Our Board

Kate Allum, Chair

Kate brings almost 30 years of Board level experience across a wide range of sectors. She currently serves on the boards of The Co-op and Business Stream and, until very recently, the University of the West of Scotland, where she was Chair of the Court. She has extensive governance expertise, including chairing Board Committees and serving on Audit and ESG Committees, alongside previous Chief Executive roles at CeDo and First Milk.

Kate is passionate about environmental and social sustainability and animal welfare.

Ed Alford, Trustee

Ed is highly impactful Global CIO with extensive Digital Transformation experience gained across a number of industry sectors including retail, oil & gas and consulting.  He spent the last two years at the high street fashion retailer New Look transforming their technology landscape and prior to that was part of BP’s top 100 leadership team acting in CIO and Senior VP positions between 2012 and 2020.

In 2022, he was recognised by Computer Weekly as the 4th most influential UK tech leader in the private sector.

Laura Brady, Trustee

Laura Brady is an award-winning third-sector leader with more than 15 years’ experience in fundraising, marketing, and supporter engagement. As Director of Marketing and Fundraising at Worldwide Cancer Research, she has led transformational strategies that have grown income, enhanced donor retention, and increased public awareness of the charity’s mission.

Passionate about ethical fundraising and people-centred leadership, Laura brings expertise in governance, digital innovation, and organisational transformation. She also contributes her insight as a trustee of the Scottish Golf Charitable Trust and as a member of advisory boards including The Marketing Society Scotland and The Marketing Academy Alumni Council. Laura is committed to advancing Scotland’s charitable and marketing sectors through strategic collaboration, learning, and innovation.

Niall Connell, Trustee

Niall is a veterinary surgeon who qualified from Glasgow in 1982. Niall was in mixed practice in Fife for 2 years, then worked for PDSA in 25 years in London and Glasgow. He suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and retired from clinical practice in 2009.

Today, he now does assessments and occasional teaching at Glasgow Vet School. He was on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Council for 10 years and is a past president and treasurer and is still involved in some RCVS committee work.

He is married to Colette and they have three grown children, three grandchildren, a Border Terrier and a cat.

Ben Cook, Trustee

Ben is the Managing Director of The Formery, an agency he co-founded, and his expertise spans brand development, digital strategy, income diversification and organisational growth. He is also currently a Non-Executive Director at ESPC, where he supports digital transformation and fundraising partnerships.

Ben’s professional experience is underpinned by strong personal values. He has played an active role in his local community in Culross, serving on the community council, leading fundraising for the community centre, and supporting local events. His long-standing commitment to sustainability is also reflected in a personal reforestation project he co-founded in the Brazilian Amazon, where over 16,000 native trees have been planted on previously deforested land.

Ben’s passion for animal welfare is deeply rooted in personal experience, having witnessed how the love, empathy, and connection of a family dog played a vital role in supporting his child through a serious health challenge. He currently has a dog, Cub.

Peter Hastie, Trustee

Peter is an animal scientist, Professor of Veterinary Biosciences and Head of Global Engagement at SRUC.

For the majority of Peter’s career he has worked in the veterinary and animal science sphere as an academic, firstly at the University of Glasgow’s Vet School and latterly at SRUC’s new Vet School, and has extensive experience from a young age of large animals, predominately farm animals and horses. He has a lot of senior management and committee experience and has a particular interest in the ethics of animal use for education and research.

Peter is a lifelong animal lover, and is married with 2 grown children, 4 dogs, 3 cats, 7 horses and a Shetland pony at home.

Carolyn McLeod, Trustee

A qualified solicitor, Carolyn has a breadth of experience in public sector leadership positions, the third sector, stakeholder engagement, performance management and governance.

She also has volunteering roles and has broad experience of committee work.

A lifelong animal lover, Carolyn has 2 dogs, Jack and Pepa.

Mark Ritchie, Trustee

Mark is an experienced and confident CFO who is Associate Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) qualified. Mark has over 20 years of experience, ten of which have been spent in Board level roles with PE/VC backed businesses. Having worked in a range of organisations, Mark has developed a comprehensive understanding of business strategy, how to lead and manage strong teams, in addition to delivering high levels of performance, quality assurance, finance and corporate governance.

Extensive experience in the Energy and construction/facilities management sectors, along with managing and delivering a successful exit on behalf of PE shareholders.

Mark is currently Chief Financial Officer at the Nuvik Group of companies, and is a Board member of Energy charity SCARF.