Board

Chairman: Luke Borwick

Luke Borwick has been Chairman since 2008 and in 2010 became Vice President of the European Landowners’ Organisation as well as being appointed a Board Director of the Scottish Agricultural College. He also serves on the Country Landowners Association Policy Committee, which gives him a special perspective on many different land management issues and negotiations with the UK Government. His home is in Ayrshire.

On leaving the army, in 1976 Luke worked for two major printing businesses, gaining extensive sales and senior management experience in Africa, the Middle East, South America, the Far East and Europe. From 1993 until 2004 he carried out specific senior management tasks with a number of companies in the north of England. His present interests include Chairmanship of the North Ayrshire Access Forum, music and the arts.

Chief Executive & Director: Douglas McAdam

Douglas McAdam has been CEO since 2006, when he joined following a career in the commercial sector overseas and in the UK, latterly with Thames Water. As well as undertaking the role of CEO and Board member, he represents the Scottish Land & Estates on a number of external governmental and industry groups and Boards. These include:

Scotland’s Moorland Forum
National Species Reintroduction Forum
Board Member Scottish Country Sports Tourism Group
Board Member Executive Board of Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime
Chair of Police Poaching & Coursing Crime Priority Group
Police Raptor Crime Priority Group
Deer Management Round Table
SAC Council Member
GWCT Scottish Committee Member
Upland Coordination Group Member
Board Member Wildlife Estates Scotland

He spent over a decade in the Far East in various appointments with the Swire Group, mostly in Cathay Pacific Airways, Douglas returned to Scotland in the late 1990s. He then played a major role in building Thames Water’s business in Scotland, working both with Scottish Water and the Ministry of Defence. Douglas lives with his family in Highland Perthshire, near Tullimet.

Director: David Fyffe

Born and brought up on a mixed farm in Aberdeenshire, educated in England at Stowe School and London University, David joined the international drinks industry. After completing his wine education with Saccone & Speed he moved to the export side of the business and looked after spirits sales in Latin American and European markets before switching into the beer sector.

Prior to leaving the industry in 1996, David launched Foster’s Lager in Central and Southern Europe, living in France for the last two years. David returned with his French wife, Noëlle, to Fetternear Estate in Aberdeenshire in order to sort out the farm and prepare plans for the restoration of the estate’s historic buildings and infrastructure, which had suffered from years of underinvestment.

Since returning to Fetternear, David has been taking forward ongoing diversification plans, including extended development of the North-East of Scotland’s first rural business centre. The arable land is farmed very effectively via a contract farming arrangement with the Co-op and the grazing is leased out to local farming neighbours.

David and his family welcome some 6,000 people to Fetternear every year and actively encourage responsible access for the local and wider community. As well as his Scottish Land & Estates involvement, David sits on the Rural Development Council and is a land manager representative on the Aberdeenshire Local Access Forum. He spent some time helping the Scottish Executive Planners develop their planning guidelines for rural development in Scotland (SPP15), published in 2005.

He is particularly interested in the development of wider rural business opportunities in Scotland.

In his spare time, David runs wine tastings, coaches and referees rugby, and is involved with a number of local initiatives to help develop youth opportunities.

Director: James Galbraith

James Galbraith is Chairman of CKD Galbraith. He was brought up on the Buccleuch Estates in the Borders, where his father was Executive Director. He joined Cluttons in 1977 and moved to Edinburgh in 1978. At the formation of CKD Galbraith following the merger of Cluttons (Scotland) and CKH Finlayson Hughes in 2003 he was appointed Chairman.

James has been involved in the management and direction of family owned estates in the South of Scotland and in developing a significant commercial property business for CKD Galbraith in Edinburgh.

Director: John Glen

John Glen is the Chief Executive of the Buccleuch Group, the banner group for a diverse range of companies owned by the Duke of Buccleuch. The Group covers a broad spectrum of services within the land management sector from visitor services on the four Country Estates to commercial property development, Bio-energy and agricultural services.

John has had a long and varied financial career, spanning several continents and industry sectors, including household products and foods. Before returning to Edinburgh in 2008, John was based in Paris as Chief Financial Officer of Air Liquide, the world leader in Industrial gases. In addition, John was extensively engaged in the development on international accounting standards as the Vice Chairman of the European Financial Reporting Group (EFRAG).

