IOD SCOTLAND Spring 2024

The official membership 

magazine for the Institute 

of Directors in Scotland 

iod.com/scotland 

Direction 

SPRING 2024 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSUE 

‘AI is here... 

and it’s 

time to get 

on board’ 

IoD State of the 

Nation survey 

Transforming 

the Institute

www.iod.com/scotland 

FROM THE CHAIR | DIRECTION 

AI is the future, and the IoD is here 

to help you take advantage of it 

Scotland has always embraced 

innovation. From penicillin to 

telephones, MRI scanners and the 

cloning of Dolly the sheep, we’ve 

punched above our weight when it 

comes to harnessing technology. 

We view innovation as a solution; 

think of the agility, creativity and 

resilience that our organisations 

demonstrated in 2020. 

Fast forward to 2024 and our 

businesses do not have that same 

level of support – especially when it 

comes to funding – and while the 

specific challenge may have changed, 

the pressures that come with doing 

business haven’t. 

If Government financial support 

underpinned the agility and creativity 

of our organisations in 2020, it’s AI 

that’s going to keep us moving 

forward. It’s the key to maintaining 

innovation momentum when it comes 

to creative solutions in the face of 

challenging business conditions. 

Our State of the Nation survey 

showed that nearly half of members 

are already using AI to support 

business practices, and a huge 

majority view it as an opportunity in 

the coming year. This absolutely 

Scotland has always been a land of 

innovation, and so its businesses should 

be positive and embrace AI, says 

IoD Scotland Chair Julie Ashworth 

reflects our attitude to embracing new 

technology, however, entering the 

realm of artificial intelligence is both 

exciting and daunting for most. 

Some aspects of AI, like ChatGPT, 

are a quick and user-friendly way to 

utilise the technology. Whether 

summarising complex content, 

researching topics or even drafting 

basic communications, it can cut 

down the time spent on day-to-day 

tasks. But the ethical implications of 

this software must be considered 

carefully. While powerful, AI isn’t 

devoid of biases. It learns from 

historical data, and can inherit the 

prejudices embedded within the 

information it provides. Good 

governance means we must 

interrogate the sources and specifics 

of the data presented if we are using it 

to help inform decision-making or 

research. 

As we look at embedding AI into our 

long-term business strategies, we will 

also need to invest in people with a 

specialised skill-set. There is concern 

that AI is going to replace humans, but 

it’s not the case. Human sentiment is 

the one thing AI has not yet mastered, 

and we know our people are often the 

key to our success. We should view 

this as an opportunity to upskill 

employees or recruit fresh talent with 

expertise in a range of areas, from 

data analysis to machine learning 

algorithms. 

We already know that the skills gap 

is a concern for members, so how do 

we ensure the talent pipeline includes 

those proficient in AI? I hope to see it 

embedded into the curriculum. It is 

already being used by teachers and 

students from primary level to further 

and higher education. It’s a business 

risk to ignore AI, and so preparing the 

leaders of the future from an early age 

will help mitigate this. 

We’re hearing our members raise 

concerns about being left behind if 

they don’t use AI, but don’t feel 

confident enough to understand the 

how and basic mechanics of it all. The 

IoD is here to offer support and 

advice, thanks to our vast network of 

experts. Get in touch if you need help 

with where to start, or where to go 

next. Remember you can also access 

legal expertise and advice through the 

Information and Business Advice 

Service (IAS), which member have 

access to. 

Business don’t want to fall behind 

their competitors, and while the 

opportunities presented by AI are 

exciting and potentially game 

changing, it carries undeniable risk if 

not utilised in the right way. 

But then, we felt that way about the 

internet… 

IoD Scotland 

12 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 1JE 

T: 0131 557 5488 

E: iod.scotland@iod.com 

W: www.iod.com 

Nations Director - Scotland: 

Catherine McWilliam 

Catherine.McWilliam@iod.com 

Branch Manager: 

Patricia Huth 

T: 0131 557 5488 

Patricia.Huth@iod.com 

Commercial Manager, PD: 

Natasha Ure 

E: natasha.ure@iod.com 

T: 0131 460 7681 

Direction 

Direction is the official membership magazine of IoD Scotland and is published by: 

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Editorial: Heather Schreuder 

Please send press releases or editorial for consideration for future issues of 

Direction to Heather at E: HeatherS@clarkcommunications.co.uk 

Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of material contained within this magazine, 

neither IoD Scotland, Chamber Media Services nor Clark can accept any responsibility for 

omissions or inaccuracies in its editorial or advertising content. The views expressed in this 

publication are not necessarily those of the IoD. The carriage of advertisements or editorials in this 

publication does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services advertised. 

SPRING 2024 03

DIRECTION | IoD NEWS 


In an ever-changing world we need 

consistent messages from the top 

There is a real appetite among our members to 

embrace AI... but there’s clearly a lot of 

trepidation, too, says Catherine McWilliam, 

Nations Director IoD Scotland 

Welcome to the Spring issue of 

Direction magazine, where we are 

taking a look at AI, and its role in 

business. 

There is a real appetite from our 

membership to embrace AI, with 

80% of respondents in our State of 

The Nation survey stating they are 

optimistic about the benefits it will 

bring to their business, and 46% 

noting that AI is already being used 

in their organisations. 

The potential benefits are huge, 

whether it’s streamlining processes, 

carrying out time consuming admin 

tasks or even creating imagery – but 

it definitely isn’t perfect yet. Have 

you ever looked at the hands of 

humans in an AI-generated photo? 

It’s a real giveaway that it has been 

manufactured, especially the fingers! 

There is an understandable 

nervousness that comes with 

embedding any new technology into 

business practices, and none more 

so than with AI. It seems as though 

it became readily available almost 

overnight, and some of our 

contributors in this issue discuss the 

delicate balance of benefits and 

risks. I hope you enjoy reading their 

insight. 

State of the Nation 

On the topic of State of the 

Nation, I’d like to thank you for 

contributing. Nearly 20% of our 

membership shared their views, and 

it gave us well-rounded insight into 

how you’re feeling about the key 

issues affecting Scottish 

organisations. 

The consistency between the 

responses and our informal 

conversations with you underscores 

a clear message: business leaders in 

Scotland want to be heard. 

Our members are far from passive 

observers; you’re active participants 

whose insights and experiences 

shed light on the broader sentiments 

within Scotland’s business 

community. 

This is particularly relevant with 

the imminent change of leadership 

at Scottish Government. As this 

issue was being published, John 

Swinney was installed as First 

Minister, and we are closing in on an 

election period that could redefine 

many aspects of Scottish and UK 

governance. Responses showed 

dissatisfaction with the current level 

of political engagement with the 

business sector, at a time when 

confidence is low. While steps are 

being taken to rectify this, the New 

Deal for Business Group is a good 

example, there is still concern over 

the lack of action. 

Communication 

The ask is clear – business leaders 

need better, more collaborative 

communication. In the past year, 

we’ve seen several changes at 

ministerial and civil servant level, 

against a backdrop of wider political 

discord. There is concern that this 

has hindered progress and stalled 

productive conversations. 

We’ve told Government that 

business leaders appreciate 

consistency and follow-through from 

decision-makers, which in turn 

would result in a much-needed 

increase in business confidence. 

Having more leaders around the 

decision-making table would allow 

for a genuine partnership in policy 

design. This means not only 

involving them in the early stages of 

policymaking, but also maintaining a 

consistent dialogue that allows for 

co-designing solutions to challenges 

such as achieving Net Zero, 

improving skills, and managing the 

just transition in our economy. 

The issues of today are daunting— 

ranging from sustainability to 

technological integration and 

workforce development. However, 

they also present unparalleled 

opportunities for innovation and 

growth. Business leaders are poised 

to take bold steps towards 

embracing AI, promoting fair work, 

and enhancing inclusivity and 

diversity within their operations. Yet, 

all these potential achievements 

hang on the foundational ability to 

collaborate effectively with the 

government. If we can streamline 

and strengthen this collaboration, 

we can transform these ambitious 

goals into tangible realities that 

benefit not just individual businesses 

but the entire Scottish economy. 

We saw great coverage of the 

State of the Nation survey results in 

the media, and as a result, we’ve 

had requests from ministers to meet 

and discuss how they can further 

support our members. 

To maintain this momentum, I’d 

like to encourage you all to 

participate in the monthly policy 

voice survey that you’re sent. Your 

voice really does matter. 

Get in touch 

I hope you all enjoy this issue of 

Direction, and we’re already 

planning the Summer issue, which 

will have a focus on wellbeing. 

If you have anything you’d like to 

share on this topic, email me at 

catherine.mcwilliam@iod.com 

04 SPRING 2024


IoD NEWS | DIRECTION 

Business pessimism remains, 

but IoD survey finds it is falling 

The IoD Directors’ Economic 

Confidence Index, which measures 

business leader optimism in 

prospects for the UK economy, rose 

to -10 in April 2024 from -12 in 

March. 

This increase sustains the leap 

upwards that the Index experienced 

in March, and continues its steady 

recovery from its recent low point of 

-31 in June 2023. 

Firms’ net investment intentions 

for the year ahead were also up on 

the month, rising from +18 in March 

to +21 in April. 

However, the index of business 

leader optimism for the future of 

their own organisation declined to 

+38 in April, down from +42 in 

March, and net revenue expectations 

declined from +44 to +40. 

Other indicators from April’s 

survey – cost, headcount, wages and 

export outlook for the coming year 

– remained broadly similar to the 

previous month. 

Dr. Roger Barker, Director of Policy 

at the IoD, said: “It remains the case 

that business leaders are, on 

balance, pessimistic about UK 

economic prospects. 

“However, since March, the 

pessimists have been in retreat. 

Confidence has been edging 

upwards and is now within striking 

distance of a more neutral 

perspective. 

“According to IoD members, the 

fundamentals are in place for some 

kind of UK economic recovery. Most 

are expecting revenues, investment 

spending and exports to move 

upwards over the next 12 months. 

And business leaders continue to 

express a much higher level of 

optimism in prospects for their own 

organisations compared to the 

economy as a whole – which is an 

encouraging sign. 

“However, a significant obstacle to 

improved business confidence is the 

current high level of UK interest 

rates. 

“Business leaders will be looking 

for a significant shift in the monetary 

stance of the Bank of England 

before they are able to buy into a 

rosier economic outlook. 

“As a result, they will be closely 

watching the outcome of the next 

monetary policy committee meeting 

on 9 May. 

The IoD Directors’ Economic 

Confidence Index measures the net 

positive answers from members of 

the IoD to the question ‘How 

optimistic are you about the wider 

UK economy over the next 12 

months?’ on a five-point scale from 

‘very optimistic’ to ‘very pessimistic’. 

Full survey results 

712 responses from across the UK, 

conducted between 12-29 April 

2024. 16% ran large businesses 

(250+ people), 21% medium (50- 

249), 22% small (10-49 people), 30% 

micro (2-9 people) and 12% sole 

trader and self-employed business 

entities (0-1 people). 

How optimistic are you about both the wider UK economy and also your organisation over the next 12 months? 

Very Quite Neither optimistic Quite Very Don’t know 

optimistic optimistic nor pessimistic pessimistic pessimistic 

Wider UK 

economy 2.81% 27.25% 30.06% 33.15% 6.46% 0.28% 

Your (primary) 

organisation 7.87% 46.49% 28.23% 13.76% 2.53% 1.12% 

Comparing the next 12 months with the last 12 months, what do you believe the for your organisation will be in 

terms of: 

Much higher Somewhat No change Somewhat Much lower Don’t know N/A 

higher 

lower 

Business 

investment 4.5% 35.0% 39.9% 13.9% 4.1% 0.6% 2.1% 

Costs 11.4% 68.5% 14.6% 3.4% 0.7% 0.1% 1.3% 

Exports 3.2% 16.9% 31.0% 4.4% 1.8% 1.0% 41.7% 

Headcount 1.8% 31.3% 51.1% 11.8% 1.8% 0.3% 1.8% 

Revenue 7.7% 49.3% 23.3% 15.0% 2.4% 0.7% 1.5% 

Wages 3.9% 56.6% 33.8% 2.9% 0.6% 




IoD Scotland State of the Nation survey: 

Concerns on Government policy 

and tax, but backing for AI 

At the start of the year IoD Scotland 

gathered evidence for its annual State 

of the Nation Survey. 

Responses were received from a fifth 

of our membership, and their answers 

gave us insights into the key 

challenges and opportunities facing 

Scottish businesses in 2024. They will 

allow us to plan our policy strategy 

and allow us to better represent and 

reflect the views of our members in 

our engagement with both the 

Scottish and UK Governments. The 

survey closed on March 4. 

This year’s survey had similar themes 

to 2023’s, with the economy and 

taxation high on our list of priorities, 

but we added new questions to reflect 

changes in both business and society, 

to ensure a more rounded picture. 

Other priority areas included ESG, the 

Scottish Government’s New Deal for 

Business and, appropriately for the 

theme of this issue of Direction, AI 

(artificial intelligence). 

The 2024 survey highlighted new 

concerns for leaders over the 

additional tax band announced at the 

Scottish budget in December 2023. 

The introduction of a sixth tax bracket, 

compared to the rest of the UK’s three, 

means those earning over £75k 

annually are being taxed at a rate of 

45% as of 6 April 2024. 

Of the 82% who expressed concern 

over this further divergence with the 

UK, nearly 40% (39%) noted that staff 

recruitment was likely to be impacted 

the most; 34% said employee’s choice 

of location would be a concern, and 

27% are worried about the impact on 

inward investment. 

