IoD Scotland Director of the Year Awards Judging Panel
IoD Scotland is grateful to our esteemed judging panel for their diligence, time, expertise and commitment.
Chair of the 2021 Judging Panel:
Theresa Shearer, Group CEO of ENABLE Group
Judging Panel
Theresa Shearer, Group CEO of ENABLE Group
Theresa Shearer is Group CEO of the ENABLE Group, which employs 2,200 people in Scotland; has 12,000 members and supporters; and supports over 4,500 individuals and families living with learning disabilities or with additional support needs.
Theresa is considered one of Scotland’s most dynamic, innovative and thoughtful advocates for people living and working on the frontline of health and social care.
Theresa has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts since 2017 and is a chartered fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. In 2020, she was awarded the Strathclyde Executive Leadership Award (STELAR) from Strathclyde University. She is vice convenor of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, a director of Inclusion Europe (which works across 39 countries with 74 member organisations), is a member of Young Scot’s advisory council and was invited to join the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Post-Covid-19 Futures Commission Inclusive Public Service Working Group. Theresa is one of 16 commissioners of the UK-wide Law Family Commission on Civil Society.
Timothy Allan (Tim), Private Equity and Property Entrepreneur / President, Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Tim is a private equity and property entrepreneur with many outside philanthropic interests. He owns Tricorn Capital, an investment company which has been particularly involved in the regeneration of the Dundee waterfront.
Tim is a founding shareholder and non-executive director of MFG, the largest fuel retailer in the UK. He is the Chair of the V&A Museum in Dundee and President of Scottish Chambers of Commerce.
Tim is also a member of Court at the University of St
Andrews and is a director of Edinburgh based Archangels angel investment syndicate. Tim holds The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion and serves as a Deputy Lieutenant for Clackmannanshire.
Shirley C Campbell, Director for People, Scottish Water
As Director for People, Shirley believes that Scottish Water, as a major employer in Scotland, has a responsibility to help people develop skills and capabilities which support the sustainability of the business and can take back into their communities.
In addition to her role as a member of the Scottish Water Executive team Shirley is Acting Chair of Scottish Water Horizons Holdings Ltd and President of Water Aid Scotland.
She is passionate about Agile working
and creating inclusive digital
environments where people can flourish and be highly productive. She is a lay member of Court at the University of Dundee, Chair of the People and Organisational Development Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.
She became a member of Scotland’s Fair Work Convention in 2018 and is an adviser to the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) on Scotland’s productivity.
With 16 years cross sector experience at Executive level Shirley has held senior roles at Royal and Sun Alliance, Aviva and Heriot Watt University before joining Scottish Water in 2011.
Whilst at Aviva she took on the role of Operations Director for Norwich Union Direct and worked Internationally on the development of Aviva’s Indian operations. She has also been an adviser to INSEAD Business School in France on their Executive Education programme.
She has a BSc (hons) in Psychology and a post graduate qualification in Personnel Management. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development and a trained counsellor. In 2017 she won the IoD Scotland Female Director of the Year award.
Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)
Anna has been the Chief Executive of the (SCVO) since April 2018. Before that, she was the Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council for nine years, and before that worked in Scottish Government and COSLA in policy and local government in HR. She is a member of the Oversight Board for The Promise, the board of SCDI and the SFA’s child protection and wellbeing board.
Anna has a degree in History of Art from Edinburgh University and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Iain Gulland, Chief Executive Officer, Zero Waste Scotland
Iain is Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland and previously led its predecessor programme, WRAP Scotland. Zero Waste Scotland leads on the delivery of the Scottish Government’s Circular Economy strategy and other low carbon policy priorities, and is at the forefront of efforts to create a resource efficient, circular economy. Iain has more than 25 years’ experience in sustainable resource management, including initiating recycling systems in the public and Third sectors. He is the current President of the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+) and he is a member of a number of Scottish Government strategic groups including the Economy and Environment Leaders Group, the Board of the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme and the Expert Panel on Environmental Charges. He was voted the ‘most influential person in the UK waste and resource efficiency sector’ in 2014 by Resource Magazine, and he was granted Fellowship of Chartered Institution of Wastes Management in 2016.
Poonam Gupta OBE, Founder & Chief Executive, PG Paper Company Ltd
Poonam is a Scottish-Indian Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. In 2003, Poonam founded PG Paper Company Ltd and has developed the business into a hugely successful and globally recognised brand, exporting to over 55 countries across the globe. The company now has offices in India, Turkey and will be opening further offices in the USA and China.
Poonam is continuously striving to expand into new markets and finding
new opportunities, she has also expanded into other successfully growing businesses including real estate, hospitality, dental & recruitment.
