SAOS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Head of Supply Chain Development
- Supply Chain Development Director
As Supply Chain Development Director, Alan leads our supply chain collaboration partnerships, projects and the supply chain team. He is widely experienced in collaboration strategies and sectoral development, export and UK market development, and local food development. Alan has a wealth of food and drink sector experience, knowledge and networks.
Allison Watson is SAOS's Project Support Manager and works across the team in a diverse role including event and workshop co-ordination, desk research, project-related communications and board support. She is the first point of contact for all bookings and information on our Director Development Programme.
Job Titles:
- Co - Op Development and Training Manager
Anna is our Co-op Development and Training Manager and also leads on our Next Generation activity and the Livestock Performance Programme. Anna is involved in supporting and encouraging new and existing co-ops to work together for the benefit of the membership. Anna originally joined SAOS from ScotEID and also works on specific ScotEID projects, such as the Cattle EID Roadshow. Anna also works on our Climate Change workstream.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the SAOS Team
- SmartRural Director
Former Director of ScotEID and SAOS, Bob has moved over to our SmartRural business as their work gains momentum to share his vast knowledge and experience in partnership building and development. Bob has a Masters Degree in Co-operative Management from St Mary's University, Canada, and is internationally recognised for the development of co-operative strategies, in particular capitalisation of co-ops and joint venture business.
Job Titles:
- Financial Controller
- Member of the SAOS Team
SAOS's Financial Controller, David works Monday to Wednesday in the Ingliston office. He looks after the finances of the organisation and produces our management accounts. He is the key contact for our IT and mobile phone contracts. David joined SAOS in 2019 having worked in various sectors including whisky, newspapers and education.
David joined us in September 2023 as Co-op Development Manager. Having held positions in several key rural organisations, David brings an excellent span of cross-industry knowledge to the team and is already well-known to many of our members and networks. David already has a keen interest in co-operative working and we look forward to seeing that expand and flourish.
Job Titles:
- Project Development Executive
Douglas joined SAOS in July 2023. From a farming background, Douglas also brings wide-ranging work experience in rural organisations and initiatives which will provide valuable new insights for the team.
Job Titles:
- Climate Change and Sustainability Manager
Emma Patterson Taylor is SAOS's lead on climate change and sustainability. Emma created and is developing the CarbonPositive programme and is involved in Board Diversity and Women in Agriculture initiatives. She is also a coach and aspiring cheesemaker.
Fergus Younger is an SAOS Project Manager and specialises in livestock co-operation, farm level knowledge transfer, farm conservation, supply chains, local food issues and food tourism development. Fergus is particularly interested in farmers direct marketing approaches and adaptation to a changing world.
Job Titles:
- General Manager for SmartRural
George joined SAOS in 2010. He has extensive experience working across all subsectors of the food and drink industry in Scotland, on supply chain collaboration, food and health marketing, as well as innovation and particularly the intelligent use of sensors and data within agri-food supply chains and their possibilities to inform decision making. Having been closely involved with SmartRural for several years, George has recently taken on the role of General Manager.
Hamish Walls is Project Manager and SAOS's lead on dairying, poultry and Machinery Rings. He has a degree in agriculture and a diploma in marketing from the CIM. Hamish has managed supply chain projects in a range of sectors, delivered communication planning advice, formed a number of co-ops and is experienced in delivering successful grant applications. He is Society Secretary and actively involved in the operational management of the Milk Suppliers Association.
Job Titles:
- Head of Supply Chain Innovation
As our Head of Supply Chain Innovation, Helen looks to build on her previous role creating and developing new partnerships to benefit our membership, by looking more broadly at supply chains and exploring mutually beneficial innovative opportunities. Helen's previous experience across technology-based innovations and collaborative R&D projects sees her work on projects to future proof operations and open up new market opportunities. Co-ops interested in co-innovation or looking to embed new technologies should get in touch.
Job Titles:
- Member of the SAOS Team
- Communications and PR Manager / Communications and PR
Communications and PR Manager, Jenn joined SAOS in 2010. Her role covers SAOS's communications, promotion of our co-op members' work and co-operation itself, as well as organising the SAOS annual conference. From Strathspey farming stock, Jenn originally studied Communications in Aberdeen before heading overseas. After 13 years in the travel industry, she returned to Scotland and has worked in various comms roles since.