While 61% of members said they 

have the right number of skilled people 

for current jobs (2023:54% ), only half 

(54%) reported that they were 

confident of being able to recruit 

sufficient skilled staff in the next 12 

months (2023: 57%) 

Catherine McWilliam, Nations 

Director – Scotland at the IoD 

commented: “The skills gap continues 

to be a key concern for our members. 

Future recruitment and staff retention 

are key when business planning, and 

our data shows business leaders think 

that the introduction of the new tax 

band in Scotland will make things even 

more difficult for them. Responses 

show that leaders clearly see 

Scotland’s tax regime as yet another 

barrier to attracting and retaining 

talent – and encouraging investment.” 

Results were more positive across 

other key areas, with 69% of 

respondents stating their intention to 

grow in the next 12 months. 

Employment and cybersecurity were 

identified as key priorities for the next 

five years, and there is real appetite for 

embedding AI tools into businesses, 

with 80% of respondents feeling 

optimistic about opportunities, and 

46% noting that AI is already being 

used within their organisation. 

When it comes to Scottish 

Government economic policy, 76% of 

respondents felt there has been 

insufficient attention to growing the 

economy in the long term, while 50% 

of members need more support to 

meet the country’s Net Zero ambitions. 

Catherine McWilliam continued: 

“This survey highlights that there is 

an abundance of opportunities out 

there, but if we don’t get the 

fundamentals like access to skilled 

workers and policy implementation 

right, businesses will struggle to take 

advantage of them. 

“Collaboration is key: by creating 

clear channels of communication 

and engaging with decision makers 

about the challenges facing 

businesses, we can create a thriving 

economy that will attract talent and 

investment from the rest of the UK 

– and further afield.” 

What does the feedback tell us? 

IoD Scotland membership continues to be predominantly from the private 

sector (79%) and over half of this year’s respondents (68%) are from firms 

with 100 or fewer employees — a small increase from last year’s figure (66%). 




What are your priorities for your organisation over 

the next five years? Rank then in order 

Skills, employment 

and growth 

A majority of the IoD Scotland 

membership are positive that their 

organisation has the right number of 

skilled people for current jobs (61%), 

an increase in confidence from the 

feedback provided last year (54%). 

In terms of the ability recruit 

sufficient skilled staff in the next 12 

months, this year’s proportion (54%) 

is comparable with that from 2023 

(57%). 

Taxation 

How much of a concern is income 

tax divergence in Scotland? 

If concern is serious, would this have an 

impact on any of these areas? 

Views on taxation policy within Scotland were largely critical and 

respondents. 71% of respondents felt business taxes were too high 

and 74% felt the same for personal taxes. 82% expressed some form 

of concern with the way in which income tax policy diverged in 

Scotland as opposed to the UK as a whole and within that group the 

largest area of concern was related to staff recruitment (39%). 




IoD Scotland State of the Nation survey: 

Scottish Government Policy 

Attitudes towards the Scottish 

Government economic policy have been 

mixed. In the long-term, 76% of 

respondents feel that it has paid 

insufficient attention to growing the 

economy, while 50% have said that more 

recently they don’t feel sufficiently 

supported to meet the Scottish 

Government’s Net Zero target and only 

7% have feel the ‘New Deal for Business’ 

has had a positive impact. 

Other takeaways 

Working with education: 65% of 

respondents work within an organisation 

that has partnered with a higher 

education body. 

Fair Work: Only 23% of respondents said 

in 2023 that their organisation had 

adopted the Scottish Government’s ‘Fair 

Work Nation Principles’; this year the 

figure is 41%. 

2024 marks the 25th anniversary since 

the Scottish Parliament was reconvened. 

Do you think the Parliament has taken 

sufficient interest in growing the 

economy during this time 

As a leader, do you feel supported to 

be able to lead your organisation to 

achieve the Scottish Government’s 

Net Zero target? 

Environmental, social and governance 

Awareness of environmental, social and governance 

considerations (“ESG”) is broadly the same as last year, 

with a small drop from 86% to 81% of respondents working 

at organisations that have implemented measures or are in 

the process of doing so. 

To what extent has your organisation 

embedded environmental, social and 

governance (ESG) considerations into 

its business strategy, operations and 

product and/or service offerings? 

Has your business adopted 

the Scottish Government’s 

Fair Work Principles 

Framework? 

Apprenticeships 

Opinion is more mixed when looking at 

apprenticeships. While 46% of our 

respondents work at an organisation 

employing apprentices or supporting a 

workplace training scheme, only 23% of their 

primary organisations pay the 

apprenticeship levy. Within that pool, 67% 

were either unsure of or critical towards the 

value for money presented by the levy. 

Does your primary organisation employ 

apprentices or support a workplace training 

scheme? 

Does your primary organisation pay an 

apprenticeship levy? 

If yes, does the scheme represent good 

value for money? 




AI, and it’s role in the workplace 

When asked about the future utility of AI-based tools, 80% of 

respondents are optimistic and 46% note that AI is already 

being using in support of processes within their organisations. 

Conclusion 

IoD Scotland will use the results 

from the State of the Nation 

Directors Survey to shape our work 

streams and policy focus over the 

next 12 months. The feedback that 

we have gathered has already 

proved to be hugely insightful, 

informative and useful when we are 

meeting with policy makers and 

other representatives. 

The results of last year’s survey drew 

cross-party attention and were used 

within the Scottish Parliament, and 

it is our hope that the same will be 

true for this year. 

Our sincere thanks go to all those 

who took the time to complete the 

survey and share their thoughts with 

us. 

The next survey will be available in 

early 2025. In the meantime, we 

would encourage all IoD Scotland 

members to complete the IoD’s 

Policy Voice survey. 

Professional development 

Continuing professional development is still important for IoD Scotland 

members, with 87% of respondents having undertaken it in the last three 

years and 82% planning to do so within the next three. Taking a wider 

view, 92% feel that it is important for their organisations to invest in the 

skills of others. 

Policy Voice 

Policy Voice allows us to take 

monthly snapshots of member views 

on current business issues. All IoD 

members will be invited to complete 

Policy Voice each month and share 

their views to influence how we talk 

to those in power on a range of 

business-critical issues — from trade 

to taxation, education to 

entrepreneurship and inclusion to 

innovation. 

Further information: 

iod.com/policyvoice 


DIRECTION | BRANCH NEWS 


ABERDEEN 

Navigating challenges 

and building resilience 

What would you do if someone said 

to you: “You’re not what we are 

looking for” 

Lee (Frank) Spencer was told this 

not once but three times. Not giving 

up on his dream, it spurred him on 

to a remarkable career as a Royal 

Marine. 

And when tragedy struck and he 

lost his leg in a near-death accident, 

he went further still, and became 

known as ‘The Rowing Marine’. 

Back in February, Lee captivated a 

room full of IoD members and 

guests in Aberdeen with his 

remarkable story and a masterclass 

in overcoming challenges and 

building resilience. 

Lee grew up in very difficult 

circumstances in a home dominated 

by alcoholism and violence, and 

despite being told that he wasn’t 

what they were looking for, joined 

the Royal Marine Commandos in 

1992. He completed operational 

tours of Northern Ireland and Iraq 

before qualifying for special duties, 

undertaking tours of Afghanistan 

working in an undercover and covert 

role within the human intelligence 

sphere. 

In January 2014 while helping 

motorists who had crashed into a 

motorway central reservation, Lee 

lost his right leg below the knee 

having been hit by debris from a 

further crash. Conscious throughout, 

Lee was able to utilise his military 

training to save his own life. 

He then went on to achieve some 

extraordinary feats of endurance, 

including becoming the world’s first 

physically disabled person to row 

across the Atlantic solo and 

unsupported – beating the ablebodied 

world record by 36 days, 

gaining himself three new Guinness 

World Records. 

Members of the IoD Aberdeen & 

Grampian Branch had the great 

fortune of being able to take part in 

his experience turned into workshop, 

where he shared how this selfconfessed 

ordinary man has 

achieved extraordinary things, and 

how we all can too. 

He talked about comfort and 

familiarity breeding stagnation. 

‘Through challenge and innovation 

comes failure, but failure is not final. 

Overcoming failure is what builds 

resilience. The more you fail, the 

more resilient you become.’ 

Lee’s nine steps to overcoming 

challenges and building resilience: 

n Concentrate on the positive 

n Grab every opportunity 

n Break challenges up 

n Ride out the tough times 

n When disaster strikes it’s rarely 

as bad as you think 

n Teamwork: no person is an island 

n Be truthful with yourself 

n Perspective 

n Keep hold of your dream 

Aged 55, Lee is getting back in the 

boat in December, rowing across the 

Atlantic from the Canary Islands to 

Barbados. This time he’ll row with 

wounded servicemen from Ukraine 

to shine a spotlight on the human 

toll of war in Ukraine and support 

the rehabilitation of Ukrainian 

service members through the 

Invictus Games Foundation. 

Keep an eye out for the launch of 

Row4Ukraine, where you can follow 

their journey and donate. 

Get in touch 

For more information on the 

Aberdeen & Grampian branch, 

contact: Sarah Downs 

chair.aberdeen@iod.net 

10 

SPRING 2024



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EDINBURGH & LOTHIANS 

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The lower ground floor offers a 

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Away day packages can 

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promoting the ethos of a healthy 

work-life balance. 

But the perks don’t end there. 

neospace also exclusively offers 

complimentary 2-day passes each 

month which grants IoD members 

access to our premium lounge and 

coworking facilities. This allows 

members to immerse themselves in 

the vibrant neospace community, 

while travelling to or working in the 

city. 

Members gave the IoD Edinburgh & Lothians branch 

some feedback that they would like to see more 

networking events – so that is exactly what we are 

doing! 

Our first networking event of 2024 was held in 

Central Edinburgh. Members and non-members 

networked in lovely surroundings at Malmaison, 

making new connections and catching up with old 

ones. 

Next up will be a summer event (or two). We are 

currently running a poll on whether members would 

rather go to a Fringe event, go to the Edinburgh 

Tattoo, do both, or do something else entirely. 

What’s your preference? Send your vote to 

PR-Comms.Ambassador.Edinburgh@iod.com 

Get in touch 

For more information on the Edinburgh & Lothians 

branch, contact Nathalie Agnew 

chair.edinburgh@iod.net 

Right, members mingle at Malmaison! 




HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS 

Freeport highlights 

Highlands possibilities 

The Uile-bheist Distillery and 

Brewery proved an excellent host to 

IoD Highlands & Islands members 

The first four months of 2024 have 

seen a busy calendar of in-person 

and online events at the IoD 

Highlands & Islands branch 

We have had great engagement 

from members and highlighted key 

strategic topics including the impact 

of the Green Freeport on our region 

– described as the next industrial 

revolution of our time – when we 

were joined in conversation with 

Calum MacPherson, CEO of Inverness 

and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport. 

Calum’s presentation kicked off 

our 2024 lunchtime online series 

with an audience of 50 business and 

public sector leaders. 

That was followed by another 

topical session with IoD Scotland 

Regional and Public Sector Director 

of the Year, Stuart Black, CEO of 

Highlands and Islands Enterprise, 

who outlined the regional 

development agency’s new strategy 

and priorities for supporting 

economic growth and local 

employment. 

Uile-bheist Distillery and Brewery 

The debating of regional issues 

and businesses opportunities 

continued with a dinner event 

hosted by a recently-joined member 

of the IoD, Victoria Erasmus, at the 

excellent Uile-bheist Distillery and 

Brewery – it’s the Scottish Gaelic for 

‘Monster’. 

The event – sponsored by 

Rathbones – saw guests tackle the 

theme of ‘game-changers’: working 

together to revive our economy and 

reverse depopulation in the 

Highlands and Islands. 

Our online series continued on 1 

May when we were joined by Anas 

Sarwar MSP, Leader of the Scottish 

Labour Party, and Michael Marra 

MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for 

Anas Sarwar MSP 

has exciting plans 

for the Highlands 

& Islands 

Finance for a Member Roundtable. 

With the Scottish Labour leader 

Anas Sarwar MSP promising to put 

Scotland at the heart of a Labour UK 

Government, it was great to have a 

focus on what that will mean for the 

Highlands and Islands. 

The event and discussion that 

followed continued the intense 

interest that has followed the 

publication of the IoD Scotland 

State of the Nation 2024 Report. 

It’s excellent to see such high, and 

growing, levels of interest and 

engagement from members right 

across our region, and we have 

exciting plans for some Islands 

events later in the year, too! 

Get in touch 

For more information on the 

Highlands & Islands branch, contact: 

(Highlands) Alison Wilson – 

chair.highlands@iod.net 

(Islands) Clare Winskill – 

chair.islands@Iod.net 




CENTRAL SCOTLAND 

AI on menu 

– and it’s a 

tasty option 

The Central Scotland Annual Dinner 

was back this year. 

This is a flagship event in the 

branch’s calendar, and was once 

more kindly hosted by Forth Valley 

College at its Gallery Restaurant in 

Stirling. 

The evening offered the chance to 

reconnect with members and build 

new relationships with others, while 

enjoying a sumptuous three-course 

meal in a stunning setting. On the 

menu were dishes prepared by Forth 

Valley College’s 2024 Scottish 

Student Chef of the Year Finalists, 

Kerry Hall and Ailis Frize. 

An array of expert guest speakers 

– Professor Joe Little, Kenji Lamb 

and the subject of this issue’s 

Leadership interview, Dr Eve Poole 

OBE – offered insights on what AI 

can mean for the future business 

landscape, assessing its impact and 

asking what adjustments directors 

may need to consider to ensure their 

organisations continue to flourish. 