Most recently, Poonam’s ambitious nature was recognised when she was named as Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Scotland, 2019. Throughout her career, Poonam has maintained a strong interest in enabling collaboration between Scotland and India. She was appointed as a Director for Scottish Chambers of Commerce to continue to grow and strengthen this relationship, as part of a Scottish Government Strategy to see international exports double by 2029. She was recently featured in the 100 UK Most Influential People in UK India Relations list for her efforts. Her charitable interests include women-centric issues, underprivileged children, animal conservation, and gender equality.
Manish Joshi, CEO, Strathclyde Students’ Union
Manish has held a variety of roles in both the public and private sector during his career including running a successful financial services business in Glasgow, consulting on development, climate change, sustainability, biodiversity and social enterprise across the globe. An entrepreneur, campaigner, activist and organiser − he has undertaken leadership roles in the social care sector and now works within education as Chief Executive of Strathclyde Students’ Union. He serves as a
trustee and director on a number of boards including the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), Campaign Bootcamp and the Glad Cafe.
Mike Kane, Partner, Head of Business Law, Turcan Connell
Mike is a corporate lawyer and leads
Turcan Connell’s Business Law Team which provides a broad range of commercial, transaction and banking/funding services. Mike also leads the Turcan Connell Family Business Team, a large interdisciplinary team within Turcan Connell providing legal, and tax solutions to family and privately owned businesses and their owners.
Mike is a key member of Turcan Connell’s renewable energy team and provides advice
in this industry on the structuring of joint ventures, the sale and purchase of operational or consented sites and the funding of projects.
Mike was, for a number of years, part-time Finance Director of his family's care home group. This brings an additional element of commercialism to the advice he and his team provide. Mike and his team are fully committed to delivering the highest levels of service in an effective and cost-efficient way.
Josh Kennedy, Chair, Scottish Youth Parliament
Professor Heather McGregor CBE, Executive Dean, Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University
Professor Heather McGregor is the Executive Dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University. Between 1999 and 2016 she was otherwise known as ‘Mrs Moneypenny’ in her long-running column for the Financial Times. She is a non-executive director on several boards and received the Institute of Directors Scotland Chair’s Award in 2020. She is also a member of the UK Government’s Honours Committee for the Economy, which recommends members of the business
community for honours. An earlier career in investment banking preceded 17 years as an entrepreneur. In 2008, she established the Taylor Bennett Foundation, which supports the careers of minority ethnic graduates. In 2010 she became a founding member of the 30% Club, a global campaign led by Chairs and CEOs taking action to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels. Heather is an alumna of the London Business School and the University of Hong Kong, and has an honorary degree from the University of East London. She was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2015 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2021.
Aidan O’Carroll, Chair, IoD Scotland
Aidan O’Carroll is a former senior partner at EY, one of the world’s largest professional services firms which he left in July 2020 after 35 years.
Until June 2017 Aidan was based in London leading EY’s Global Compliance and Reporting business, with over 10,000 professionals working in 140 countries around the world. Formerly Head of Tax for EY in the UK, Aidan has advised both local and global companies across a wide spectrum of tax and business issues around the world. He has considerable experience in dealing with Regulatory matters in both emerging and developed markets; he is also a regular contributor and speaker at business conferences.
Aidan has worked in many countries and spent a number of years helping to lead business in Japan.
Aidan’s extensive experience has given him insights into global trends and their connections with the rapidly changing regulatory frameworks around the world. More recently Aidan has been advising private and family businesses in Scotland and internationally.
Aidan has most recently focused on a non-Executive portfolio, non-exec with ABE, a leading international not for profit organisation delivering professional business qualifications across many developing countries around the world, and with Hillhouse Estates Group, a Scottish based family owned business. In addition, he is current Chair of IoD in Scotland. In August 2021 he takes up the role of Chair of Revenue Scotland.
Aidan has always kept his home in Scotland throughout his international career and has stayed more closely connected to local business issues keeping abreast of local developments here.
Professor Robert Raeside, Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University
Robert works in the Edinburgh Business School of Heriot-Watt University providing support to Doctorate of Business Administration students. He is a statistician by background and is a Chartered Statistician with the Royal Statistical Society.
Robert’s research interests include applications of statistics to business focusing on employment, quality improvement and networks. In addition to publishing and supervision of research students he has also provided consultancy services to private and public sector businesses.
Bridget Sly, Head of Disability Employment Team, Employability Division, Fair Work, Employability and Skills, Scottish Government
Bridget has over 20 years’ experience of working in the HE, public and voluntary sectors in New Zealand and the UK as a practitioner, researcher and policy-maker. She has a demonstrated commitment to issues of equality and human rights, and has provided strategic analysis and advice across a range of policy issues, including: social justice and inclusion; culture, sport and physical activity; and community development. She was previously a lay advisor to the Metropolitan Police Service, a Non-Executive Director of the Glasgay festival, and a Director of the Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland. Currently Head of Disability Employment with the Scottish Government, she leads activity on the commitment to at least halve the disability employment gap in Scotland by 2038.