Our former Head of Co-op Development, Jim now works part-time on co-op development activities, helping and advising on delivery of a range of services and training to co-ops and farmer groups including feasibility studies, business plans, governance effectiveness evaluation, strategy reviews and workshops, member surveys, risk management systems, director and staff training and change management.
Job Titles:
- Administration Manager
- Finance
- Member of the SAOS Team
Leanne Paveling is our Finance Administration Manager. She splits her working hours between the Ingliston office and home. Leanne has been with SAOS since 2012 and has responsibility for the day to day finance procedures, including sales and purchases and payroll. She also carries out various office admin duties.
Lucy joined the team as part-time Finance Assistant in January 2023, working Monday - Wednesdays each week. She has hit the ground running and is already proving a great addition to the finance team, dealing mainly with invoice payments.
Paty joined SAOS in July 2021 and, although her primary focus will be supply chains, she has hit the ground running providing support to a wide variety of projects. Paty has a strong and varied breadth of experience, having qualified as a vet before taking up an opportunity for a double Masters programme at Aarhus University, Denmark, studying for her MSc in sustainable animal nutrition and feeding. Her core skills include data gathering, supply chain insight, analysis and project management.
Job Titles:
- Strategic Services Director
Patrick joined the team initially to lead on the establishment of the Scottish Agri Export Hub in collaboration with NFU Scotland. Having worked closely with food and drink businesses for over 25 years to highlight best practice, and promote and develop market opportunities in the agri-food sector, this wealth of experience and from his various roles saw him ideally placed to take on the new position of Strategic Services Director.
Paul Crooks joined the SAOS team as Principal Data Engineer in September 2021. Paul had been employed by us on an external basis for some time before that working on SmartRural but, as our work involves an ever-increasing range of data-related projects, we are delighted to have him join us as an employee. Paul's background and experience in data engineering brings yet another set of core skills to the team.
Job Titles:
- Field Engineer
- Field Engineer for SmartRural
Rob Yuill joined SAOS in March 2022 as Field Engineer for SmartRural, bringing with him extensive experience of R&D projects, gained within the oil and gas industry. Working alongside our Principal Data Engineers, Rob brings the engineering problem-solving skills needed for SmartRural to develop practical, agriculture proof solutions.
Job Titles:
- Head of Co - Op Development
Our Head of Co-op Development, Robert Logan has been with SAOS in 2019 when he joined us as a project manager. Now leading the co-op development work, serving co-ops around the country, Robert has a particular interest in the livestock sector and rural business management. Robert has a farming background and 15 years consultancy experience, latterly as a livestock business specialist. His focus is on supporting members and wider collaborative producer groups to develop their growth, efficiency and environmental objectives.
Job Titles:
- Supply Chain Development Manager
A food industry economic and business development expert with over 30 years' experience of supporting businesses and sectors of all sizes, Rona works in our supply chain development team. Bringing her extensive experience of partnership project management, supply chain collaboration and capability development, she is particularly interested in finding practical solutions to overcome supply chain barriers.
Job Titles:
- General Manager for ScotEID
Scott joined the wider SAOS team in 2022 as General Manager for ScotEID. His previous role of Animal Health Policy Manager at The Scottish Government meant that he already had first hand of experience of ScotEID and working closely with the ScotEID team.
Stephen is experienced in dairy farming and associated beef and sheep enterprises, as well as the production of cereals. Stephen's career in the certification industry began as a regional farm assessor, auditing various leading assurance standards, before he took up senior roles as Agricultural Operations Manager for Acoura, and more recently as a Global Technical Director with a focus on sustainable primary production standards.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive
- Member of the SAOS Team
Chief Executive since March 2019, Tim has overall responsibility for SAOS strategy, resources, governance, and external relationships. Tim is a former vet and a partner with his wife in a small-scale farming enterprise. He has extensive experience and networks across all food and farming sectors within Scotland and the UK. He worked closely with a number of industry organisations and farmer, processor and retailer clients during his management of food supply chain assurance service delivery with Acoura and Lloyd's Register.