Some key ideas that our 

committee took away from the 

evening included: 

n Let your team loose on AI to 

have a play – they will find 

innovative ways of utilising it. 

n AI is not to be feared but 

embraced. It is down to us how we 

use AI to enable us to do more than 

to disable us to do less. 

There was a real buzz in the room 

and the only sad part was lack of 

time – we could have stayed all 

night! 

Feedback from guests about the 

night included: “Best IoD event I 

have been to for a long time.” 

We also raised £330 for IoD 

Central Scotland’s Charity Partner of 

the year, Committed to Ending 

Abuse in Falkirk from our silent 

auction. 

Get in touch 

For more information on the Central 

Scotland branch, contact: 

Neil Bradbrook – chair. 

centralscotland@iod.net 

Brian brings energy and experience to FWB board 

FWB, the executive search 

and leadership advisory 

service has appointed 

Brian Williamson as the 

new Chair of the Board. 

Brian joins following an 

extensive search across 

relevant corporate, SME, 

and scaling-up businesses. 

With a wealth of 

experience in high-quality 

entrepreneurial services businesses, 

Brian brings valuable insights and 

connections to FWB, as well as 

first-hand experience of scaling and 

exiting a business in the recruitment 

sector and within high growth 

PE-backed environments. His 

successful leadership in high-growth 

people focused services businesses 

coupled with his personal drive, 

energy, and alignment with our 

leadership team and Board, makes 

him an ideal fit for the role. 

Commenting on the 

appointment, Ailsa 

Sutherland, Shareholder 

and Board Member said: 

“We are delighted to 

welcome Brian as our 

new Chair. His proven 

track record and 

strategic direction will 

undoubtedly contribute to 

the continued success and 

growth of FWB. We are excited 

about the future with Brian’s 

leadership and remain dedicated to 

delivering excellence for our clients 

across the UK as we continue to 

invest and grow.” 

Brian Williamson stated: “I am 

privileged to be appointed Chairman 

of FWB, a 30-year-old institution 

renowned for delivering excellent 

results. The whole team is eager to 

continue to advance the business 

and grasp the opportunities that lie 

ahead. 

“I am extremely excited to 

add value in my own particular way 

and have been humbled by the 

enthusiasm with which I have been 

welcomed.” 

BRANCH CONTACTS 

For more information on the Fife & Tayside branch, contact: 

Marlene Lowe – chair.fifetayside@iod.com 

The South of Scotland chair is currently vacant. 

Contact the regional office. 




Leadership, mastered 

Ros Taylor leads a series of IoD 

masterclasses, in partnership 

with Rathbones Investment 

Management International 

This series of IoD masterclasses aims 

to provide practical learning and 

focuses on the different behaviours 

and skills needed to be effective as a 

leader. It is for those directors who 

are serious about their professional 

development. 

These are held in central 

Edinburgh, and you can attend any 

of these as a stand-alone 

masterclass. Just £50 per session for 

members and £100 for nonmembers. 

Lunch is provided. 

This first session, “What kind of 

leader are you?” took place on the 

17th of April and was well received. 

Stephen Hunter, Deputy Regional 

Director at Rathbones, said, 

“Through a combination of shared 

facts, anecdotes and valuable group 

discussion, there were many 

worthwhile takeaways from the 

course. It was certainly well worth 

setting aside the time.” 

Ros said, “We had a wonderfully 

diverse group of IoD members at 

Get in touch 

For more information on the Edinburgh & 

Lothians branch, contact Nathalie Agnew 

chair.edinburgh@iod.net 

the first Leadership Seminar which 

took place at the plush offices of 

Rathbones in George Street.” 

Ros added: “The next three 

seminars, based again on my 

research, will cover strategic 

thinking, influencing skills, handling 

difficult people as well as problem 

solving and creativity.” 

Next sessions: 

May 15 

Strategic Leadership 

June 5 

Skills to influence 

others and handle 

difficult people 

July 3 

The creative advantage 

Click to book 

EDINBURGH & LOTHIANS 

Introduction to personal brand for directors 

Most employees don’t have to think about their 

personal brand, but directors are the face of the 

company. That’s why IoD Edinburgh & Lothians asked 

personal brand expert Ryan O’Keeffe to present at a 

webinar for us. This webinar was incredibly popular, 

with over 130 people signing up to attend. 

The key takeaway is that personal branding is critical 

to lead generation. Networking. Relationships. 

Recruitment. But it’s about more than that. Personal 

branding is about who you are and what you stand for. 

Among other things Ryan covered how important it 

is to be authentic and to demonstrate your values. He 

put everyone into small breakout rooms to talk about 

times we have been misunderstood or misrepresented 

before addressing how to deal with these issues. 

There were also some great 

questions at the end, such as how to 

get the balance right between 

personal brand and company 

brand and how to build an 

audience if you have yet to get 

speaking opportunities. 

Ryan has also shared some useful 

links for IoD members who are 

interested in developing their personal brand: 

Click here for more details of the Jago 

personal brand benchmark report 

Click here for your personal brand 

health check 



DIRECTION | DOWNTIME 


Raise a glass to Scotland’s oldest working distillery 

Planning to explore Scotland this summer? Why not visit 

Scotland’s oldest working distillery and enjoy a Michelin 

star feast with Scottish chef Mark Donald. 

The Glenturret Distillery – the first of its kind – is the 

perfect spot to enjoy the summer sun with a walk among 

the old still houses and tumbling waters of the River 

Turret. Enjoy Mark Donald’s delicious dishes in the onsite 

restaurant – an exclusive venue with just seven tables. 

Home of the Glenturret Single Malt Whisky, the 

distillery still demonstrates century-old, hand-operated 

methods that have stood the test of time. 

The Aberturret Estate House, inspired by the Highlands 

and the distillery’s whisky heritage, also offers a private 

woodland hideaway for those looking to retreat for a 

nightcap or just escape the office for a little longer. 

For more information, click HERE. 

Photo: The Glenturret Restaurant 

A proper 

unicorn 

as Perth 

museum 

reopens 

its doors 

Photo: Culture 

Perth & Kinross/ 

Julie Howden 

Interested in sharing your 

knowledge about Scotland’s 

national animal – the unicorn - with 

your colleagues? Or filling 

breakroom chats with facts about 

the Stone of Destiny and Irish High 

Kings? 

There’s plenty to learn about at 

Perth Museum, which has reopened 

after a £27million redevelopment. It 

is home to some of Scotland and the 

UK’s most iconic historical pieces, 

not least the Stone of Destiny, also 

known as the Stone of Scone, which 

has returned to Perthshire for the 

first time in 700 years. It’s still used 

to crown kings and queens in 

today’s society, most recently King 

Charles III. 

To find out more, click HERE. 

Now brewing: New afternoon 

tea experience at Hilton Glasgow 

Hilton Glasgow is launching a new 

afternoon tea experience in the 

heart of the city. The elevated tea 

pairing experience at the Tea 

Lounge by Dilmah is the perfect 

place to catch up with friends or 

make long-lasting memories with 

family over the perfect brew. 

Set in a cosy atmosphere, Tea 

Sommelier Lazaros brings his 

expertise in tea smells and tastes as 

well as food pairings to the table, 

after attending the 77th Dilmah 

School of Tea session in Sri Lanka in 

March. 

The new afternoon tea menu, has 

a wide range of flavours including a 

tart but sweet blueberry and 

pomegranate blend and a fragrant 

mango and strawberry tea. 

IoD members get a special rate for 

Hilton Glasgow’s new afternoon tea 

experience, so, at 2 for £30, why not 

swap the boardroom for the 

Hilton Glasgow’s 

Dilma Tea Lounge 

tearoom or take your loved one out 

for a Father’s Day treat. 

To find out more and to book, visit: 

the Dilmah Tea Lounge | Dilmah 

Afternoon Tea (sevenrooms.com) 

which can be accessed HERE. 

Photo: Andrew Perry Photos 

Scotland’s capital is picture perfect 

Edinburgh-based festival NT Art Month is returning for its second 

year in a row this June. 

Sprawled across numerous venues within the city, turn off work 

mode and jump into an event that turns Scotland’s picturesque 

capital into an exhibition in itself, with 11 galleries open to visitors. 

The summer festival is a celebration of local talent and the creative 

culturerom photography and paintings to bronze sculptures and 

eclectic collections, the event shines a light on the variety within the 

industry and the importance of creating these spaces. as a whole. 

NT Art Month, sponsored by Investec Wealth & Investment UK, 

who are part of the Rathbones Group, runs from 7 June to 30 June 

To find out more, click HERE. 


DIRECTION | BEHIND THE DESK 


Be professional, be kind – and 

have a laugh along the way 

Name: DR LUCY HARRIER 

Position: MANAGING DIRECTOR 

Company: PREPRESS PROJECTS LTD 

Number of employees: 17 

Short overview of organisation: Prepress Projects has 

been providing publishing services since 1991 and has 

been employee-owned since 2022. Serving a diverse 

clientele that includes UK government departments, EU 

and UN agencies, as well as private companies, we take 

pride in delivering top-notch services tailored to meet 

their specific needs. At Prepress Projects, proficiency in 

the English language is a cornerstone of our operations. 

All staff members are proficient in both spoken and 

written English at a native level. Moreover, we specialise 

in editing documents authored by non-native English 

speakers, ensuring clarity and coherence throughout. 

Our comprehensive range of publishing services 

encompasses thorough copy-editing, meticulous 

proofreading, and comprehensive project management. 

What is the greatest recurring 

challenge you come across in your 

role, and what’s your strategy for 

dealing with it? 

One of the greatest recurring 

challenges that I face in my role is 

finding staff who not only possess 

excellent skills and qualifications but 

also exhibit good values and 

behaviours that align with our business 

culture. 

It’s essential to have a team that not 

only performs well but also treats 

others with respect and 

professionalism. 

I am unwavering in my stance that 

no level of individual performance 

excuses poor behaviour or 

mistreatment of others. Upholding this 

principle ensures that our workplace 

remains respectful, collaborative and 

conducive to the success of the 

business. 

Who, or what, drives you or inspires 

you? 

What drives and inspires me is my 

need to do a job well. From my earliest 

days as a summer student to my 

current role as a managing director, 

I’ve always been self-driven and 

self-motivated to give my best and 

achieve the highest standards. 

The pursuit of doing something well 

and within my capabilities isn’t just a 

goal for me; it’s a fundamental aspect 

of who I am. I find inspiration in the 

challenge of constantly learning and 

improving, pushing boundaries and 

making a meaningful impact in 

whatever task or role I undertake. 

What is your long-term vision for the 

organisation that you lead? 

My long-term focus remains on 

consolidation and maintaining steady 

growth. Despite navigating through 

the challenges of the pandemic and its 

aftermath, such as the mass 

resignations it triggered, as well as the 

constraints posed by Brexit – notably 

our inability to directly bid for specific 

EU contracts – we are determined to 

grow the business in a sustainable and 

resilient manner, ensuring our longterm 

success and ability to weather 

future challenges. 

What keeps you awake at night? 

The drive to ensure that there’s 

enough meaningful work coming into 

the business. It’s crucial for the work to 

align with our values by providing 

fulfilling tasks that keep everyone 

engaged and motivated. The thought 

of individuals sitting idle with nothing 

to do is demoralising for all involved. 

Thus, my mind is always strategising 

ways to generate new work 

opportunities that not only keep our 

team busy but also contribute positively 

to our shared goals and values. 

What makes a good leader great? 

There are many behaviours and 

values that can make a good leader 

great. Unfortunately, I have probably 

come across more bad than good 

leaders in my career; that said, you can 

always learn lessons from these types 

of managers and directors. 

I would say there is one attribute 

that stands out for me that makes 

some leaders exceptional. This 

attribute is emotional intelligence, ie, 

self-awareness, self-management, 

motivation, empathy and social skills. 

The exceptional leaders that I have 

come across have high levels of 

emotional intelligence. These 

individuals tend to be self-aware, in 

that they know their strengths and 

weaknesses and, importantly, their 

impact on others. They have the ability 

to control themselves in difficult 

situations, eg, they would never lose 

their temper with colleagues. 

In addition they are motivated, can 

motivate others, are passionate about 

what they do, and have a positive 

outlook, even in the face of failure; and 

they realise and consider the fact that 

others have feelings and are humans 

(not machines) just like them; and last 

but not least, they have the ability to 

speak to and build rapport with 

people. 

Even leaders aren’t the finished 

article. What’s next in your leadership 

development journey? 

In my pursuit of personal growth, I 

am committed to enhancing various 

facets of leadership within Prepress 

Projects. This includes bolstering 

emotional intelligence to better 

understand and support our team 

members, refining strategic visioning 

to navigate industry shifts effectively, 

and improving communication to 

foster a more cohesive and 

collaborative work environment. 

In addition, I am dedicated to 

continuous learning, both for myself 

and the business, to stay ahead in our 

ever-evolving landscape. Cultivating 



talent within the organisation, building 

resilience, fostering adaptability and 

upholding ethical leadership standards 

are also top priorities. By focusing on 

these areas collectively, I believe we 

can elevate our leadership capabilities 

and drive sustained success and 

growth for our business. 

What is the ‘next big thing’ that will 

transform your sector? 

The integration of artificial 

intelligence (AI) into our copy-editing, 

proofreading, and writing services. AI 

technologies are poised to 

revolutionise how we approach 

language-related tasks, offering 

innovative solutions to enhance 

efficiency, accuracy and quality. 

With AI, we can expect 

advancements in automated grammar 

and style checks, real-time editing 

suggestions and even content 

generation. These tools will potentially 

not only streamline our workflows but 

also empower our team to deliver 

higher-quality results in less time. 

