FAST Chair and Executive Director of Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland (IAAS)
Neil hails from a farming background and retains an active interest in his own farming enterprises, however his passion lies in supporting and improving the wider agribusiness sector. As a leader and strategic thinker, Neil's main role is as Executive Director of IAAS alongside supporting other agribusiness clients with their own strategic goals. With a drive for fairness and equity across agribusinesses, Neil is a strong supporter of collaboration and active engagement whilst holding true to the values that underpin the farming sector in the UK.

QMS Chair
Kate Rowell is a fifth generation farmer running the 750 hectare Hundleshope farm on the Haystoun Estate, where her family have been tenants for 150 years. She runs the hill unit near Peebles with her husband Ed and their four children.

QMS Chief Executive
As Accountable Officer for QMS, Sarah is responsible to the Scottish Government for safeguarding all funds falling within the stewardship of the organisation. She is the link between the direction set by the Board and the implementation of its strategies by making sure the executive team delivers the activities necessary for QMS to successfully achieve its remit.

Secretary General of the International Meat Secretariat
Phil joined IMS as Secretary General in 2024 following a twenty year career with the red meat levy board in England, AHDB, where he was International Trade Development Director responsible for market access and an extensive global trade show programme. He has spent his working life in the meat and livestock sectors having trained as a butcher in a family business, graduated with a Masters in Meat Science and obtained a PhD in Animal Production.

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
Mairi joined the government in 2018 and became Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs in 2021. Previous roles have included Minister for Public Health and Sport, and Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment.
Before joining the government, Mairi was a councillor for Brechin and Edzell. She was convenor of the infrastructure services committee and chaired the East of Scotland European Consortium. Mairi represented COSLA at the Council of European Municipalities and Regions. 
She is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen.  She was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands in March 2023.

Strategic Insight Director, Worldpanel by Numerator
Lesley Ann Gray joined Worldpanel by Numerator in 2018 as its Strategic lead for Scotland. With over 30 years’ experience in the Scottish food and drink industry she works across Scotland’s Food and Drink sector, collaborating with companies and brands of all sizes, in addition to retailers, the public sector and academics. She helps them to understand and decode shopper behaviour in order to grow.

QMS Director of Marketing
Emma is a Fellow of the Marketing Society and brings more than 30 years’ experience. As Director of Marketing, she is responsible for developing the strategy and activity to deliver QMS’s ‘provenance’ pillar to grow the market share of red meat from Scotland in local, national and international markets.

Category Director Meat, Fish, Poultry & Eggs and One Stop Product Commercial Director, Tesco
Richard has been Tesco’s Meat, Fish, Poultry & Eggs Director since February 2022, and in 2024 was also appointed as the One Stop Product Commercial Director. He joined the company as a graduate in 2005 and has worked in numerous product roles across Fresh and Packaged categories within the UK business. He has also worked across other Tesco business units as Head of Commercial for One Stop, and before re-joining the UK business was Packaged Foods Director within the Tesco Ireland business.

QMS Director of Business Development
Tom’s role involves leading the ‘productivity and profitability’ pillar, working collaboratively with the Scottish red meat industry to identify opportunities for the sector to maintain, build and access new market opportunities locally, nationally and internationally.

Executive Chef at Carlowrie Castle
David has had a career that has taken him to Monaco, Edinburgh & London, having worked at one, two and three Michelin star restaurants over a 6 year period. He now heads up the food offer in the stunning and iconic Carlowrie Castle. A familiar face after 2 appearances on our screens with Great British Menu and most recently, crowned ‘Scottish Chef of the Year’ at the Scottish Hospitality Show. He is also part of the Scotland Culinary Team that will compete in Luxembourg next November at the Culinary World Cup.

QMS Board Member
Carrie Ruxton PhD is a dietitian with over 20 years of experience consulting to a broad range of food companies and trade bodies. She served for several years on the industry funded Meat Advisory panel helping to communicate the role of red meat in a balanced diet to consumers. She served as a board member of FSS from 2015-2024 and as a trustee of the Nutrition Society from 2018-2024.

QMS Director of Communications and External Affairs
Holly is an Accredited Public Relations (PR) practitioner and career Communications professional, spending the last several years overseeing Communications for public sector food organisations. She joined QMS in June 2024 to lead the work of the ‘planet and place’ pillar, communicating the multiple benefits of red meat as part of sustainable Scotland to key audiences.

AKA Livestock FarmHER
Nicola Wordie is a third-generation livestock farmer from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, best known for her work on the family farm at Cairnborrow near Huntly. She manages a substantial mixed enterprise of suckler cows and breeding sheep, working alongside her father and family to run approximately 1,400 acres of productive farmland. Nicola is passionate about sharing the reality of modern farming with wider audiences. Since 2021 she has built a significant following on social media under the handle @livestock_farmher, where she posts about daily life on the farm both the challenges and the successes and engages with issues such as animal husbandry, agricultural education and rural wellbeing.

Freelance Journalist and Broadcaster, and Founder of Just Farmers
Anna is a rural affairs journalist, author, presenter, TV producer and farmer’s daughter from the Welsh Borders. She has worked on BBC One’s Countryfile, Channel 4’s Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker and is a familiar voice on Radio 4’s Farming Today and On Your Farm. She founded Just Farmers after her Nuffield Farming Scholarship to improve communication between the UK farming community and urban audiences.