Board of Directors

Will Whitehorn, Chair

Will joined the Board of the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre in 2010 and has been Chair of Scottish Event Campus Limited since 2014. 

Will was born in Edinburgh and graduated with an Honours degree from the University of Aberdeen before spending his early career as a Helicopter Search and Rescue crewman in the North Sea.

Will joined the Virgin Group in 1987 and spent the next 20 years in key roles including Director of the Virgin Rail Group, Brand Development and Corporate Affairs Director, President of Virgin Galactic and latterly Special Advisor to Sir Richard Branson.

Will has held senior non-executive positions in Next Fifteen Communications Group, Purplebricks Group plc, GVC Holdings plc, Stagecoach plc and various government science, technology and transport task forces and bodies. He was Chair of Crowd Reactive, Loewy Group/Speed Communications and The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh.

Will was a Board member of the Royal Air Force from 2018-2021, as a Non-Executive Director he was a rank equivalent of Air Vice-Marshall.

In 2016 he became Chair of Clyde Space Ltd, the UK’s leading independent space satellite manufacturer and now sits on the board of a merged ÅAC Clyde Space AB.

Will joined the Board of Good Energy PLC as Deputy Chair in 2018 and is now the current Chair. 

Will is Chair of Craneware PLC, an Edinburgh based company which is engaged in the development, licensing and ongoing support of computer software for the United States healthcare industry.

Will joined UKspace as President of the trade association which represents the UK space industry in 2019. In June 2021, Will joined Seraphim Space Investment Trust Fund PLC as Chair of the world’s first listed space technology investment fund. Will has now also joined the British Government’s space advisory panel, the UK Space Exploration Advisory Committee (SEAC) which reports to the government’s UK space agency.

Will is the current Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University.

He is a Fellow of The Royal Aeronautical Society and The Marketing Society and serves as the Vice President of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

In 2010 he was awarded the Geoffrey Pardoe RAeS Space Award for services to the space industry.

Morag McNeill, Senior Non-Executive Director

Morag McNeill is a qualified solicitor. She was a partner with McGrigors – now Pinsent Masons LLP – for 14 years specialising in corporate finance before becoming General Counsel at Forth Ports plc from 2005 to 2012. 

She holds several non-executive positions including Chair of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd and Vice Chair of Social Investment Scotland. 

She is Chair of Court at Heriot-Watt University and also sits on the board of several charities including FARE Scotland. 

She was previously Chair of Court at The Edinburgh Academy and Vice Chair of Aberdeen Harbour Board and held non-executive positions with The Scottish Government and University of Aberdeen.
 

John Watson, Non-Executive Director

John joined Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) Business Improvement team in 2013 and Chief Commercial Officer of their investment, Edinburgh Airport Limited, leading the revenue and capital investment projects teams. John works with a number of GIP investments worldwide and is CEO of Crosswind Developments Ltd. He is Chair of the Board of Directors at IGS Limited.
 
Prior to joining GIP, he was Managing Director of Lloyds Banking Group’s $50bn SME Lending portfolio during the banking liquidity crisis. John was also a founding Board Director of the Business Growth Fund plc. 

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with PwC Corporate Finance, John joined 3i plc. He has subsequently held a number of private equity, executive and non-executive positions globally.
 
John is a non-executive director (former Board Chair) at The Institute of Directors and Chair of Audit & Risk Committee. John was previously Vice President of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, a non-executive director of Entrepreneurial Scotland and a member of the ICAS Governing Council.
 
With over 25 years of business experience, a BEng Mechanical Design Engineering and an MSc IT from University of Glasgow.
 
John is Audit & Risk Committee Chair at Scottish Event Campus Limited.

George Gillespie, Non-Executive Director

George Gillespie is Executive Director of Neighbourhoods, Regeneration and Sustainability for Glasgow City Council with responsibility for  Roads & Transportation, Planning and Development, Building Standards, Housing and Regeneration, Project Management and Design, Corporate Asset Management, Waste Management and Disposal, Parks and Open Space, Environmental Health, Trading Standards, Scientific Services (Glasgow Scientific Services), Bereavement Services, Community Safety, Events and Transport Services.

He is a Chartered Civil Engineer with extensive experience within roads and transportation together with the delivery of wide-ranging frontline services and the successful management of major projects. He has held a number of senior positions within the former Strathclyde Regional Council, and with Glasgow City Council as Head of Roads, Head of Service Delivery and Assistant Director prior to his most recent, current appointment in March 2018.

Councillor Frank McAveety, Non-Executive Director

Councillor McAveety was born and raised in Glasgow and has served as an elected representative of the city since 1988.

First elected as a member of Glasgow District Council, he served as Convenor of the Arts and Culture Committee, which led on the development of the Gallery of Modern Art and initiated plans for the large-scale development of the Kelvingrove Gallery, solidifying its position as one the UK’s top tourist attractions.

