Eight non-execs appointed to Scottish National Investment Bank on £21k-plus annual pay

Eight non-executive directors have been appointed to the board of the Scottish National Investment Bank ahead of its launch before the end of the year.

Willie Watt was appointed in November 2019 as chair-designate at the Scottish National Investment Bank. Picture: Maverick Photo Agency

They will each receive up to £21,250 per annum with those appointed chairs of the audit, risk and remuneration committees and the senior independent director pocketing an additional £4,250 per annum. For that, the non-execs will be expected to devote up to 25 days per year to the role.

Economy secretary Fiona Hyslop announced the appointment of Tracey Ashworth-Davies, Carolyn Jameson, Peter Knott, Jason McGibbon, Nicholas Moon, Candida Morley, Jacqueline Redmond and Sir Jonathan Taylor to the board of the bank.

Chair-designate Willie Watt said: “The depth of experience brought together by these appointments reflects both the scale and ambition of what we hope to achieve.

Tracey Ashworth-Davies is one of the non-executive directors appointed at the Scottish National Investment Bank. She is currently director of workforce at NHS Education for Scotland. Picture: Nick Mailer

“By combining their talent, we now have the variety of skills necessary to help deliver our vision of a globally competitive, sustainable and fairer economy for Scotland.

“We will be able to draw on a broad range of expertise, knowledge of both the Scottish and international business community, public and private sector, as well as mentoring small businesses and supporting scale-ups.”

Watt was appointed in November 2019 and the bank’s chief executive-designate, Eilidh Mactaggart, was appointed in April this year.

Among the non-executive appointments, Ashworth-Davies is currently director of workforce at NHS Education for Scotland. She is also an experienced financial services professional having held senior roles with Legal & General and Toronto Dominion Bank Group.

Jameson is currently chief legal officer at Trustpilot, the consumer review platform. Previously she was chief legal officer at Edinburgh’s Skyscanner.

Hyslop said: “The board’s composition brings together extensive experience of impact investment and the knowledge required to identify opportunities to support economic growth across Scotland and help our businesses and communities to flourish.

“Our appointees not only have experience of the areas affected by the bank’s missions but also of development banking, the third sector, and of financial services, helping underpin strong governance of this new financial institution for Scotland.

“The Scottish Government has committed to investing £2 billion to capitalise the bank over ten years, enabling it to become a cornerstone institution in the Scottish economy.”

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