Scotland Food & Drink appoints pioneering businesswomen duo to board

Two pioneering businesswoman have been appointed to the board of industry leadership body Scotland Food & Drink.

Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, founder of gluten-free-focused Genius Foods. Picture: contributed.

Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, founder of gluten-free-focused Genius Foods, and Alison Milne, a partner at family farming business A Milne & Son, will help steer the direction of the organisation and shape its ongoing partnership with the Scottish Government.

They join next month and fill vacancies created by the retirement of farmers Gareth Baird and Geoff Bruce earlier this year.

The organisation said Bruce-Gardyne has grown Genius Foods to become the UK’s leading gluten-free bakery brand. She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2017 where she sits on the enterprise fellowship panel. She also holds a directorship at The Scale Up Institute and as Royal Society entrepreneur in residence at the University of Edinburgh.

Alison Milne is a partner at family farming business A Milne & Son. Picture: Kelly McIntyre.

Milne brings experience in the agriculture and wider food and drink supply chain. A Milne & Son has recently launched Crafty Maltsters, producing malt to sell to the brewing and distilling sector.

In 2017, Milne was appointed co-chair of the National Council of Rural Advisors, commissioned by Scottish Government to provide recommendations on how to secure a vibrant, sustainable and profitable rural economy. She is also currently a member of the Scottish Government’s Future of Food and Farming Group and a member of the Brewing Industry Leadership Group.

The Scotland Food & Drink Board is chaired by Dennis Overton, co-founder of sustainable seafood business Aquascot. He said the new arrivals “will be central to our work to deliver further growth and collaboration in our food and drink sector”.