Jack Perry is chairman of London listed ICG-Longbow Senior Secured UK Property Debt Investments Ltd. He also chairs Silent Herdsman Holdings Limited a Scottish venture backed technology business and is member of the Board of European Assets Trust NV. He is an adviser and consultant to a number of other businesses ranging from hotels to law firms. He is a former director of Robert Wiseman Dairies PLC and Capital for Enterprise Limited. He previously served as a member of the UK & Ireland Advisory Board of Barclays Wealth and Investment Management.

For six years until 2009, Jack served as Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s enterprise, innovation and investment agency. During this time he was instrumental in the creation of Scotland Food and Drink. Prior to this, he was the managing partner of Ernst & Young LLP in Glasgow. In addition he was a Regional Industry Leader for Ernst & Young’s Consumer Products practice. Jack is a former Chairman of the CBI Scotland.

Jack is Deputy Convener of Court and Treasurer of the University of Strathclyde and a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Edinburgh Business School. He is also Chairman of Hospice Developments Limited a charitable company charged with building the new Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.

Jack is a member of the Advisory Board of the Asia Scotland Institute and a former chairman of Craigholme School. He has a BSc in Pure Science and is a Chartered Accountant. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by Edinburgh Napier University and the University of Abertay Dundee and is a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of East Renfrewshire.

Jim has held the position of Managing Director in Scottish Sea Farms since September 2001. He has worked in the Aquaculture industry since 1998 and his previous role was Finance Director with Hydro Seafood Group. He was part of the team responsible for selling Hydro Seafood to the current owners Norskott Havbruk in 2001. He has worked extensively in the food sector for plus 20 years and his previous role was Financial Controller with Marshall Food Group at Newbridge in Edinburgh. His previous employment was as Cost Accountant with MSA (International) at Coatbridge for 6 years. He is educated in Management Accounting and attended Glasgow College in Glasgow. Board appointments: Scottish Sea Farms Ltd, SSPO, SQS, FCI and industry representative on the Ministerial Group for Sustainable Aquaculture (MGSA).

The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) is the national, strategic body that is responsible for funding teaching and learning provision, research and other activities in Scotland’s 25 colleges and 19 universities and higher education institutions. The SFC will invest £100m over the next 5 years in a series of Innovation Centres. These new Centres are expected to bring about a step change in the interaction of businesses with the academic research base.

John has worked in Higher Education management and administration for over 20 years. He is currently Director of Research and Enterprise at the University of Stirling where he has responsibility for an integrated portfolio covering strategy and policy, grant and contract funding, research assessment, researcher development, research governance and integrity, knowledge exchange, intellectual property and commercialisation. He has strong interests in research policy, funding and assessment, and economic, social and community development.

Walter started growing mussels in 1985. He was a founder member of the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers in 1987, and until recently was the Chair. He was a founder member of the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group which he chaired from 1992 for the first 14 years. He set up Mussel Inn Ltd (seafood restaurants) in 1998, and is still a Director. More recently he was Chair of the Scottish Government Shellfish Working Group, and currently is a Director of the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre and is Chair of the interim Board of the Scottish Seaweed Industry Association.

Alan is the Managing Director of Marine Harvest (Scotland) Ltd, the largest salmon farming company in Scotland. Alan graduated from Aberdeen University in 1982 and has been farming salmonids for 32 years. He has extensive experience of all aspects of salmon and trout farming, processing and sales including international experience gained during time spent working in Canada and the US.

Jimmy qualified as a vet from Edinburgh Royal (Dick) Veterinary College 1980 and worked for 6 years in mixed/large animal practice before moving to specialise in aquaculture. He completed an MSc in Aquatic Veterinary Studies and a PhD in salmon health management. He has worked as a health advisor to Scottish fish farms and spent nearly 10 years working as a consultant on behalf of the Institute of Aquaculture mostly in Asian aquaculture. His research is related to understanding determinants of health and welfare in farmed aquatic populations and translating that understanding into improved farming practices. He is currently Deputy Director of the Institute of Aquaculture at Stirling, President of the Fish Vet Society, Research Theme leader for the MASTS Productive Seas and has acted on a variety of working groups and panels, including FAWC, MGSA, RSPCA Freedom Food, BBSRC, NRC.

Core operations is the responsibility of the Director working with a staff team including; Marketing and Communications Manager, a Training Manager, a Business Development Liaison Manager and a Project Manager. The Director will report regularly to the Board and will line manage SAIC operational staff.

Heather Jones – Chief Executive

Heather Jones has an MA (Geography) and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh. For 25 years she worked for the Scottish Office, Scottish Executive, Locate in Scotland (now Scottish Development International) and the Scottish Government as a senior civil servant providing strategic policy direction to Ministerial teams from all four major political parties in Scotland. Heather was Deputy Director in Marine Scotland responsible for aquaculture in 2007-2010, and is delighted to be back working with the aquaculture industry and research community again.

Corinne Critchlow-Watton

Cori completed an MSc at Napier University in 1998 and a PhD at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling in 2003 and went on to project manage and teach at the Institute. Projects have included EU funded and UK funded projects as well as very large multi-stakeholder projects. These projects included European and Asian partners. She was also the coordinator and a teacher on a Bangladesh based blended learning MSc funded through the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.