Trustees and Governance

Sir Mark Jones, who lives in Edinburgh, was the Director of the National Museums of Scotland from 1992 to 2001 where he oversaw the project to create and open the ‘Museum of Scotland’.

He then became the Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. During his tenure, there was a ten-year, £120 million programme of renewal of the museum which saw visitor numbers triple. Currently, he is chair of the Pilgrim Trust, the Historic Scotland Foundation and the Patrick Allan-Fraser of Hospitalfield Trust.

He also owns the Golden Hare bookshop in Stockbridge, Edinburgh which was recently named Independent Bookshop of the Year at the British Book Awards.

He took over as Chairman of the National Trust for Scotland on 9 August 2019.

Janet Brennan lives in a 16th-century tower house in Galloway which she and her husband restored from a ruin in 2015. The 3-acre gardens, which they have developed from scratch, are open daily for Scotland’s Gardens charity.

Janet is Chair of the Galloway Members’ Group of the National Trust for Scotland, which organises lectures, walks and social events for its members and raises funds for Trust projects. She is the author of two books on Scottish castles: Scotland’s Castles: Rescued, Rebuilt and Reoccupied and A Passion for Castles: The Story of MacGibbon and Ross and the Castles they Surveyed. She is a former Chair of the Scottish Castles Association.

Janet was appointed to the Board of Historic Environment Scotland when the organisation was first formed in 2015 and served two terms of office. She is currently a trustee of the Whithorn Trust and the Crichton Trust.

Peter brings over 30 years’ experience of working in the built heritage and environment sector to our Board. He was Chair of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland from 2008 until 2013, and he sits on the Board of the Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS). He is a Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (also sitting on the National Council) and is a member of the Royal Institute of Architects in Scotland, the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, the Twentieth Century Society, Docomomo UK, the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), and an affiliate of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA).

Peter’s work on heritage-led regeneration projects includes the Kilmarnock Townscape Heritage Initiative, St Francis Monastery, the People’s History Museum in Manchester, Shrewsbury Music Hall, Lews Castle and Portencross Castle. He provides expert advice to bodies such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Lish joined the Board in the autumn of 2023 and brings 20 years of experience in marketing. She has spent most of her working life in Europe, Asia and the US, and has now returned to her homeland of Scotland, living in Edinburgh. Lish has had the pleasure of developing marketing strategies and campaigns that drive brand love and commercial growth for an array of companies including CPG, tech and retail, and is passionate about bringing her wealth of experience to the Trust to support its mission of protecting Scotland’s nature, beauty and heritage so everyone can enjoy it.

In her free time, Lish loves being in Scotland’s great outdoors with her young family and rescue dog, come rain or shine. This passion for being in nature has taken them to many Trust properties, spanning from Culzean in Ayrshire to Glencoe in the Highlands.

David joined the Board in July 2022. He has spent most of his working life in the venture and private equity sector. In addition to his private equity activities, David is currently a director of a European renewable energy company; a director of a Glasgow-based family business involved in shipping, logistics and fish processing; and chairman of a technology company which operates predominantly in the education and IT recycling sectors. He has previously been a director or chairman of a number of businesses in various sectors.

David is a Trustee of Sir William Burrell’s Trust and, over the last few years, was a member of the Burrell Renaissance board which oversaw the recent successful fundraising and refurbishment of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. He is also a Trustee of the James A Paterson Trust which makes annual grants to students in the Medical and Divinity faculties at the University of Glasgow. In the past, David has been a member of the Scottish Appeals Advisory Committee of the BBC, a member of the Scottish Committee of the Princess Royal Trust for Carers and a past Deacon of the Incorporation of Hammermen of Glasgow.

Although born and brought up in Ayrshire, David has lived in Renfrewshire for over 25 years with his wife and four sons. He has been a life member of the Trust for over 40 years, a gift from his maternal grandmother, which he has much enjoyed and appreciated.