Overall, embracing AI technology 

and integrating it into our workflows 

represents the next frontier in 

transforming publishing services, 

offering unparalleled opportunities to 

elevate our services, meeting evolving 

client needs, and staying ahead in an 

increasingly competitive landscape. 

What piece of technology do you rely 

on most? 

In my realm of business, three 

software tools are indispensable for 

day-to-day activities: Teams for 

communication, Excel for data analysis, 

and Xero for efficient financial 

management. Teams facilitates 

real-time communication, both formal 

and informal; for instance, we have 

‘Monday Minion’, ‘Wednesday Words’ 

and ‘Friday Favourites’. 

Excel streamlines data analysis and 

visualisation of targets, while Xero 

serves as our financial hub, simplifying 

accounting processes. 

Together, these tools form the 

cornerstone of my daily business 

operations, empowering me to 

navigate challenges and drive the 

business forward. 

What is your favourite social media 

platform, and what does it bring to 

your business/organisation? 

Social media platforms do not play a 

major role in our business; we are 

active on these platforms, but most of 

our business either comes from word 

of mouth, recommendations or by 

bidding for new work through tenders. 

We use our social media channels to 

report on what we have been up to as 

a business, advertising jobs or 

reporting on developments in the 

professional publishing world. 

What needs fixed? 

As I grow older, my perspective on 

what needs fixing changes, and the list 

grows longer and more expansive. 

However, there is one thing that costs 

nothing but would solve a lot of life’s 

problems, and that is ‘reigi’. Reigi is a 

Japanese term that encapsulates the 

concepts of manners and respect. It’s 

deeply ingrained in Japanese culture 

and is considered essential in 

interpersonal relationships, social 

interactions and daily life. 

What leadership advice would you 

give your younger self? 

Where do I start? I believe that you 

sometimes have to look back to move 

forward, and in looking back, I 

understand that I was beset with 

shyness and lack of self-belief in my 

early career. My advice would be to tell 

my younger self that: (i) being quiet by 

nature is not a bad thing, just because 

you don’t say anything does not mean 

that your opinion means any less than 

anyone else’s in a room; (ii) being 

cautious and managing modestly is 

OK, as everybody has their own life 

path to follow and how you follow your 

path is up to you; (iii) believe in 

yourself; and (iv) be positive, happy 

and have a laugh along the way. 




A challenging time... but I 

know the IoD is in great 

hands, and heading in the 

right direction 

IoD Scotland member John Watson reflects on a tumultuous few years 

as a member of the IoD board, and the lessons that can be learned 

by any organisation as it goes through a period of turnaround upheaval 

Despite a long career in business, 

and being an experienced nonexecutive 

director, it didn’t take long 

for John Watson to realise that 

being on the board of the Institute 

of Directors was going to be a little 

…different. 

When he was approached in 2018 

to join the Board, as part of the 

appointment process, he faced a 

rigorous and well-orchestrated 

examination from Council and Board 

members. 

“The Board was looking for 

someone with commercial 

improvement expertise as well as 

finance – and to Chair the Audit 

Committee – so I was fully expecting 

to have quite a bit of work to do,” 

recalled John. 

“Just days later, however, I got a 

call explaining that the Institute was 

going through a significant overhaul 

of governance.” 

What followed was a number of 

high-level departures. 

“The IoD is rightly political in 

nature as every member has an 

equal right to share their views and 

it is to be expected that navigating 

conflicting views would require 

political sensitivity and resilience,” 

said John. 

“You’re either the sort of person 

who faces into the wind and gets on 

with it or one who thinks ‘this isn’t 

what I signed up to’. I have always 

had a huge admiration for the 

Institute so for me, there was only 

ever going to be one option.” 

A new Director General – Jon 

Geldart – came in, a member with 

international and marketing 

“When COVID came, like many of our 

members’ business, we were decimated. 

With turnover immediately halved, we 

needed a restructuring plan, and quick.” 

experience and the resilience of a 

seasoned diplomat who put 

together a plan to turn things 

around. With the backing of the 

Board, the work began to rebuild 

the IoD. 

And then COVID came. 

“When COVID came, like many of 

our members’ business, we were 

decimated. With turnover 

immediately halved, we needed a 

restructuring plan, and quick.” 

Jon Geldart produced a 10-point 

plan to halve the cost base which 

the Board backed but it included 

changes, which historically would 

have been seen as controversial and 

for some at the highest level of the 

organisation, the risk to the Institute 

was severe. 

“Some of the Board even raised 

the prospect of engaging 

administrators,” recalled John. “That 

risk was real but the imperative to 




“Those turnarounds are 

among the things I am most 

proud of. They were well 

executed but the importance 

is that because of them, we 

have a strong Institute ready 

for the future.” 

transform the Institute for its next 

century of serving directors was a 

powerful driver, and the pathway 

was logical.” 

John was, however, about to get 

even more closely involved as he 

was appointed by the governing 

council as Interim Chair of the 

Board. 

“Being interim chair was really 

useful as it set a timeline for the 

turnaround,” he recalled. “The DG 

had a newly appointed, core team 

able to work through the challenges, 

commercially and financially but 

most important was navigating the 

impact on our colleagues, with 

dignity and all under the expectation 

of perfectly executed, institute 

governance.” 

John’s overriding reflection of that 

time was that every Board Director 

brought their own, impressive 

capabilities to the team. “The level 

of debate and challenge needed to 

ensure the safety of the institute was 

only possible with inclusive and 

respectful but open and factual 

discussions. As Interim Chair, I felt I 

had their support and was 

comforted by the willingness of all 

to speak out.” 

Reset, and restructure 

Having successfully reset the 

balance sheet and cost base after 

COVID, it was time for selective 

reinvestment into the regional 

network and some of the essential 

backbones of the institute. The 

legacy of back office systems, which 

had been poorly designed, meant 

they needed to be overhauled. 

But other financial pressures 

began to mount and the Board, now 

under the chair of Patrick 

Macdonald, faced a new challenge 

which could impact the transition 

plan as the Chief Operating Officer 

left to take up opportunity 

elsewhere. 

“It was an amazing opportunity for 

her but we missed her experience 

and continuity” said John. “With a 

new, and highly capable Head of 

Finance in place, and insightful 

conversations with the Commercial 

Director, the Audit Committee 

members worked pragmatically as a 

team with the Chair, increasing the 

cadence of cashflow forecasting and 

monitoring of the DG’s improvement 

initiatives, until the new Director of 

Finance restored visibility and cash 

controls to the level we expected.” 

John’s time on the IoD Board 

came to an end a few months ago 

just as the Institute was reporting a 

healthy financial outcome and 

membership increase for 2023. “It’s 

hard to sum up those eventful years 

but with two turnarounds in quick 

succession, the mantra might well 

have been: ‘Have a plan - keep the 

faith. Have a team - keep their faith’,” 

said John. 

“Those turnarounds are among the 

things I am most proud of. They 

were well executed but the 

importance is that because of them, 

we have a strong Institute ready for 

the future. 

“And we hired the right team. The 

DG’s resilience, trust of colleagues 

and openness were key to ensure we 

didn’t waste time we didn’t have. He 

assembled an executive team who 

can be proud of their progress and 

fully support him. 

“To have navigated such tough 

waters and to have the support of 

his team is testament to his personal 

The IoD’s stunning hub, 

on Pall Mall, London 

leadership style.” 

“The strategy remains the same as 

the day it was founded; we just do it 

better.” 

John is also proud of the 

increasing diversity of the Institute. 

“Having set the DG a target to show 

we are committed to inclusivity, he 

ensured there was an open 

approach to regional Chair 

representation and the Institute took 

a major step forward,” said John. 

“Our community responded and 

showed that given the opportunity, 

being an effective ambassador for 

company directors is about appetite 

and skills, not personal background.” 

John finally reflected on what 

makes the Institute unique and 

influential. 

“We need to work with our 

Governments, using evidenced 

based discussion, even if that means 

sometimes, we are not always 

popular,” he said. 

“During the time I served on the 

board, we were the strong voice of 

our members through significant 

political change – five Prime 

ministers, six Chancellors and 

various Secretaries of State and 

Ministers. 

“That strength of voice comes 

from being a true organisation of 

members and that power is 

something that every member can 

take pride in.” 


DIRECTION | THE LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW: EVE POOLE 


‘AI is scary... but it’s 

time to get on board’ 

Concerned about the impact AI might have on your business? 

You’re right to be, says Dr Eve Poole OBE, but burying 

your head in the sand isn’t going to help. As she 

explains to Rob Beswick, a better idea is to get on the 

train and buckle up for what could be a thrilling ride... 

If there’s one complaint you hear most 

often from business leaders, it’s that 

just as they are getting their heads 

around one new phenomenon that will 

change the way their world operates, a 

new one comes barrelling along 

demanding their attention. 

Today the newcomer is artificial 

intelligence, or AI, the “scary but 

exciting” development that author, 

business consultant and speaker 

Eve Poole OBE says leaders have a 

right to be worried about. 

For a start, as well as being devilishly 

complicated, AI is, well, different to 

anything that has gone before. “This is 

the first workplace revolution that’s 

not coming for the working class, it’s 

coming for middle class jobs and 

professions,” Eve says. “Previously, 

working class jobs have been stripped 

away by automation, going back to the 

industrial revolution. But this time the 

people whose roles will be challenged 

are middle class professionals.” 

Uncomfortable yet? It gets worse… 

As Eve puts it, “anyone who went to 

university and is in a role where they 

are expected to process data and 

come to an intellectual decision, 

artificial intelligence will do it for us.” 

That makes the future landscape a 

touch bleak for many professions: 

“lawyers, accountants, even doctors, 

are going to see AI impact on their 

working lives.” 

There’s no way to put this particular 

genie back in the bottle either, so her 

advice? “You can’t fight it, so get on 

the train now, before it’s too late.” 

Eve has written and spoken 

extensively on AI, and accepts that 

there is a huge amount of trepidation 

attached to it – indeed, it is her 

description above, of it being “scary 

but exciting”. 

“AI is like going to see a horror film, 

when you’re excited but scared at the 

same time because you don’t know 

what’s going to happen. 

“The problem is, we’re talking about 

AI but we don’t know enough about 

where we are in its development. 

Governments are talking about 

regulation, but they’re regulating AI 

that’s five years old; the modern stuff 

that’s being worked on now is being 

developed behind closed doors at the 

big IT firms. Any regulation is always 

going to be miles behind the pace of 

development.” 

What AI threatens is “a major 

change in the way the world of work 

operates – and it could be such a swift 

transformation that it will be hard for 

leaders to pivot their organisations to 

embrace the changes heading their 

way.” 

For Eve, her own career path has 

seen more than one dramatic pivot. 

Life began “in Fife, in the 1970s. We 

were still at a point where women 

weren’t expected to have careers 

outside of nursing and teaching.” 

Eve studied theology at Durham 

University. “I loved it. It attracted an 

eclectic mix of undergrads: would-be 

vicars, people aiming to teach RE, old 

Etonians who had flunked their A 

levels and were looking for any course 

at a good university that would have 

them, and then people like me, who 

were interested in faith and the 

philosophies and structures that 

underpin it. 

“I remember lively debates going on 

through the night on whether the 

resurrection was real, and who Christ 

really was. It was brilliant.” 

With no firm work plans, a tutor’s 

suggestion she pop along to the 

university career library left her 

somewhat daunted by the “huge 

folders for careers at Shell and Marks & 

Spencers that just didn’t work for me.” 

Better fortune was found within a 

dusty, slim folder marked 

‘Miscellaneous’. “It was a collection of 

random roles that defied classification, 

and in it was a job with the Church 

Commissioners.” 

It exposed her to a Civil Service-style 

graduate entry programme based in 

Westminster, where she spent four years. 

“It was great experience: I was working 

on policy, managing projects on driving 

culture change and implementing good 

governance. 

“It was an old fashioned sort of place 

to work and at times frustrating as I 

couldn’t quite grasp all the threads I 

needed to make a real difference. It 

was that feeling that I had some of the 

“Governments are talking about regulation, but they’re 

regulating AI that’s five years old; the modern stuff that’s 

being worked on now is being developed behind closed 

doors at the big IT firms. Any regulation is always going to 

be miles behind the pace of development.” 




information, but not all of it, that drove 

me to do an MBA at Edinburgh, and 

then move to Deloittes.” 

There the focus was on change 

management accompanied by a 

growing interest in leadership. 

“The thing that struck me was that 

you could spend as much time and 

money as you wanted on change 

management programmes, and 

communicate them effectively to your 

teams, but if your leaders don’t follow 

the plan the team won’t either; they 

follow the leader. The leadership role is 

crucial.” 

Eve investigated the importance of 

leadership further while teaching at 

Ashridge Business School, where she 

was one of the first women to teach 

leadership modules. “I was only 30 and 

I was teaching classes of men in their 

50s and 60s. 

“It was great exposure for me, as I 

got to learn what makes leaders tick, 

the reality of their roles on a day-today 

basis, and what drove them on. 

“It also made me realise just how 

little there is out there to help build 

and develop leaders in the real world. 

There seemed to be no tools to make 

people better leaders. No-one was 

giving leaders the basic trade skills for 

their roles.” 

In the end “I asked course delegates, 

what did they wish they had known 10 

years ago? Most focused on the things 

that had gone wrong: crashing and 

burning at a shareholder meeting, not 

delegating well enough, not realising 

that the wrong person was in a key 

role soon enough. It was all nuts and 

bolts stuff really but these situations 

are the crucible in which modern 

leadership is forged.” 