Alongside his work at the Buccleuch Group, John is also a non-executive director for BIC and is Chairman of the Board at Alba Trees, a subsidiary company of the Buccleuch Group. John is also a member of the Board for Project Scotland, a national charity which helps people aged 18 to 30 to realise their potential through volunteering by creating partnerships between businesses, the voluntary sector and government.

Director: The Earl of Hopetoun

Andrew Hopetoun is Chairman of Hopetoun Estates and Deputy Chairman of the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust. These two organizations manage Hopetoun House (home of the Hope family for over 300 years and a successful tourism, corporate and private functions business) and its related estates, mostly at Hopetoun near Edinburgh and around Leadhills in the Scottish Borders.

From 2003, Andrew worked as Engineering and Projects Director for Intense Ltd., an opto-electronics firm specialising in the development of cutting edge laser and integrated opto-electronic solutions to the telecoms, defence, medical, printing and industrial markets. From 1991 to 2003 Andrew worked for the GEC group of companies (subsequently BAE Systems). Initially employed by NNC Ltd, a contract nuclear engineering company, he then moved to the GEC-Marconi group of defence companies.

Director: Andrew Howard

Andrew has been involved in estates management since 1994, and is currently managing Director of Moray Estates Development Company Limited. The Estate is 40,000 acres of which 10,000 acres in hand farm, 12,000 acres forestry and the balance is let to 18 farm tenants. The Estate also has significant residential properties, commercial properties and development interests, which include a new town, a business park, golf resort and renewable energy projects.

Andrew is a Director of Inverness Airport Business Park Ltd, Ascot Racecourse Estates Property Developments Ltd as well as Scottish Land & Estates. He sits on our Primary industries policy group and is one of our representatives on the Tenant Farming Forum.

Director: Sarah Troughton

Sarah is senior and resident trustee of Blair Charitable Trust, Director of Blair Castle Estate Ltd. the trading arm of the Blair Charitable Trust and owner of part of Atholl Estates. She is owner and manager of Ardchattan Estate, Argyll.

Sarah is also a committee member of the Historic Houses Association for Scotland, chair of the Scottish tourism group & member of the Tourism & Commercial Development Committee. She is chair of the Scottish Country Sports Tourism Group, a group set up with public and private partners to develop and promote Scotland’s exceptional country sports for commercial letting.

Sarah’s particular interests are historic houses and gardens, tourism, ski-ing and contemporary art.

Director: Daye Tucker

Daye Tucker is the interim acting chair of Scottish Land & Estates Central Regional Committee. On leaving Glasgow School of Art at the end of the sixties, she followed a career which spanned education, hospitality, fashion design, marketing and specialist retailing before achieving her ultimate ambition of owning and running a diversified farm business. Carbeth Home Farm is all that remains as a complete working unit of the historic Carbeth Estate at Killearn, seat of the Buchanan family.

Daye is very conscious of the need to preserve, protect and record the heritage of Carbeth. The enterprises at Carbeth Home Farm include: horse livery, equine tourism, mixed forestry, "hunting" (shooting), fishing, sheep, poultry and community initiatives. She is actively involved in all things rural and community at local, regional and national level through her role as a South East Rural Leader.

Daye is currently: Convenor of Killearn Community Futures Company, Forth Valley & Lomond Leader LAG member, Forth & Clyde NFUS Regional Committee, and Active supporter of RHET.

She also represents Scottish Land & Estates on: SEPA's Forth AAG, LLTNP Local Access Forum, LLTNP Local Biodiversity Action Group, Stirling Council's Community Planning Environment Strategic Partnership, Scottish Association of Farmer's Markets, Care Farming Scotland, CSGN and The Grow Your Own Group.

Director: Sir Alastair Gordon Cumming

Sir Alastair Gordon Cumming is the owner and manager of Altyre Estates, Nr Forres in Moray. Prior to moving north in the mid ninties he was an Insurance Broker with R K Harrison. He has been a member of the organisation for many years and until recently was chairman of the Scottish Estate Business Group (SEBG). He is also a member of the Findhorn Fishery Board.

He is married and has 3 children and describes himself as an enthusiastic countryman.