Shona is a recently retired Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience in audit and finance advisory work with SMEs in a variety of sectors. Originally training with PricewaterhouseCoopers, she moved to Milne Craig, an independent Scottish firm, where she was the Director in charge of the audit function.

She is extremely familiar with the charity sector, having acted for a diverse range of charities, both providing audit services and advising charities’ boards on governance rules and responsibilities and on risk assessment matters.

Shona is a long standing member of the National Trust for Scotland and is passionate about Scotland and ensuring that its historical sites and beautiful landscapes are protected for future generations to enjoy. Having completed all the Munros, she has had the opportunity to see most areas in Scotland.

She is married to Bruce and currently lives in Dumbarton. Her hobbies and interests include hillwalking, skiing, cycling, travelling and gardening.

Jill has extensive public and voluntary sector experience and is specifically interested in creativity, engagement and inclusion, focusing on how we make and share individual and community stories. She is passionate about making a difference through people-centred practice and creating conditions that enable individual and community growth and wellbeing, using community assets and cultural resources.

After graduating from the Scottish College of Textiles, Jill worked as a freelance Community Artist, Facilitator and Trainer before joining Fife Council, initially as an Arts and Disability Officer in 1990 and then moving to work in Glasgow in1999. In July 2021 Jill retired from the role of Director of Cultural Services at Glasgow Life, the largest culture, sport and learning charity in the UK. She was responsible for strategic leadership and management of Art and Music, Museums and Collections, Libraries, Learning and Community Services. This included major capital developments, events and festivals, and community engagement programmes. She was awarded an OBE in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to Culture in Glasgow.

Jill is currently the Convenor of Creative Lives Scotland, Chair of the Dewar Art Awards, a Trustee of Largo Communities Together, and Vice Chair of Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.

With 40 years of horticultural experience, which began at Threave and Inverewe, David progressed to become a Curator at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Now serving a second term as a National Trust for Scotland Trustee, David has a breadth of charity governance experience having served as a Trustee of Scotland’s Gardens for 18 years, including 5 as Chairman between 2017–22. In addition, he also served 17 years as a Trustee of the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, plus time with other organisations including The Hidden Garden Glasgow.

David is Director & Curator of Muddy Feet Consultants, his own environmental education company that specialises in landscape assessment, project development, horticulture, interpretation and exhibitions. Passionate about plants, gardens, designed landscapes, wild land and biodiversity, his main aim is ‘inspiring a sense of wonder for the land and its future’ in all generations. Throughout his career he has advised many private clients, plus public and charitable organisations including the National Archives of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Royal Collections Trust, the National Trust for Scotland and the Royal Zoological Society for Scotland.

David has extensive broadcasting experience in television and radio with the BBC, STV and Channel Four, augmented by global involvement as an expedition lecturer for Noble Caledonia, the National Trust for Scotland and the American Ivy League Universities of Harvard, Dartmouth and Brown.

He currently lives in Edinburgh with his wife Catherine – his best friend and guiding light – plus their skinny whippet, Mr Lowry. In his spare time he enjoys art, antique porcelain, adding to his extensive library, plus classic music, poetry and jazz.

Stephen is a global fund manager with four decades of experience in equities and fixed income markets. He is chair of the investment committee since December 2019, of which he has been a member since 2018. He worked for Robert Fleming, a Scottish merchant bank for most of his career, initially investing in Japan and Asia-Pacific markets. He then had a long stint at JPMorgan as investment strategist in asset management and their private bank.

He is a member of Westminster Almshouses investment committee and an investment expert for a number of finance start-ups. His other charity interests include Streetinvest, helping ‘street-connected’ children in Africa, but also increasingly at home in the UK.

Stephen has a lifelong interest in Scotland, its landscape and history, undeterred by a school stay at Cultybraggan, Scotland and Britain’s last WW2 prisoner-of-war camp. The heritage of Scottish buildings and architecture are a keen interest, along with Scotland’s wildlife and wilderness renaissance. He enjoys hiking, climbing and exploring Scotland and would like to improve his winter climbing expertise.

