Independent Chair
The Interim Vice Chair is Steven Boyle.
Regrettably, our previous independent chair Campbell Christie passed away on Friday 28th October, 2011. The board of Directors would like to place on record its deepest gratitude to Campbell for his important and selfless contribution to the work of the Helix Trust. He will be sadly missed.
Interim Chief Executive - The Helix Trust
This post is currently held by David Lamont
The Helix Trust team
Full details can be found here.
Steven Boyle
Steven began his career with BP's engineering division in the late eighties, and has been based at Grangemouth since 1991.
Having completed an MBA from Strathclyde Graduate Business School, Steven changed career path and became Human Resources and Government and Public Affairs Manager for INEOS Manufacturing Scotland Ltd (IMSL). More recently Steven moved into the role of Procurement Manager for IMSL, with accountability for the purchase of all site services, materials and equipment for the three INEOS businesses that have a presence at Grangemouth.
Having a keen interest in community development, Steven was a member of the My Future's in Falkirk steering group, and the Falkirk Business Panel Leadership Group from 2006-2010.
Steven is also a Trustee Director for two Pension Schemes and was until recently a Trustee Director with Stirling Carers, a charitable Trust that provides services and support to carers and young carers in the Stirling Area.
Steve Dunlop
Steve joined British Waterways in 2006 as Director Scotland. Formerly, he was Director of Regeneration for Newcastle City Council and, prior to that, held a directorship at Falkirk Council. Steve is regarded as a ‘regeneration specialist’ and is a director of a range of Joint Venture property companies looking after British Waterways’ interests. He has a wide variety of interests but mainly cycling and photography.
Linda Gow
Linda Gow has been a Councillor on Falkirk Council since 1995 and has served as Depute Convenor of Education, Depute Leader of the Council, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Council.
Linda currently holds the Health remit and represents Falkirk on the Forth Valley Health Board. Prior to becoming a Councillor, she worked in residential care for children with behavioural difficulties, and also part-time as a youth worker with local teenagers.
Linda's interests outside of work are reading, hill walking and photography.
David Lamont
David has a wide range of technical, commercial and business experience across both the public and private sectors. He has worked as a project and operations manager with large Civil Engineering and Manufacturing organisations on both capital programmes and operational maintenance plans.
Before joining British Waterways Scotland as Operations Manager, David held the role of Head of Planning & Logistics with Weir Pumps Ltd. Prior to this he held a variety of operational management roles within both public and private sector organisations.
David has a current role within BW Scotland as Head of Operations, where he is a key member of the Scottish Management Team working in specific areas which include: managing infrastructure assets, overseeing major civil engineering projects to renew the waterways and also canal maintenance and repair operations; leading the development of a project management culture across all business areas, which include leisure, regeneration, the environment and heritage; developing business systems that deliver operational efficiency and effectiveness; and delivering improvements to health, safety and environment.
Councillor Craig R Martin
Councillor Craig R Martin became a local councillor for the Falkirk North Ward in May 2007. The ward covers areas from the river Carron to Callendar Park and encompasses the vast majority of the Helix project.
Craig is currently the depute convenor of the Environment and Community Safety committee within Falkirk Council and a member of various other committees including education and police.
Craig is also working towards a PhD in chemistry after receiving a masters degree in the subject from the University of Glasgow. He is a local lad and a proud Falkirk football club supporter. He tied the knot in April 2010.
Sandy Rae
Until recently, Sandy was Energy Management Director at Scottish Power in Glasgow, where he was responsible for managing Scottish Power’s activities in the energy wholesale markets for gas, electricity, coal and CO2 emissions. He also had responsibility for the real time control and despatch of Scottish Power’s generation fleet.
With over 30 years' experience in the utility sector Sandy’s previous roles include Commercial Development Director, Head of Trading and Risk Analyst, all based in Glasgow. He also spent several years as a Grid Control Engineer at Kirkintilloch and an Instrument Engineer at Longannet Power Station. Sandy is currently researching business opportunities in the energy sector and other sectors.