In 2017 Eve came to a wider 

prominence when she wrote 

Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade 

Secrets of Leadership. 

While researching the book, what 

had surprised her? “I think the thing 

that surprised me most was that noone 

had written a similar book before!” 

“The whole theme of ‘leadership’ is 

new. If you look at Ashridge it only 

began teaching ‘leadership’ in 2000; 

before then it was ‘management.’ 

“But too much of modern leadership 

advice harked back to Machiavelli – the 

end justifies the means – and was just 

old chaps saying how fabulous they 

were. There was no ready reference 

guide to the skills leaders need.” 

“You could spend as much time and money as you 

wanted on change management programmes, and 

communicate them effectively to your teams, but if 

your leaders don’t follow the plan the team won’t 

either; they follow the leader. Leadership is crucial.” 

Continued on page 24 


DIRECTION | THE LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW: EVE POOLE 

“Is modern business ethical? In many cases, 

no. No one wants to be seen as unethical, but 

what we practise in our personal lives too 

often doesn’t transfer to business...” 

Continued from page 23 

“That’s why I used the phrase 

‘smithing’ in my book; I see leadership 

as something that needs cutting, 

grooving and polishing, to create 

leaders who won’t buckle under 

pressure.” 

That point brings us round nicely to 

the question of ethics in business – and 

how ultimately ethical questions could 

decide how AI works in society. First, is 

modern business ethical? “In many 

cases, no. I believe we have privatised 

ethics in that, people want to live an 

ethical life, no one wants to be seen as 

unethical, but what we practise in our 

personal lives too often doesn’t 

transfer to business. 

“What we teach in business schools 

tends to be how to get the required 

results without upsetting too many 

people. We have a utilitarian approach 

to business: get the best results for the 

greatest number of people with the 

least fuss. 

“We talk about having a strong 

moral compass in our business but if 

you think about that analogy, consider 

what happens when you introduce a 

magnet to a compass: it veers off true 

north. That is modern capitalism; as 

soon as your moral compass or ethics 

cause issues for the business, the 

ethics go out of the window.” 

That can lead to some “horrible 

decisions which look logical, even 

ethical, to the people making them, 

when they are not.” 

The solution is for leaders to be 

brave – the personality trait Eve thinks 

is most important for leadership – and 

develop strong emotional intelligence 

to underpin decision making. “When I 

talked to business leaders at Ashridge, 

they wanted their organisations to 

operate in an ethical manner but too 

often they didn’t have the strength and 

energy to resist outward pressures that 

challenged that position. 

“Ultimately it’s your emotional 

intelligence that allows you to embed 

personal ethics into your business life.” 

In many ways, even the concept of 

‘leadership’ can appear out-dated. 

“People today are more focused on 

‘followership’. Leaders cannot demand 

to be followed; they need to interact 

with their people and bring them with 

them. That’s why having a strong 

moral core to underpin your decision 

making is so important. If your team 

see you changing tack and jettisoning 

your values, they won’t follow you 

because they don’t know what you 

stand for.” 

In other words, they must have faith 

in you. 

As is perhaps fitting for someone 

who studied theology at university, 

Eve’s Christian faith is an important 

part of her own make up. “My faith 

gives me a fixed footing of who I am,” 

she says. “Talking to people around the 

world, as I did at Deloittes and 

Ashridge, proved to me that for many 

people, their faith is their lodestar and 

underpins the decisions they make.” 

Yet our society can make it hard to 

bring faith into the public square, and 

into business in particular. Eve has 

seen this for herself. “At Deloittes they 

changed my CV because they didn’t 

like it saying I worked for the Church 

Commissioners; they thought that 

clients would think I’d try to convert 

them. Instead, after university, it read 

that I worked for a ‘Quasi 

Governmental Financial Institution’. 

“I was very junior and I didn’t fight it. 

It wasn’t a reflection of Deloitte’s view 

on faith, just that it was such a clientfocused 

organisation, its policies were 

all about making the client comfortable. 

“They did the same for a colleague 

who used to work for the Conservative 

Party!” 

It’s not a situation that will happen 

again, however. “I made a promise to 

myself that I would be open about my 

faith. It’s a huge part of me, and was a 

driver in doing a PhD at Cambridge on 

theology and capitalism.” 

Faith is also a useful tool when we 

consider the impact AI will have on our 

lives. “In looking at AI, perhaps we 

need to bring in theology as it offers 

answers to the big questions that AI 

poses of us, which are, what does it 

mean to be human? Why are we here?” 

“Let’s face it, if we are asking these 

questions now about AI and what it 



says about us as humans, well, religion 

has been asking the same questions 

for millennia. Why are we here is a key 

tenet of faith. Perhaps to consider 

what AI means to us, we need to go 

back to our faith roots.” 

So back to AI. Still a potential horror 

show? “Yes, it’s scary, it’s exciting but it 

won’t go away so the only thing to do 

is get on the train now. I’m pretty sure 

most of us regret that we are where we 

are with AI, and that we would have 

been better having the regulations in 

place before it was developed, but we 

can’t go back now.” 

What’s important to Eve is that, rather 

like with leadership, we underpin AI’s 

development with strong moral values. 

“I liken AI to bringing up children. As 

parents we try to teach our children 

right and wrong, and give them good 

values, but ultimately they have free 

will so can do what they like. There is a 

point in every parent’s life when their 

children go off on their own and we 

lose control over them. That’s when we 

have to hope they make good decisions. 

We can’t guarantee it, we just have to 

hope they have the values that go with 

making the right decisions. Good kids 

make good decisions. 

“We have to do the same with AI. 

We need to embed into it virtue and 

ethics. At the moment AI has copied 

ourselves so deficiently and inexactly 

that it’s basically a master race of 

psychopaths, as that’s the logic it’s 

been given. That’s the horror story 

version of AI, where bad and 

conscience-less decision making that 

ignores impacts is entrenched into its 

design. 

“To counter this we need an AI that’s 

been designed in a way we can all 

approve, based on enlightened thinking. 

“We have free will to make bad 

decisions but somewhere in our make 

up we have learned enough from our 

past mistakes to step away from the 

precipice and not go completely off 

the rails – a kind of defensive design. 

“The latest generation of AI is 

designed to be autonomous and 

reprogramme itself at will, so we need 

to learn from how we have developed 

and retrofit our own defensive design 

into AI so it too doesn’t make bad 

decisions.” 

Current AI “is only really good at 

repeated, predictable situations; 

anything personal, centred around 

feelings or behaviour, or random 

situations, relies on people with gained 

“I liken AI to bringing up 

children. We teach them 

right and wrong, and good 

values, but ultimately they 

have free will so they can 

do what they like. You just 

have to hope you’ve given 

them the right values to 

make good decisions...” 

or learned experience. That’s what 

we’ve got to impart into AI.” 

“Let’s look at a specific sector, the 

law. AI is great at applying rules to 

situations, such as corporate tax. That’s 

where it will eliminate jobs. 

“But if you think about family law, 

how would AI handle a child 

settlement welfare case in a divorce? 

How would it handle an asylum claim? 

It would be terrible at it, as it wouldn’t 

understand the human complexities 

involved.” 

But that opens up another problem 

as we move forward, what Eve dubs 

“learning loss”. 

“If we let AI cover too many roles, 

how will the leaders of the future learn 

anything? 

“Businesses are rightly focused on 

talent management and spotting 

future learners, but how are the 

leaders of tomorrow going to gain the 

skills they need if we offshore too 

many tasks to AI? We want our leaders 

to be wise and discerning, but some of 

that is learned in the early days of our 

careers. If we don’t do the ‘rock 

tumbling’ when we are younger, we 

won’t develop the knowledge base we 

need to fall back on later as leaders. 

“My fear is that we are heading for a 

huge gap in skills acquisition. AI is 

taking out our learning path.” 

To prevent this, Eve sees a 

connection with her research that led 

to Leadersmithing: “As I said earlier, I 

asked people what they wished they’d 

known 10 years earlier. How did they 

know that the set of figures was 

wrong, that when they sat in that 

meeting there was a problem? 

“We need to find the answers to 

those questions and distill the 

knowledge into training programmes 

that are very precise. That will give us 

the learning muscle memory to make 

good decisions. If we don’t, we risk 

losing decision-making skills as AI 

becomes more prevalent.” 

And here’s the irony: earlier on we 

touched briefly on the key skill Eve 

identifies as a requirement for modern 

leaders: bravery. But she has another 

‘key skill’: “Modern leaders need 

incredible antennae and peripheral 

vision to see what’s coming over the 

horizon, to identify challenges of the 

future.” 

Being able to say you have a handle 

on AI looks likely to be the next one. 

“At the moment AI has copied ourselves so deficiently and 

inexactly that it’s basically a master race of psychopaths, as 

that’s the logic it’s been given. That’s the horror story 

version of AI, where bad and conscience-less decision 

making that ignores impacts is entrenched into its design” 


DIRECTION | TECHNICAL BRIEFING 



AI: the good, the bad and the ugly! 

Dr Mick O’Connor CDir FIoD CEng FRSA FIES, 

Managing Director at HAELO Consulting Ltd 

considers whether AI can bridge the gap 

between the boardroom and the business coalface 

Organisations are hyperconnected 

networks of people, things and events 

which makes them complex and 

difficult to makes sense of. 

As directors, we are jointly and 

severally accountable for company 

stewardship, however, we are often 

distant from the coalface, meaning we 

rely on data, and the opinion of others 

to inform our understanding and 

decision making. 

In this article, I explore how AI can 

help to bridge the gap between the 

boardroom and the ground truth, 

however, there is a health warning! 

‘THE GOOD’ 

Horizon scanning 

Continual change to regulation 

creates compliance uncertainty. Many 

organisations conduct manual checks 

of regulator websites to identify 

changes to requirements, however, this 

is time consuming and prone to error. 

AI can automate the process and 

crawl websites to identify and 

contextualise changes. 

Automated monitoring and reporting 

As my old boss used to say, “bad 

news early is good news!”. AI can 

analyse vast datasets, detect unusual 

patterns, provide supporting evidence 

and aid decision making effectiveness. 

Natural language processing (NLP) 

NLP, often referred to as large 

language models (LLM) eg, ChatGPT, 

enables assembly of meaningful 

contextualised information. While 

LLM’s require training, they have the 

potential to revolutionise how we 

structure, mine and present data. 

Threat intelligence and 

prescriptive analytics 

AI can forecast future events based 

on historical data and emerging 

events enabling organisations to 

detect and respond to threats before 

they become issues. Prescriptive 

analytics can not only forecast 

possible futures, but it can also advise 

on the appropriate recovery action. 

‘THE BAD AND THE UGLY’ 

Bias and fairness 

Machine learning comes from the 

data it processes, however, it can 

inherit the biases of its human 

designers leading to undesirable 

prejudicial outcomes eg, ethnicity, sex, 

gender, religion etc. 

Interpretability 

We know what the AI does, we just 

don’t know how it does it! AI 

provenance and transparency is 

crucial to good stewardship. It is vital 

a balance is struck between human 

lived experience and mechanical 

algorithms, particularly when AI 

creates hallucinations, ie, false or 

misleading information presented as 

fact. 

Data privacy and security 

Directors must be clear on the data 

used by AI and ensure compliance 

with regulation, eg, data protection 

act, DPA, and GDPR. 

Directors must be vigilant and 

ensure secure data encryption, access 

control and privacy; the threat of bad 

actors gaining undetected access to 

AI/ML remains ever-present. 

Regulatory lag 

AI outpaces regulation globally. The 

UK Government has adopted an 

outcome-based framework to 

regulate AI underpinned by five core 

principles. 

The framework is not enshrined in 

law, however, it is anticipated this will 

be the case. 

Technology with a human touch 

AI has the potential to change the 

way in which we govern organisations, 

however, it’s no silver bullet. 

As directors, it is important we 

continue to focus on strategic goals, 

business direction, governance, risk 

and compliance, and while AI can 

enhance decision making, having 

competent, situationally aware 

humans in the loop remains essential. 

AI is only a tool, albeit a very 

powerful one, and while there is a lot 

a speculation about the future 

opportunities and challenges of AI, I 

anticipate company stewardship will 

remain in the hands of human beings 

for some time to come. 



AI SPECIAL | DIRECTION 

AI and the world of work: what 

do we need to consider? 

Marianne McJannett and 

Fiona McKee 

The Government’s ‘AI and 

Employment Law Research Briefing’ 

published in August 2023, defines AI 

as ‘technologies that enable 

computers to simulate elements of 

human intelligence, such as 

perception, learning and reasoning’. 

As we see the developing use of 

AI in a variety of scenarios, there are 

a number of areas which businesses 

and employers will need to be live to 

when considering the use of AI 

within their places of work. 

There is currently no explicit 

legislation in the UK that governs 

the use of AI at work, although there 

is some protection which already 

exists which employers need to be 

mindful of, and which employees 

could rely upon. 

Protections in place 

First is the implied duty of trust 

and confidence which exists in all 

employment relationships and 

where AI is being used by employers 

to make decisions, there could be 

some challenge to whether such 

decisions were in fact made in good 

faith. For example, if a redundancy 

exercise has been carried out and 

decisions taken on the basis of 

outcomes generated by AI, an 

employer may have difficulty in 

arguing that a decision was made in 

good faith. 

Also in terms of potential 

redundancy situations, if the use of 

AI results in the reduced need for 

certain roles and therefore 

employees, then businesses will still 

be required to ensure that any 

decisions taken to dismiss are done 

for potentially fair reasons, and that 

any employee with more than two 

years’ continuous employment 

would be entitled to a statutory 

redundancy payment. 