Stephen is married to Jenny and, with their children and dogs, they travel extensively supporting the National Trust for Scotland and its heritage values. He would like future generations to feel we cared to protect and invest in this unique nation.

Cameron Murray runs the UK property investment business for a global fund manager, and is based in Edinburgh. He is a qualified chartered surveyor, with a keen interest in the built environment, particularly historic buildings. Cameron has had the privilege of sensitively renovating a number of historic homes in which he and his family have lived, including a Victorian school built by a noted industrialist and philanthropist. He revels in the history of many National Trust for Scotland properties and hopes to encourage wider interest in their stories.
He has spent most of his adult life in Scotland, where he loves to explore the wonderful hills and coastlines, with particular favourites being Canna and St Abb’s Head. His hill running and winter mountaineering excursions have taken him over many Trust properties such as Glencoe, Kintail and Ben Lawers. Although nowadays the runs seem to take longer, it allows more time to enjoy the environment.
Cameron is excited by rewilding opportunities, such as at Mar Lodge Estate, and would like to see a reversal in Scotland’s declining biodiversity. He has made a practical contribution at a local level, by re-creating a rare, native form of grassland in his garden, to the delight of the local hares and small copper butterflies.

Murray was elected to join the Board in September 2019. As professor and pro vice-principal at the University of Glasgow, Murray’s career has included advising on the curriculum and Trust content for schools, training tourist guides and chairing the Kelvin Hall project for the university, via chairing a charity and managing museums.

He has written books which have contributed to the interpretation of Trust properties: for example, Culloden (2016).

Michael is a retired solicitor having worked in commercial real estate for more than 35 years. Through his legal career Michael was a partner in each of McGrigors, Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP and TLT LLP. His work covered primarily property development over commercial, residential and renewable energy. Michael has been a member of the Trust board since September 2018.

Michael lives in Edinburgh, was brought up in Shetland and lived and worked for a spell of more than six years in Aberdeen. His interests relate substantially to the outdoors, being a keen runner, cyclist and hill walker. Michael is married to Sheena, and their two adult children share their parents’ love for Scotland’s countryside and heritage.

Ian has a passion for all aspects of Scotland’s heritage, natural, built and cultural. He is a keen hillwalker and enjoys visiting the wide range of historical properties. He wishes to see a sustainable and flourishing Trust for present and future generations of all the people of Scotland.

Ian has strong business leadership and management experience coupled with a background of a broad legal career encompassing commercial, employment, property and dispute resolution. He has substantial experience of charity governance in Scotland from sitting on three other boards.

With over 30 years’ experience in nature conservation, Will Williams BSc MSc DPhil DipTP looks forward to working towards the Trust’s commitment for restoring biodiversity and addressing climate change. Engagement with people and communities will be an integral part of this, as well as providing more opportunities for people to enjoy natural beauty for better mental health and physical well-being.

Having earned University of Aberdeen degrees in geology and ecology and carried out research on the vegetation history of Skye since the end of the Ice Age, Will worked for 30 years for government nature conservation agencies in Scotland and England. As Director, Natural Economy Northwest, he championed the community and economic benefits of investing in the natural environment. He was a member of the National Trust’s national Natural Environment Group and chaired the North of England NT Advisory Board. Before that, he was a Trustee of the John Muir Trust. He chaired the Cumbria Third Sector and was a member of the Cumbria Leaders Board.

After retirement, he and his wife, Sheila, moved to live near Kirkcudbright. Being a trustee of the Southern Uplands Partnership for 4 years, he has become involved with projects that make a difference for both nature recovery and local communities. He is Trustee/Treasurer of the Friends of Broughton House & Garden and a committee member of the Kirkcudbright History Society.

His interests include the enjoyment of wildlife and landscapes, researching local history, watercolour painting of landscapes, and jazz musicians, as well as trying to master the tenor saxophone. His Welsh speaking comes in useful for the understanding of Brythonic place names.