chair of the local community council and a member of the East Neuk Emergency Planning Team.
I was appointed an Associate of the Fellowship of Royal Agricultural Societies in 2017.

Catherine Stewart (student member)

My name is Catherine Stewart, and I am studying BSc (Hons) Veterinary Nursing. Once qualifying I would like to work in the veterinary sector with a focus on large animals (which I think is a passion due to being from a farming background). When I am not working or busy studying, I enjoy spending time with my pets (cat and 2 guinea pigs), cycling and spending time with my children, family, and friends. I also enjoy going to my local riding centre whenever time and finances allow.  

Craig Davidson (Academic Staff Member)

After studying at SAC, Craibstone in 2002, I continued my agriculture education at California State University in Fresno before I began my, what ended up being 14 years of high school agriculture teaching in Bakersfield California. While teaching inner-city students about food production, I saw the progamme grow from 120 students to more than 500 learning agriculture on a daily basis. Due to the continual growth and strength of the programme, I was recognised in the community and throughout the state for the impact we were making. After earning the Masters of Science in Agriculture Education at California Polytechnic University, I took up the role as agriculture lecturer at SRUC in Edinburgh and now lead the Agriculture programme as the Programme Team Leader.

David Bell

I am a former student of SRUC. My core business is progressive mixed farming and contract farming, based in Fife. We supply beef, cereals and potatoes to well-known quality brands in the food and drink sector.

I sit on a Machinery Ring co-operative board covering the central belt, a sector board for AHDB covering the whole of the UK, and am Chair of the local NFU branch. In addition, I am a member of AHDB’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee.

I am committed to balancing livestock and crop husbandry with protection and enrichment of the local environment in order to ensure a long-term, sustainable future in agriculture and I have received awards for agricultural practices in my business.

Fiona Larg

Fiona has held senior positions in the public and private sectors in Scotland and, most recently, in the university sector as Chief Operating Officer and University Secretary at the University of the Highlands and Islands. A chartered accountant by background, she has gained experience across a wide variety of industry sectors with national and international clients through her work.

In 1991 she was appointed Chief Executive of  Inverness and Nairn Enterprise and in that role, recognising the economic potential for the community, she was influential in the successful formation and admission to the Scottish League of  Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club. For the next 10 years she held senior management positions in business process outsourcing with Cap Gemini and Vertex Data Science Ltd. She played a formative role in the creation of the University of the Highlands and Islands as Chief Operating Officer and Secretary and was awarded the MBE in 2017 for services to higher education in Scotland. In addition to her executive roles, Fiona has volunteered in a non-executive capacity on the boards of charities and business organisations. She is currently a member of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland, a director of the Robertson Trust, Scotland’s largest independent grant-making trust, a director of the Port of Cromarty Firth, a director of Highland Tourism Community Interest Company and chair of Prosper’s (formerly SCDI) Highlands and Islands committee. Fiona chairs the audit committees of the Robertson Trust, the Law Society of Scotland and the Port of Cromarty Firth.

Jane Craigie

I run a highly respected marketing and communications business based in Aberdeenshire which has a proven track record in supporting businesses and organisations in the agri-food and rural sectors with their marketing, communications and public affairs. The business focuses on strategic and creative planning, implementation, digital communications, media relations, and events organisation, counting various blue-chip organisations amongst its clients.

Active in agricultural leadership, I am a past participant of the Institute of Agricultural Management’s Leadership programme, the Scottish Enterprise Rural Leadership programme and Windsor Leadership. I serve on the Executive of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists, the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists’ Council, the OECD Expert Advisory Committee on Enhancing Rural Innovation, and I co-founded the Rural Youth Project. I am also a trustee of Lantra, Forage Aid and a board member of Ringlink Scotland.

Katrina Hayter

Katrina is Global Head of Sustainable Land Use & Supply Chains at HSBC in the Group Sustainability Centre of Excellence. She is working to develop the company’s net-zero business plan and supporting the bank and its customers globally, in land-based industries and across supply chains, transition to a low carbon future. Previously she was at UKRI’s Innovate UK, where she held a number senior roles including Executive Director for Healthy Living and Agriculture, strongly connected with the top leaders in health, food and agriculture sectors, ministers, and other key decisions makers. She was also accountable for significant funding programmes including the Defra Farming Innovation Programme and the Transforming Food Production challenge. Katrina has worked for different organisations across the Agri-tech sector including FERA Science, DuPont Pioneer, and the World Economic Forum. Throughout her career, she has worked on the commercialisation of technology innovation both from a public and government perspective. Katrina has a PhD in Biosciences, an MSc in Ecology and a BSc in Plant Sciences.

Margaret Khnichich

I was elected to the Board in 2019 and chair the Finance & Estates Committee. I am a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Adviser and a graduate of the University of Glasgow. I have a family farming background in Central Scotland.

I was a partner in Ernst & Young for over 25 years, during which I advised many educational and charitable institutions. I held various management and leadership roles, including graduate recruitment and the establishment of EY’s Smart Futures programme in Central Scotland. Smart Futures offers paid work experience, skills development and mentoring to eligible young people from lower income households, attending state schools.

I am now an independent consultant providing business, accounting and tax advisory services to owner managed businesses. I am a Governor of The Glasgow Academy, Chair of Trustees of the University of Glasgow Trust and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the University of Stirling.