Sandy holds a degree in Power Engineering and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and also completed the Advanced Management Programme at Wharton in the USA.
He is married with two children and in his spare time enjoys travel, golf and, more recently, hill walking. A keen sailor, he enjoys sailing in Scotland and the Continent and has cruised up and down the Forth and Clyde Canal.
Simon Rennie MBE
Simon is the Chief Executive of the Central Scotland Forest Trust; a post he has held for nine years. He has many years of experience in, and is heavily involved with, social forestry and urban regeneration. He has extensive experience of both charity management and governance having been involved in the third sector in Scotland since 1991.
Prior to this, Simon spent nine years abroad with Unilever and Inchcape, managing various commercial interests.
Simon has a degree in Forestry from Aberdeen and an MBA from Edinburgh. He is married with two children and his interests include the outdoors, sailing, and food and wine. He was awarded an MBE in the 2008 New Years Honours list for services to the environment. His current roles are as follows: Chief Executive and Director of the Central Scotland Forest Trust; Non Executive Committee Member of FCS National Committee; Member of the FCS Audit & Risk Committee; Chair of the Central Scotland Regional Forestry Forum; Director of the Helix project in Falkirk; Chair of the People & Enterprise sub-committee of the Helix; Head of the Central Scotland Green Network Support Unit (Based within CSFT); Trustee of Children 1st; Chair of Children 1st Audit Committee; Director of Yong Fong Ltd – fashion design company based in London.
Simon has previously held directorships in Greenspace Scotland, Stepfamily Scotland and in numerous subsidiary companies of the Wise Group, where he was the Deputy Chief Executive, based in Glasgow.
Lisa Sneddon
Lisa Sneddon was educated in Brisbane, Australia, where she developed her early career in the property sector before moving to Scotland in 1986.
Having initially worked with PA Consulting providing IT training skills to a variety of clients across the UK, Lisa returned to the property sector in 1992. She worked with clients in the commercial and private property market in senior sales and marketing roles up to Director of Sales for bespoke quality housebuilders, developing and leading teams to award winning levels.
Since 2008, Lisa has developed her own consulting practice using her expertise in sales processes, customer service and marketing to provide insight and structure for SME clients in property, retail and the third sector. Her current primary project is the development of a classic tea shop in the heart of Stirling, which is due to open in the summer of 2010. This new venture will fulfil a long-held ambition, combining a passion for baking with her love of tea and coffee shops.
Lisa is involved in Seagull Trust Cruises, an organisation, which provides free canal cruises for people with special needs in Scotland. When she is not working on a project Lisa enjoys cruising on Scotland’s inland waterways and assisting her partner in restoring classic fire engines.
Councillor Allyson Black
Councillor Allyson Black was elected to represent the Grangemouth Ward in 2007. She then took on the role of Depute Provost. Formerly a registered nurse for 18 years, she has a keen interest in health-related issues and is the council’s representative on the Community Health Partnership (CHP).
A graduate of the open university in 2001 with a BSc Degree, she is currently co-owner in a gift shop, and is the council’s representative on Town Centre Management.
For six years she volunteered with Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and found it a valuable experience. She is now on the board of Grangemouth CAB as the council’s representative.
When the pressures of work allow, Allyson enjoys playing the piano and walking.
Richard Millar
Richard is the Waterway Development manager at British Waterways Scotland. Richard joined the company in January 1999 from Scottish Water as a project engineer. He worked on a number of projects during the Millennium Link including the renovated parts of the canal in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, and between Lock 16 in Falkirk and the River Carron in Grangemouth.
Richard then progressed to Waterways manager for the Lowland canals and has held various positions in both the operational and service side of the business - eventually seeing him take up his current post. His current role includes fund-raising, interpretation, developing new businesses, and leisure activities. Richard was British Waterways’ lead on The Helix project which was awarded £25million from the BIG Lottery Commission in November 2007.