Similarly, if AI is used as part of an 

organisation’s recruitment process, 

the business will need to be aware 

of possible biases within the 

algorithm. The Equality Act 2010 

provides protection from 

discrimination, which would include 

any decisions made as a result of AI, 

and therefore businesses will need 

to be aware of this. 

The reality is that we will see the 

continued use of AI in businesses for 

a variety of reasons and the benefits 

will be huge for organisations in 

terms of efficiency and time saving. 

However, as with the rise of social 

media over the past decade, it’s wise 

for an organisation to implement a 

policy around how it uses AI, 

ensuring transparency for its staff in 

order to maintain the workforce’s 

trust in the organisation. 

While we await more robust 

regulation from the government in 

this area, it is important to exercise 

“While we await more robust regulation from the 

government in this area, it is important to exercise 

caution while moving forward with the times...where AI is 

being used to make decisions, there could be some 

challenge to whether the decisions are made in good faith” 

“It’s important businesses 

implement a robust policy 

for employees who may 

use AI such as ChatGPT 

in their roles...” 

caution while moving forward with 

the times. 

From a security perspective it’s 

important for businesses to 

implement a robust policy for 

employees who may use AI such as 

ChatGPT in their roles. While AI can 

be hugely beneficial there is a high 

risk that employees could be 

inadvertently sharing sensitive 

company data on these tools which 

could be stored on the AI tool. 

Hence clear guidance is key to 

negate any such issues. 

Marianne McJannett is Head of 

Employment at Bellwether Green 

Solicitors 

Fiona McKee is Director of 

The HR Practice 

IoD Branch contact details: 

Glasgow & West of Scotland 

– Mark Spragg 

chair.glasgow@iod.net 


DIRECTION | CYBERCRIME 



With cyber crime on the rise, and its exponents getting bolder and 

more innovative every day, what steps can businesses take to keep 

themselves safe? Jude McCorry, Chief Executive Officer of the 

Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland, suggests AI could give businesses 

and law enforcement agencies a crucial edge 

We need to utilise power of AI to 

beat cyber criminals at own game 

Cyber and cyber-enabled crime is a 

major and thriving global industry 

for serious and organised criminals, 

and these criminals are way more 

innovative and technically astute 

around AI for their criminal activities. 

AI makes cyber crime easier and 

more widespread rather than relying 

on human intervention, and we need 

to look at innovation on how we 

combat the use for criminal activity. 

We will not be able to arrest our way 

out of this oncoming epidemic. 

In cyber-enabled fraud, for 

example, we have seen AI being 

used to open up bank accounts. 

Voice-enabled technology has asked 

for funds to be transferred, not just 

for individuals but also large 

corporate deals. 

In the last few weeks in Scotland 

we have had reports of parents 

thinking they were asked by their 

sons/daughters to transfer funds 

and it was not them on the phone, 

but rather a bot using their child’s 

voice. 

Estimates from LexisNexis show 

banks worldwide spend nearly $275 

billion on tackling financial crime 

annually. Yet UN studies suggest less 

than 1% of the approximately 

$4trillion of illicit funds that are in 

circulation is currently being 

intercepted by law enforcement. 

In Scotland the figures are around 

18,000 calls to Police Scotland and 

1% of these calls lead to arrests. 

Technology to help us? 

One contributor to this disconnect 

is the restrictive impact of 

regulations that limit the banks’ use 

of data and advanced technology. 

To put it most simply, financial crime 

is a data problem. Criminals don’t 

bank with only one bank. They 

exploit the entire financial 

ecosystem to avoid detection. We 

need to look at what the data is 

telling us – rather than individual 

calls to report crime, combine the 

data with advanced AI algorithms, 

to boost our ability to detect 

suspicious transaction patterns. 

Banks have to follow laws and 

regulations but criminals don’t, and 

they leverage technological 

innovation at scale and speed to 

stay multiple steps ahead of 

detection. 

It is therefore critical that we find 

common ground with regulators 

around solutions to tackle this 

insidious problem. 

We need to look at responsible 

data sharing. In the US, banks are 

allowed to share information for the 

purpose of fighting crime. Enabling 

financial institutions in Europe, 

Canada and other regions to share 

data both from within and outside 

their own networks would greatly 

enhance our ability to identify 

criminal activity. There are proven 

models that enable data sharing 

while protecting individuals’ rights 

to privacy. These can — and should 

— be replicated at scale. 

The second imperative is for 

regulators to allow the industry to 

leverage the latest capabilities in 

cloud, AI and machine learning so 

we can better respond to new 

threats, increase effectiveness and 

improve efficiency, and take down 

criminal gangs after investigation 

rather than look on an individuial 

basis. 

We also need better collaboration 

and funding to tackle this in 

Scotland. Everyone thinks 

ransomware is the only important 

part of cyber crime, but more 

individuals and organisations will be 

affected by cyber-enabled fraud 

than ransomware. 



SQA QUALIFICATIONS | DIRECTION 

Customised qualifications 

for your business 

SQA customised awards allow your 

organisation to decide the content and 

structure of a qualification, with SQA 

helping with development, external 

quality assurance and certification. 

Organisations can design their own 

qualifications that are unique and meet 

business needs, with flexibility on 

content and qualification structure. 

A customised award can be 

integrated with existing business and 

staff development processes. It offers 

a large range of benefits, from 

achieving business objectives and 

increasing skill levels, to providing 

development opportunities for 

employees and providing an official 

credit rating for the qualification on 

the Scottish Credit and Qualifications 

Framework (SCQF). 

Building qualifications for increasing 

demand 

SELECT is the trade association for 

the electrical contracting industry in 

Scotland, delivering over 3,500 

training courses to electricians every 

year. Based in Midlothian, it is 

Scotland’s largest construction trade 

association and one of the oldest to 

represent the modern trades. 

With the need for electric vehicle 

(EV) charging stations continuously 

increasing, SELECT dedicated much of 

2023 to creating a comprehensive EV 

charge point installation course, 

ensuring that the safety and efficiency 

of installations was at its core. The 

course was shaped by member 

feedback and culminated in the 

creation of the SQA customised award 

in Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment 

Installations (SCQF level 7). 

The one-day module, adaptable for 

in-person or online delivery, addresses 

the evolving demands of the industry 

and is suitable for all qualified 

electricians. By the end of the course, 

learners will understand and be able to 

design and install domestic, 

commercial and industrial electrical 

vehicle charging installations, and 

receive an SQA and SELECT joint 

certificate. 

Course aims include understanding 

the key requirements relating to EV 

charging equipment, gaining the skills 

for designing and installing EV 

charging circuits, and gaining 

knowledge for the requirements for 

inspection, testing, commissioning, 

maintenance and handover of EV 

charging equipment and circuits. 

Positive feedback 

Shaun Taylor, a SELECT member, 

completed the course when it first 

launched. He commented, “The course 

was very interesting, and I learned a 

great deal about charging modes and 

options, costs and installation and 

potential issues.” 

Another participant added, “It was a 

good comprehensive course. There is a 

lot to learn in one day, but if you do 

the study beforehand, it’s definitely 

manageable.” 

Fiona Harper, Director of Employment 

& Skills at SELECT, believes SQA 

customised awards are of significant 

value. She said: “These qualifications 

are a real mark of quality and have a 

currency that both learners and 

employers relate to. During development, 

we took the opportunity to redesign 

our training material and delivery 

methods to ensure that each of the 

courses meets the needs of the industry. 

The 

SELECT 

course, 

designed 

with SQA, 

provided 

muchneeded 

skills and 

knowledge 

on EV 

charging 

“From a learner perspective, it 

provides them with an SQA and 

SELECT joint certificate, enabling them 

to demonstrate the quality of the 

training to employers. The numbers of 

candidates going through the 

customised awards is continuously 

growing and are a testament to how 

much the industry values them.” 

Making a difference 

Theresa McGowan, Regional 

Manager at SQA, is delighted with the 

difference SQA and SELECT are 

making to the electrical industry in 

Scotland. She said: “I’ve worked with 

SELECT for a number of years and I 

am delighted to see that their 

commitment to providing high quality 

skills and training for electricians is 

going from strength to strength. 

“SQA customised awards give our 

customers the flexibility to design their 

own qualifications to a high quality 

and specific to their needs, while still 

owning a qualification certified and 

quality assured by an internationally 

recognised awarding body. 

“Our dedicated Business 

Development and Customised Awards 

teams can support a variety of private, 

public and third sector organisations 

to meet their training needs.” 

Find out more about how customised 

awards can benefit your organisation 

at https://www.sqa.org.uk/ 

customisedawards. 


DIRECTION | TECHNICAL BRIEFING: AI 



AI’s insights can make a 

difference in every sector 

IT guru and FIoD Scott 

McGlinchey asks, why is 

artificial intelligence 

linked to our economy? 

For many, AI may be at the top of 

the food chain. Although the 

technology is still in its infancy there 

are some great examples in use 

today. I’m sure most of you have 

tried ChatGPT or Google Gemini; if 

not, give it a go. 

Just this month, you may have 

read, that an AI breast screening 

solution called Mia helped doctors in 

NHS Grampian find an additional 

12% more cancers than in routine 

practice. 

Imagine if deployed across the 

entire NHS, a 12% uplift in the 

detection of breast cancer could 

lead to better outcomes for 

thousands of women across the UK. 

If AI is applied to business, and bear 

in mind we have been using 

chatbots in customer services and 

machine learning applications to 

make decisions for some time, the 

returns could be enormous. 

However, over my 30 years now in 

tech, there have been many 

advancements in technology but 

often the practicality of competing 

priorities in business, the need to 

make large capital purchases or the 

requirement to adapt to regulatory 

change, can make investment in new 

technologies more difficult. 

Avoid the hype but for those who 

have not embarked on a digital 

journey yet or seek to replan your 

journey then you should include the 

possibility of what AI could do in 

your business now, next year and in 

five years. 

So if you can invest in AI: 

n Define your objectives: Clearly 

define your goals and objectives for 

implementing AI in your organisation. 

n Start small: Begin with pilot 

projects or small-scale 

implementations to test the waters 

and gain practical experience with 

AI technology. 

n Collaborate: Collaborate with AI 

experts, technology vendors, 

research institutions, and other 

organisations to leverage their 

expertise and resources 

So back to that question I asked 

earlier - why is AI linked to our 

economy? For businesses to invest 

more in technology such as AI then 

we must also have the optimum 

economy and opportunities. Greater 

business returns allow greater 

investment and growth. 

However, speaking to many 

businesses the cost of borrowing to 

invest today is very high. There is 

AI-based 

breast 

screening 

software has 

improved 

cancer 

detection rates 

at Aberdeen 

Royal Infirmary 

by 12 per cent 

also a reluctance from banks to 

grant business loans. 

The Bank of England’s current 

delay in reducing interest rates helps 

banks but is punitive to most 

businesses. Let’s hope there is a 

change soon. 

We also currently have a Scottish 

Government and many councils who 

don’t understand business and seek, 

perhaps unknowingly, to restrict 

success sometimes by interfering in 

markets. 

For example, retail and hospitality 

need footfall and accessibility but 

some councils are creating 

restrictive parking policies while 

making it difficult to access city 

centres, creating punitive taxes. 

With e-commerce booming too, 

access to good transport systems 

and routes is fundamental. 

A successful and prospering 

economy will enhance our public 

services such as the NHS, education 

and policing. Just a few institutions 

that greatly need help. Our success 

in business allows us to invest in new 

technology and the taxable returns 

feed and develop our public services. 

There is, in my view, therefore a 

symbiotic relationship between our 

economy and our technological 

advancement. 

We should be doing everything to 

let business flourish, entrepreneurship 

enlarge and above all ensuring our 

indigenous businesses that make the 

economy in Scotland develop 

whenever possible. 

Let’s grab the thistle and to coin a 

phrase from across the pond: ‘Make 

Scotland Great...’ 

* Scott McGlinchey is a Non 

Executive Director of Exception, a 

leading digital solutions company, 

who during his career has been 

engaged at board level in global, 

large and medium-sized companies, 

and a director of UK leading mobile 

and digital app developer Waracle, 

and a Fellow of the IoD (FIoD) 



TECHNICAL BRIEFING: AI | DIRECTION 

AI is a threat - but it’s a threat 

with positive options for all 

AI is here... and 

Scotland can be 

host to many 

exciting projects, 

says tech writer 

Bill Magee 

Scott McGlinchey’s expert analysis into 

latest developments (page 30) on 

genAI presents much-needed insight 

and commercial clarity into what has 

been labelled an “AI cyber arms race”. 

Big Tech’s early attempts to sell its 

version of generativeAI, it can be 

argued, were hastily designed and 

hyped-up, and have had a detrimental 

effect on the marketplace. Business is 

unclear about the right digital road ahead. 

Trillions of business dollars are up 

for grabs for the winner. In the rush 

Apple has had to respond to demands 

by two top UK fund managers abrdn 

and Legal & General Investment 

Management for clarity on its AI 

ethical policies amid concerns over 

deep fakes and customer privacy. 

Expect more such investor demands 

to ensure AI is reliable. 

GenAI is being led by computerised 

software programs - (ro)bots/co-pilots/ 

super apps - algorithmically designed 

to appear to be thinking and taking 

decisions for us. Techopedia points to 

‘autonomous AI’ operating and 

processing data without human 

interaction or oversight. It all adds 

ammunition to warnings of a 

‘weaponisation’ of tech developments. 

More than 100 AI researchers have 

called on generative companies to 

allow investigators access to gain 

insight into often opaque AI systems, 

which Computing.com claims is 

leading to “repeated and dramatic 

misunderstandings” about modern IT. 

