SE chief Lena Wilson new non-exec at testing specialist Intertek

SCOTTISH Enterprise chief executive Lena Wilson is joining the board Intertek, the London-based consumer goods testing specialist, as a non-executive director.

Crawford Gillies, chairman of the economic development agency, said Wilson was “scaling down” her other external commitments to ensure the position, which she takes up from 1 July, does not interfere with her Scottish Enterprise post, for which she is paid £200,000 a year.

Gillies said: “While Lena will take on this role in a personal capacity, I firmly believe that it will benefit her as chief executive of Scottish Enterprise.

“It will build on the commercial awareness and expertise she already has and boost her credibility even further when dealing with business leaders in Scotland and across the world to support Scotland’s economic growth.”

Gillies said Wilson will have to work “around a day a month” as a non-executive at Intertek, on top of her contracted hours at Scottish Enterprise.

As well as her role at Intertek, Wilson is an ambassador for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, an advisory board member of Strathclyde University’s business school and a member of Scotland’s Financial Services Advisory Board (Fisab).

Wilson was named chief executive of Scottish Enterprise in 2009, replacing Jack Perry. Prior to that she was the agency’s chief operating officer and chief executive of its inward investment arm, Scottish Development International.

Between 1998 and 2000, she was seconded to the World Bank in Washington, working on private sector development for developing countries.