Dr Mia Aitchison (union member)

I joined the board in 2019 as the EIS Union representative.

I joined SRUC in 2013 as a lecturer in Animal Science at the Ayr campus after a brief partnership with SAC during my PhD. Originally, I studied Zoology, but agriculture was my true passion and, whilst finishing my PhD examining the energetic budgets of broiler chickens at Aberdeen University and Auchincruive, I decided that the post of lecturer was too good to pass by.

I am proud to be a ‘Jack of all trades’ when it comes to my job; to date I have taught over 20 different modules (from 1st year Chemistry to Msc Statistics). I am/was module leader for 14, and teach every degree program that comes through SRUC (no one can escape statistics!).

In 2019 I assisted in the writing and validation of the ‘Sustainable Food Production and Land Use degree’ and hope to see this flourish.

Professor Michael Smith

I have had a career in Higher Education as a research scientist, serving as a panel member for two rounds of the Research Assessment Exercise, and as Deputy and Pro Vice-Chancellor for research and enterprise. I have also held senior executive roles as a Registered Clinical Scientist in the NHS.

I have been committed to the role that the Higher Education and tertiary sectors can play in economic and social transformation and has established many partnerships with the commercial sector. I have formed many spin-out companies and advises internationally on the commercialisation of innovations.

I have wide experience as a Chair, Non-Exec Director, Governor, and Trustee of very large organisations, as well as emerging SMEs and micro companies. My experience and analytical skills have enabled me to work effectively in a number of sectors, including bioscience, nanotechnology, engineering, manufacturing, digital, informatics, and the arts sector. I live in Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway.

Professor Sir Pete Downes

I retired as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee after ten years in the role at the end of 2018. I currently serve in a range of non-executive roles as President and Chair of the Council of Trustees, the Biochemical Society; Chair of the Board of Trustees at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh; Chair of the Board of Directors, Platinum Informatics Ltd. and as a member of the Board of Scotland’s Rural College.

Under my leadership the University of Dundee was consistently rated best in Scotland for student experience by Times Higher Education and achieved record levels of research funding. I led the development of the University’s Transformation agenda, with the goal of becoming Scotland’s leading University, helping transform lives locally, nationally and globally and delivering economic, social and cultural impact.

I was Convener of Universities Scotland from August 2012 to July 2016, having previously served as Convener of its Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee. I have been a leading voice in championing the strengths an autonomous and diverse university sector can offer Scotland, and particularly the role universities can play in driving innovation and economic growth. I was a founding member of the Board of Design Dundee Ltd. which delivered the V&A Museum of Design to Dundee.

I am one of the UK’s leading biochemists. I spent eleven years in the pharmaceutical industry before joining the University in 1989. Before his appointment as Principal I served as Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Life Sciences. I played a key role in establishing Dundee as a global leader in life sciences, making a significant impact on both the Scottish economy and our understanding and treatment of major diseases including diabetes and cancer.

I was a co-founder of the Division of Signal Transduction Therapy (DSTT) at Dundee, a partnership between the University and several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The DSTT was founded in 1998 and has attracted over £60 million of inward investment to the city. It is widely regarded as a model for how universities and industry can interact productively and was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education in 2005.

I was awarded the Colworth Medal of the British Biochemical Society in 1987 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1991 and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2009. I was honoured by The Queen with an OBE in 2004 and a Knighthood in 2015.

Dennis Overton

A graduate of Agricultural Economics at Aberdeen University, I have followed an entrepreneurial career path, establishing and growing several food and farming businesses. I co-founded the Ross-shire-based sustainable seafood business Aquascot in 1987 and currently chair the Trust, which owns the business on behalf of its 190 employee owners. I brought the world’s first organic salmon to market in 1999. I joined the Board of the Soil Association in 2006 and was UK Chair from 2014 to 2017.

In Rwanda, I chair Ikirezi, an organic farming and processing business that sells essential plant oils to global buyers in the fragrance, flavouring and pharma sectors.

Since 2015, I have been chairing New Wave Foods, a business start-up that is farming, gathering, primary processing and retailing a widening range of Scottish seaweed products, under the Shøre brand.

As Chair of Ardtornish, a land-based business in North Argyll, I have overseen the building of seven renewable hydro and biomass energy schemes since 2010. I also have board leadership of the farming operation within the business.

A passionate believer in the power of collaboration along the value chain, I was a founding Board member of Scotland Food and Drink in 2007 and have chaired the organisation since 2018. I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society by peers in 2012.

Non-executive SRUC Innovation Ltd Board Members

Non-executive SRUC Ventures Ltd Board Members

Supporting documents

Key governance documents

• Register of Interests of Board members
• Schedule of Matters Reserved to the Board
• Scheme of Delegation
• Statement of Primary Responsibilities
• SRUC Governance Effectiveness Review
• Scottish Statutory Instrument (Standing Order), allowing transfer of Barony, Elmwood and Oatridge to SAC who are granted a name change to SRUC

Legal framework for SRUC: articles of association

• Articles of Association 2020
• SAC Commercial Ltd Articles of Association

Board Minutes

The open minutes from the SRUC Board meetings can be found via the links below:

• 2022 SRUC Board minutes
• 2021 SRUC Board minutes
• 2020 SRUC Board minutes
• 2019 SRUC Board minutes
• 2018 SRUC Board minutes
• 2017 SRUC Board minutes