Computerworld cites a survey of 

10,000 office workers who, while 

seeing benefits from AI tools, worry 

about a lack of guidelines leading to 

potential risks to corporate data. 

The AI Experience website reveals 

96 per cent of chief data officers 

agreed delivering business impact 

through the new tech represents the 

top ‘pain point’ for their teams. 

It has prompted a memorandum of 

understanding between the UK and 

the USA, a partnership based on 

endeavouring to ensure AI solutions 

lead with trust and user-security. 

In Scotland, a mandatory logging of 

public sector AI is being introduced. 

The Scottish AI Register is currently 

being populated on a voluntary basis 

but ministers now say organisations 

will be required to list public usage 

case files for close scrutiny. 

A relaunched EIE24 attracted an 

estimated 130 investors from all parts 

of the globe to check out the Scottish 

tech ecosystem in which genAI 

strongly features. Venture capitalists 

and angels are finally coming out of 

their corner, after a virtual freeze on 

funds since the pandemic where IPOs 

from VCs dried up by 90 per cent. 

Mark Logan, Chief Entrepreneurial 

Advisor to the Scottish Government, 

says the country’s sector is growing 

on almost a daily basis involving 

“some very exciting and important 

work” as EIE brought together some 

of the country’s most promising 

companies in front of people who can 

help them grow. 

As Scott McGlinchey says, there are 

positives as to the future of work in 

these early stages of genAI, pointing 

to intelligence-based developments 

especially in healthcare, some say hails 

a medical revolution in the offing. 

There’s even ‘Robotiz3d’ equipped 

to tackle one million-plus potholes 

throughout UK roads, coming to the 

roadside rescue of weary motorists. 

Chatbots are already used extensively 

across ecommerce. Internet retailing 

points to imminent more sophisticated 

“There’s even Robotiz3d to 

tackle potholes, coming to 

the roadside rescue of weary 

motorists...” 

genAI technologies, bespoke and 

highly-conversational two-way 

answering techniques with claims of a 

more realistic interaction between 

brand and consumer. 

We’re heading towards a ‘super app’ 

AI global culture. Just how to filter out 

the useful from the problematic, will 

be, well problematic. China’s WeChat 

already combines social media, 

messaging, payment and commerce in 

one offering. Elon Musk’s rebranding 

of Twitter to X lays the groundwork to 

turn the platform into a super app. 

Big tech marketers are hastily 

hyping a genAI assistant - dubbed 

‘Copilot’ - for every department. 

Such ‘general purpose technology’ 

features a variety of IT tools, models, 

applications and product designs to 

generate new forms of creative 

content including audio, code, images, 

text, simulations and videos. The 

digital works in other words. 

It’s the wise organisation that 

formulates a threat strategy, 

leveraging AI and machine learning to 

detect and respond to a mix of 

real-time commercial opportunities 

but also carrying potential threats. A 

medium-to-long-term worry is digital 

transformational burnout as business 

suffers co-pilot fatigue. Burgeoning 

AI-powered facial and voice cloning is 

also causing concern. 

So where do we go from here? 

We’ve some way to go to build the 

necessary levels of transparency and 

trust. Especially when it comes to 

feeling confident in exposing an 

enterprise to AI co-pilots and whatever 

else follows in their digital slipstream. 

It’s not all doom and gloom. Echoing 

Scott’s wise words of the linkage 

between AI and our economy, New 

Scientist tech quarterly carries the 

claim: “AIs will make healthcare safer 

and better (and)...may even be 

cheaper.” Similarly, a TED talk 

contends how AI “could save (not 

destroy) education.” Both key sectors 

inextricably-linked to the economy. 

But the MIT Technology Report 

reminds us new tech always has 

“glitches and fails”. 

Whatever the next move, there’s 

bound to be an AI super app for that... 




IoD membership and benefits 

We’re delighted that you have chosen the IoD to support 

you in your development as a director, and we hope you 

get real value from your membership. 

The IoD Scotland team is always looking to enhance your 

membership with exclusive discounts on products and 

services, helping make your role that little bit easier, 

Say hello to YOTEL 

IoD Scotland members are now eligible for the 

YOTEL Work Perk programme. 

This special offer gives you access to a host of 

great benefits, including 20% off retail rates and 

complimentary breakfast. 

To book at a YOTEL, the easiest method is by 

clicking on the below link and entering your 

dates/hotel of choice: CLICK HERE 

Or you can enter your corporate ID straight 

into the Corporate/Promo code section of the 

website, at www.yotel.com 

Your Corporate ID is: INS002 

This rate can be shared at your discretion with 

members and company associates such as 

consultants, etc. You can cancel or amend 

reservations until 2pm on the day of arrival, 

giving you maximum flexibility. 

Top, YOTEL Glasgow. Inset, VEGA, on the top floor of 

YOTEL Glasgow. Right inset: YOTEL Edinburgh 

kinder on the budget and – most importantly – more 

convenient. 

We have outlined some of the key benefits here: 

for a full summary and discount codes, contact 

patricia.huth@iod.com 

Hotels, dining and accommodation 

Unique offers and discounts for IoD members 

EDINBURGH 

The George 

The George, a Grade-II listed hotel, 

is complemented by elegant 

interiors, from the bedrooms to the 

grand King’s Hall. All with the very 

best of Edinburgh’s shopping, 

restaurants and nightlife on your 

doorstep. To take advantage of IoD 

membership special discounts, 

present your IoD membership card 

at check-in or when seated at one of 

the hotel’s food outlets. 

• Call 0131 240 7137, click here to 

book or email the hotel HERE. 

Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel 

IoD members receive 15% discount 

on food, drinks and accommodation. 

There’s also a 15% discount on the 

gym and spa at the Charlotte Square 

Hotel. Quote IoD Scotland member 

when booking. 

The George 

Holiday Inn, Edinburgh 

Members receive 15% off best 

available rate. 

• To book call 0131 314 7018 or 

emailHERE, quoting IoD Scotland. 

Other offers: 

Malmaison Hotels – 20% off 

lunches and dinners in Edinburgh. 

Locke Apartments - 20% discount 

Cheval Collection - 12% discount 

Native ApartHotel - 15% discount. 

• Call 0207 313 6146 or email by 

clicking HERE. 

Angels Share Hotel, Edinburgh 

– 15% discount. Quote GLC15. 

Eden Locke – 20% off designer 

apartment. Visit lockeliving.com and 

enter code ‘LOCKEDIN’ for 20% off. 

Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel 




Hotel membership offers 

OTHER BENEFITS: 

voco Grand Central 

ABERDEEN 

Malmaison 

Up to 10% off accommodation and 

20% off food and beverages. 

• Call 01224 507097 or see HERE. 

DUNDEE 

Malmaison 

Take your pick from 91 sumptuous 

rooms and suites spanning six 

fabulous floors. There’s so much to 

see and do in Dundee, and the 

Malmaison is the perfect place to 

stay in the City of Discovery. 

Up to 10% off accommodation 

bookings and 20% off food and 

beverages. 

• Call 01382 339715 or see HERE. 

GLASGOW 

Kimpton Blythswood Square 

IoD members receive 15% off best 

available bed and breakfast rates. 

• Call 0141 248 8888 or find out 

more HERE. 

St Andrews Management Centre is 

offering a 10% discount on its 

export and import services to IoD 

members. 

St Andrews Management Centre 

can handle your import and export 

clearances for an affordable 

flat-fee, with no additional 

charges for multiple commodity 

codes, as well as offer advice on 

customs processes and controls. It 

also offers consultancy support to 

businesses looking to import or 

voco Grand Central 

Members receive a 15% discount 

on the best available rates for food, 

beverage and accommodation. 

• Call 0141 221 3388 or see HERE. 

One Devonshire Gardens 

Members receive 10% off best 

available rate for accommodation 

when booked online. 


Citizen M 

Enjoy best rates at time of 

booking and a welcome drink. 

• Call 0203 519 1111, quoting ‘IoD 

offer’, or see HERE. 

Malmaison 

10% off best available rates for IoD 

members. 


Kimpton Blythswood Square 

“Just mention IoD when booking to confirm 

your exclusive discounts and offers” 

10% off training and advice on imports and exports 

export, with training and 

workshops of key issues. 

For a full list of courses, see 

https://stamc.co.uk 

The TradeNet International 

Trade Support is available at two 

levels, making it an affordable 

solution to meet your needs. 

Silver Service is for the ‘casual’ 

user and offers on call access to 

one of our International Trade 

Advisors for around 90 minutes 

Members’ discounted 

consultancy support 

Where Now Consulting Ltd 

provides business advice and 

support to IoD members in 

Scotland. Where Now Consulting 

focuses on the development of 

business models for growth and 

would be delighted to support 

members in any of the following 

categories: Organic growth; 

In-organic growth; and Success 

Planning 

IoD Scotland offer 

Where Now Consulting Ltd will 

give members a complimentary 

one hour consultancy session to 

focus and develop key strategies 

for success with a further 10% 

discount on further support from 

Where Now Consulting, and a £35 

discount on the Where Now 

Consulting Business Diagnostic 

Tool. 

Member discounts on 

products and services 

The IoD has arranged special 

discounts on a host of products 

and services that are required by 

directors and business leaders, 

including: 

Professional Indemnity Insurance 

Office insurance 

Data risks insurance 

Car and van hire 

Personal private health insurance 

Home and contents insurance 

Private client insurance 

Directors’ Liability/Cyber risk 

• Click HERE for more details. 

per month for £250 pcm (+ VAT). 

The Gold Service is for those 

with more complex trading 

arrangements and provides 

around four hours support per 

month for £450 pcm (+VAT) 

WANT TO KNOW MORE? 

Contact St Andrews 

Management Centre, 

14 St Catherine Street, 

Cupar, Fife KY15 4HH 

E: tradenet@stamc.co.uk 

T: 03300 241316 


DIRECTION | IoD EVENTS 


IoD Events 

Exit strategies for 

small business owners 

Date: 22 May 

Time: 8.30am-11 (networking to noon) 

Venue: Gleneagles Townhouse 

Cost: Members £25, 

Non-members £40 

After pouring blood, sweat and tears 

into building your small business - 

where do you go next? 

Network with other small business 

owners and hear from keynote 

speakers to find out more about 

how to make your business ‘sale 

ready’ at this exciting breakfast 

event. 

Learn what is needed to enhance 

their company’s value for a 

successful sale - be it in the near 

future or 10 years from now. 

After the event they will also 

Are you competitive in 

today’s digital world? 

Glasgow & West of Scotland branch 

Date: 22 May 

Time: 5:30pm — 8pm 

Venue: Clockwise 

Cost: free of charge 

The next general election is just 

around the corner and there is one 

thing everyone agrees on: 2024 

promises to be a turbulent year. So 

does this mean a declining year with 

little growth or prosperity? 

Absolutely not. We look forward to 

an evening of lively discussion, 

interactive workshops and a healthy 

Q & A to conclude with our panel. 

Fourways Group, Scale Computing 

and a crop of strategic tech experts 

are here to dispel this myth at an 

interactive evening event for 

business leaders in Glasgow – 

showcasing the success of 

Scotland’s growth companies 

despite prevailing market forces. 

Join IoD members and fellow 

business leaders to share insights 

and best practices to examine key 

questions: 

How can I be sure I am making the 

best choices for my business in today’s 

uncertain and volatile markets? 

receive a top tips guide: “Navigating 

your Exit: A Roadmap for Owner- 

Managed Businesses”, to provide an 

overview of what will be important 

to prospective buyers or investors. 

Spaces are limited to 15 people, 

for SME Business Owners only. 

Sponsors: Ahead Business 

Consulting 

To book: 

Contact Patricia Huth 

t: 0131 557 5488 

e: Patricia.Huth@iod.com 

How can a digital transformation 

strategy help me to identify any 

skills gaps, leverage cloud 

economics and scalability and what 

actionable data insights should I be 

using? 

Understand how billion dollar 

technology and AI is now readily 

available to third sector and SMEs 

previously the preserve or corporate 

and enterprise. 

Don’t wait, save your seat for this 

industry-leading event and register 

now. 

To book: 


t: 0131 557 5488 


IoD Scotland Charity 

Golf Day 2024 

Date: 31 May 

Time: from 8am - 2.30pm 

Venue: Falkirk Golf Club 

Cost: Member £125 

Member - Team of four £400 

Non Member - Team of four £450 

Get your challenge team together to 

have fun, meet fellow directors – 

maybe win – and most importantly, 

raise critical funds to help support 

Committed to Ending Abuse (CEA)’s 

vital work. 

Arrive at 8 am for breakfast rolls, 

teas and coffees. Longest drive and 

nearest the pin prizes, lunch, 

networking, a charity raffle and hear 

from the CEO of the Charity itself. 

The event is sponsored by Ahead 

Business Consulting in aid of CEA 

which supports adults, children and 

young people in the Falkirk area 

who have been affected by 

domestic abuse and trauma. 

Sponsor: Ahead Business Consulting 

To book: 


t: 0131 557 5488 


Lost in the labyrinth 

of NED aspirations? 

Date: 23 May 

Time: 12.30-1.30pm 

Venue: Online 

Cost: Free of charge 

This event will offer clarity to the 

roadmap to becoming an Non- 

Executive Director (NED). Join 

Simon Bergenroth, founder and 

managing director of 3Hats as he 

demystifies the NED journey, from 

initial steps to securing a position. 

Leave ready to conquer the exciting 

world of NED opportunities! 