Councillor McAveety served as Leader of Glasgow City Council from 1997 to 1999, establishing the first ever Local Authority Standards Committee.

He was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, serving in the Scottish Executive in a number of Ministerial positions, including Deputy Minister for Local Government (1999-2000), Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care (2002-2003) and as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport (2003-2004). During his tenure as Minister he established the National Theatre of Scotland.

In 2012, he was elected to Glasgow City Council for the Shettleston ward, convening the Sustainability and Environment Policy Committee and taking on special responsibility for cycling.

Councillor McAveety was again elected as Leader of Glasgow City Council in September 2015 and served as Leader of the Labour Group until 2020.

Councillor Susan Aitken, Non-Executive Director

Susan Aitken became Leader of Glasgow City Council when the SNP became the largest party on the Council and formed a minority administration in May 2017. She was elected as a councillor for the Langside ward, where she lives, in 2012 and has been leader of the SNP group since 2014, having previously served as the group spokesperson on health and social care. She is the SNP’s national Local Government Convener.

Before being elected, Susan worked in a variety of policy and research roles in the Scottish Parliament and the third sector, and as a freelance writer and editor specialising in health and social care policy. She grew up in Biggar in South Lanarkshire, moved to Glasgow aged 17 and is a graduate of both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities.

Duncan Black, Non-Executive Director

Duncan Black is Head of Audit & Inspection for Glasgow City Council.

After training as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG LLP in their external audit practice, he joined Glasgow City Council in 2008. As Chief Accountant he had responsibility for the annual budget and annual accounts preparation. 

In 2015 he was appointed Head of Audit and Inspection with overall responsibility for the Internal Audit, Corporate Fraud, and Executive Compliance sections across the Council Group. 

This includes the Council’s Arms Length External Organisations,  the Glasgow City Region Cabinet, Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership, and the Strathclyde Pension Fund. 

Through our Audit Glasgow initiative, he is also the appointed Chief Internal Auditor for the Shetland Islands Council Group, the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority, and Scottish Canals.

In his spare time he enjoys the outdoors with family, including walking, mountain biking and golf.  He also enjoys listening to music and plays the piano and cello.

Peter Duthie, Chief Executive

Appointed as Chief Executive of Scottish Event Campus Limited (Formerly Scottish Exhibition Centre Ltd) in April 2014, assuming full responsibility for the entire business operation of the SEC. 

The award-winning SEC is one of Europe’s most successful event venues incorporating the SEC Centre, SEC Armadillo and the OVO Hydro. The success is measured not only in financial terms, but in addition brings significant economic impact generated by the campus. The  OVO Hydro has been established as one of the world’s top live entertainment venues.

Peter maintains relationships with all key shareholders and stakeholders of the business.

Having been with the Company since its inception in 1984, Peter played an integral part in all aspects of its evolution with extensive experience gained across all sectors of the business.  From a sports management background, he was initially responsible for sporting events and concerts at the Centre. He has been a member of the senior management team since 1991 rising to the position of Commercial Director in 2008 with responsibility for all commercial activity on the campus including sponsorship, hospitality, strategic partnerships and joint ventures.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Peter, as well as supporting cross sector industry groups, is Chair of the Scottish Government Event Industry Advisory Group (EIAG) which provides representation for the events sector in the national response and recovery planning effort required to address the devastating impact of the pandemic on the sector in Scotland.

As Chair of the Glasgow Tourism Partnership, Peter also sits on the Glasow Economic Leadership Board.

He is a Director and Board member of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.

In June 2023 Peter was awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of Strathclyde in recognition of his contribution to culture, business and society.

Billy McFadyen, Director of Finance & Development

Billy’s career began when he left school for a trainee accountant role. On completing his accountancy qualifications, and having fulfilled various roles in public practice, he pursued a career in industry in 1990.

Billy joined the SEC in 2008. He has responsibility for Finance, Development, Commercial Partners and Hospitality. He is also our Company Secretary and maintains relationships with our legal advisors, banking partner and insurers. As well as being an SEC Board member, he sits on the QD Events Board.

A current focus is developing SEC’s ambitious Net Zero energy strategy which considers a variety of energy generation and storage both on and off campus.

Having joined SEC with extensive construction experience, Billy was an integral part of the OVO Hydro delivery team. He completed the relocation of the heliport, helped deliver the multi storey car park and recently secured a developer for the hotel sites adjacent to the car park.

Billy has previously overseen People and Technology, Live Entertainment and Ticketing within the SEC.

Prior to joining SEC, Billy was the Regional Managing Director for Robertson Homes and grew the business from £7m to £40m turnover. He joined Robertson Homes as the Finance Director in 2002 and was responsible for the major development of the management information systems as well as overseeing all financial functions.

Previous roles include Finance Director, George Wimpey West Scotland and Financial Accountant with Keyline Builders Merchants Ltd.