To book: Contact Patricia Huth 

t: 0131 557 5488 




IoD EVENTS | DIRECTION 

Leading the boardroom: navigating the 

journey from director to board chair 

Venue: 14 May 

Time: 1pm-2pm 

Venue: Online 

Cost: Members Free 


Join European Women on Boards 

for an illuminating discussion on the 

art and science of progressing from 

board member to chair. 

The roles of a board director and a 

board chair carry distinct 

responsibilities and functions; in this 

follow-up to our 2023 webinar with 

European Women on Boards, learn 

about how to effectively make that 

step from director to chair. 

Join this webinar to hear speakers 

from the Institute of Directors and 

European Women on Boards discuss 

the different opportunities to 

becoming board chair and what 

additional responsibilities above 

those of a board member that you’ll 

be expected to take on. 

Embrace excellence 

Fife & Tayside Members event 

Date: 6 June and 5 September 

Time: 5.30-9pm 

Venue: Rusacks in St. Andrews 

Cost: Free 

We’re looking forward to an 

engaging evening at The Gallery, 

Rusacks, and we’d love for you to 

join us. It’s a blend of relaxed 

networking and genuine 

connections, set against the 

backdrop of a space where comfort 

touches on the grand. 

Join us any time between 5:30 and 

9 pm. Whether your evening calls for 

a refreshing drink, a soothing tea, or 

just an appreciation of the 

atmosphere, we’re creating the ideal 

setting for spontaneous exchanges 

and insightful discussions. 

Here, conversations about business 

and beyond flow freely, with 

opportunities to delve into deeper 

discussions in smaller, more intimate 

groups. 

This gathering is an open invitation 

to both new faces and familiar 

members of our community, 

welcoming all who are part of the 

What you will learn from this 

session: 

Understand the key differences 

between board member and chair. 

Identify challenges commonly 

faced on the pathway to becoming a 

board chair. 

Explore proven strategies for 

navigating the transition. 

Learn from real-world experiences 

and insights shared by accomplished 

board chairs. 

To book: 

Contact IoD Events team 

e: events@iod.com 

business world, regardless of your 

role or the size of your enterprise. 

Don’t miss this unique opportunity 

to unwind yet engage, to network 

yet nurture, in the heart of St 

Andrews. Whether you’re seeking 

stimulating dialogues or a moment 

of tranquillity in good company, 

Rusacks is poised to offer an 

experience that promises to be both 

memorable and meaningful. We’re 

excited to host you at The Gallery 

– where connections are made, ideas 

are sparked, and every interaction 

enriches our collective journey. 

To book: 


t: 0131 557 5488 


Mental health 

awareness 

Date: 4 June 

Venue: Online 

Time: 12.30-1.30pm 

Cost: Free of charge 

Developing mental health awareness 

is key to changing and improving 

workplace cultures, reducing sick 

leave and improving retention and 

performance of employees. 

However, due to the complexity of 

mental health, and often the 

associated stigma, how can directors 

really lead an organisation which 

benefits people’s mental health? 

Join us for this virtual event to find 

out. 

To book: 

Contact Frances Fairclough 

t: 0161 521 9252 

e: frances.fairclough@iod.com 

Workforce 

for the future 

Date: 4 June 

Time: 10am — 2pm 

Venue: University of Strathclyde 

Cost: Members Free 


How can leaders promote and 

support learners, entrepreneurs, and 

employees to succeed? This event 

will bring decision makers to a halfday 

conference to fully understand 

the need for skills and the role 

business can have in determining 

the workforce of the future. 

Why and how we want to develop 

the workforce of the future really 

sits with the end user, the economy 

and the employer. 

Join us for a lively facilitated 

discussion which will explore the 

critical skills that we need to ensure 

a thriving future economy for 

Scotland. The day will include input 

from Skills Development Scotland, 

those behind the Hayward Review 

the Withers Report and from 

Scotland’s university and college 

sectors. IoD Scotland’s State of the 

Nation Survey will also be discussed. 

Sponsors: Aspen 

To book: 


t: 0131 557 5488 



DIRECTION | IoD EVENTS 


Spring Economic Update 

with the Bank of England 

Date: 16 May 

Time: 12pm-1pm 

Venue: Online 

Cost: Free, members only 

Join us to discuss the outcomes of the latest 

MPC report released by the Bank of England. 

Keep up to date with the trends and analysis by listening to IoD’s quarterly 

economic updates with the Bank of England. 

This members-only event will host IoD Director for Policy and Governance, 

Dr Roger Barker, who will explore the latest UK economic outlook and what it 

means for directors and their businesses. Roger will be joined by Rob Elder, 

the Bank of England’s Agent for London. This event is an excellent 

opportunity for leaders to hear more about the UK and global economic 

outlook for 2024. 

This event will be run under Chatham House Rule and thus will not be 

available for playback. 

To book: Contact IoD Events team 


IoD Glasgow & 

West of Scotland 

Monthly Breakfast 

Networking event 

Date: 30 May 

Time: 8.30-10.30am 

Venue: VEGA, YOTEL Glasgow 

As requested by our members we 

are moving to a monthly breakfast 

networking meeting. Meet local 

members over breakfast at the 

VEGA, YOTEL Glasgow. Free to 

attend, pay for breakfast at the 

event. 

To book: 


t: 0131 557 5488 


Is sustainability sustainable? 

Date: 28 May 

Venue: Online 

Cost: Free to members 

Join other members in Aberdeen to 

hear thoughts from a varied line-up 

on the importance of sustainability. 

As part of the IoD’s plan to raise 

awareness of sustainability, the 

Aberdeen & Grampian Branch are 

organising an opportunity to hear 

from other organisations with 

regards to how they are 

approaching sustainability. The 

event is open to all members and its 

aims are to highlight the 

opportunities (and risks) to business 

with respect to sustainability; to 

articulate the key targets and 

actions for Scotland / UK; to 

highlight existing support available 

to members (and their 

organisations); to inform using case 

studies and show additional value 

and expertise in the sustainability 

space to members. 

Sponsored by Vysus Group 

To book: 


t: 0131 557 5488 


Freeport: Taking advantage of the strategy 

Date: 25 June 

Time: 12.30pm-2pm 

Venue: Online 

Cost: Members Free of charge 


Join the discussion with 

representatives of freeports around 

the UK to learn more about trading 

opportunities. 

The Government’s Freeport 

programme is a major opportunity 

for the UK economy. It can help the 

UK economy strengthen its global 

trading position whilst developing 

new international relationships. 

Speakers include Callum 

MacPherson, CEO at Inverness & 

Cromarty Firth Green Freeport. 

To book: 

Contact IoD Events team 


Chartered Director 

Conference 

Date: 13 June 

Time: 9.30am-6pm 

Venue: Nissan Sunderland 

Cost: £98 

Hot on the heels of the success of 

last year’s inaugural Chartered 

Director Conference, we are 

delighted to announce that this 

year’s event will take place in the 

Nissan Sunderland plant, hosted by 

North East (North) Branch Chair, 

and fellow chartered, Sarah 

Waddington. 

See first-hand how Nissan’s 

pioneering investment has helped to 

build factories of the future, 

transformed its facilities and 

upskilled its workforce. 

The tour will be complemented by 

networking opportunities and 

speakers on the themes of 

innovation, productivity and 

unlocking workplace potential. 

Welcome refreshments, lunch and 

an opportunity to join the group for 

networking drinks at Malmaison 

back in Newcastle will close the day. 

To book: 

Contact Polly Laughton 

t: 02080784014 

e: Polly.Laughton@iod.com 




Professional Development 

For more details on any of the following IoD Professional Development courses, see 

https://www.iod.com/professional-development/ 

Role of the Managing Director 

Date: 21 May 

Time: from 9am 

Venue: Online 

Cost (exc VAT): Member £1,065 

Non-member £1,395 

Developing Board Performance 

Date: 10-12 June 

Time: from 9am-5pm 

Venue: Online 

Cost (ex Vat): Member £4,250 


Aspiring Director 


9am-5pm 

Venue: Online 



Role of the Director and the Board 


Time: 9:30am - 5pm 

Venue: Apex Grassmarket, Edinburgh 



Role of the Chair 

Date: 17 Jun 

Time: 9am 

Venue: Online 





Time: 9am-5pm 

Venue: Online 



Role of the Company Secretary 

Date: 8 July 


Venue: Online 



Role of the Non-Executive Director 

Date: 8 Aug 

Time: 9am 

Venue: Online 



Leadership for Directors 

Date: 27-28 August 

Time: 9am-5pm 

Venue: Online 




Date: 2-3 September 

Time: 9am-5pm 

Venue: Online 




Date: 19 September 


Venue: Online 



Leading Sustainability for Directors 

Date: 30 September 

Time: 1:30pm 

Venue: Online 



Accelerated Certificate in 

Company Direction 

Date: 13-18 October 

Venue: Norton House Hotel, 

Edinburgh 



Role of the Trustee 

Date: 17 October 


Venue: Online 

Cost (ex Vat): Member £250 

Non-member £330 

Strategy for Directors 

Date: 21-23 October 

Time: 9:30-5pm 

Venue: Apex Waterloo Place Hotel, 

Edinburgh 




Date: 28 November 

Time: 9:30am 

Venue: Maryculter House, Aberdeen 

Cost (ex Vat) : Member £1,395 


Leadership for Directors 

Date: 2-3 December 

Time: 9:30am-5pm 

Venue: Apex Waterloo Place Hotel, 

Edinburgh 

Cost (ex Vat) : Member £2,995 



DIRECTION | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 


Professional Development 2024 

Click the logo 

for more details 

Accelerated Certificate in Company Direction 

Accelerated Certificate in Company Direction 

Date: 13- 18 October 2024 

Venue: Norton House Hotel, Edinburgh 

Member Rate £9,955 + Vat 

Non-Member rate £12,995 + Vat 

The IoD’s Accelerated Certificate in Company Direction 

five-day intensive residential course is set at Norton 

House Hotel in Edinburgh. This intensive residential 

course for experienced directors is designed to fit around 

your schedule, enabling you to be more effective in your 

director role in just five-and-a-half days. 

Why attend? 

Achieve the IoD Certificate in Company Direction in a 

flexible way and without taking focus away from your 

professional life. 

Who will benefit? 

Any busy director who simply cannot take too much time 

away from the demands of their business and who is 

looking for a fast -track method of achieving the 

certificate in company direction. 

What’s involved? 

Using a practical approach, each of the four Certificate in 

Company Direction modules will equip you with the 

knowledge and skills needed for effective performance, 

covering the key areas of governance, leadership, finance 

and strategy. You will explore different business aspects 

first-hand by meeting course leaders and delegates from 

a mix of sectors and hear different perspectives, helping 

to broaden your understanding of your role. 

Practical learning enhanced by real-life scenarios and 

peer collaboration will provide you with the essential 

knowledge and skills for immediate application and 

maximum impact. 

This course is condensed into five days, all parts of the 

course are mandatory. 

“My experience of the Accelerated 

Certificate programme was probably 

the best learning week of my career so 

far, so clearly it comes very highly 

recommended.” 

Bernard Grenville-Jones CDir, 

MD, Activate Learning 



PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT | DIRECTION 



Role of the Director 

and the Board 

Date: 10 and 11 June 

Venue: Apex Grassmarket, Edinburgh 

Cost: Member Rate: £2,795 + VAT 

Non-Member Rate: £3,295 + VAT 

This course provides an introduction to a director’s 

duties and legal responsibilities and the board’s role in 

corporate governance and risk management. You’ll 

leave with confidence to tackle boardroom challenges, 

equipped to take your career to the next level. 

What delegates said... 

“This module really articulated the responsibilities of 

directors, especially from a legal point of view. I doubt 

most directors are actually aware of what they are 

liable for, and I believe there should be some sort of 

mandatory training for directors such as this when 

they join a board.” 

Paul Bolton, CDir, ONECPD 



From in-person to online: A strategy success story 

Marlene Lowe, Chair of IoD Fife 

& Tayside, attended an online 

IoD Strategy for Directors 

professional development 

course. Here she reflects on the 

experience 

Listen, I wasn’t sure how well an 

online IoD Strategy for Directors 

course could compare to the 

fantastic in-person experience I had 

with Role of a Director. But let me 

tell you, any worries I had vanished 

quicker than a free Red Bull sample! 

The tech team behind the course 

deserves a standing ovation. They 

ensured everything ran smoothly, 

and any glitches were dealt with 

swiftly. Big kudos to the entire team 

as well for prioritising breaks 

throughout the three days. It kept 

everyone focused and ready to 

learn. 

Ian Waddelow was a fantastic 

course host. He made sure everyone 

had the opportunity for one-on-one 

interaction, which was invaluable for 

truly grasping the material. The 

discussions were lively and 

engaging, with analysing Red Bull’s 

strategies – how they transformed 

from ’just’ a drink into a global 

phenomenon – being a particular 

highlight for me. 

The course really emphasised the 

importance of not sticking to a 

single strategic tool, but rather using 

a diverse toolbox. It also drove home 

the power of creative brainstorming 

– a true game-changer! 

By the end of the three days, my 

brain was definitely at capacity. 

Revisiting the course materials, as 

Ian encouraged, is a must-do. 

However, I also walked away with a 

ton of fresh ideas on how to discuss 

strategy with my micro-business 

clients. This course truly helped me 

understand how to empower them 

to unleash their creativity and propel 

their businesses forward. 

If you’re looking to gain a deeper 

understanding of strategy and 

identify your strengths within the 

strategic process, this course is 

fantastic. It was eye-opening and left 

me feeling prepped to become a 

strategic rockstar! 

• For more details on 

IoD Professional 

Development courses, 

including Strategy for 

Directors, click the logo

IOD SCOTLAND Spring 2024

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