Bill Jamieson (Conference Chair)

Bill Jamieson is the Executive Editor of the Scotsman Newspaper with specific responsibility for the paper’s business and economics coverage.

Bill was formerly the Economics Editor of the Sunday Telegraph for seven years. He is also the economics columnist for Scotland on Sunday and a contributor to the Spectator Business magazine and City AM. He is a regular commentator on business and economics affairs for BBC Scotland and widely recognised as one of the finest and most enigmatic speakers on the issues facing business available in Europe today.

Bill speaks on the domestic and global effects of changes in the economy and the financial markets. He is also a passionate advocate of the positive overall economic effects of championing entrepreneurism and why regulation and risk aversion will damage this.

In addition to speaking and journalism, Bill is also the author of a number of books on economics and politics including An Illustrated Guide to the British Economy and Scotland’s Ten Tomorrows: The Devolution Crisis.

Sir Richard Needham (Conference Keynote)

Sir Richard Needham has been a Director of Dyson for 15 years, and has been responsible for developing the company’s manufacturing and sales operation in Europe, the US and the Far East. Before joining Dyson, he was a long-serving MP and a Minister for Northern Ireland and then for Trade. He is widely credited for reinvigorating UK exports, and for regenerating Northern Ireland’s infrastructure and economic base. Since leaving politics, Richard has worked as Chairman, Director or advisor for around 20 firms – from start-ups to global giants like GEC. Aside from his role at Dyson, he chairs Avon Rubber plc, Smarta Ltd, Vale Minerals plc and Tetra Strategy Ltd, and is Vice President of NEC Europe.

Bill Black

Bill Black: is a graduate of Marine and Mechanical Engineering, a Member of the IMechE and EurIng and is a Fellow of the RAeS. He began his career in 1972 with BP Tanker Company before joining the aeronautical industry, in 1979, as a design and stress engineer. He progressed through various management roles in engineering, manufacturing, procurement and customer services before being appointed as Head of Quality and Integration for Airbus in June 2000, based in Toulouse. In 2004, Bill moved to become Chief Quality Officer at EADS, Airbus’ parent company, and was based in Paris.

Since January 2009, Bill has joined ABB in charge of Quality & Operational Excellence, based in Zurich. ABB is one of the world’s leading engineering companies, helping customers to use electrical power effectively and working to increase industrial productivity in a sustainable way. With $35bn of revenues, ABB employs 140,000 people in 5 Divisions, spread over 100 countries.

Bill’s key challenge is in leading, coaching and supporting networks of energetic and passionate Quality & Operational Excellence people, Supply Chain Managers and Project Managers, in a continual drive for improvement in operational performance throughout the ABB value chain. The goal, through relentless OPEX improvement, is to deliver bottom line operational efficiencies whilst maintaining and improving customer confidence.

Bill is married to Jacqueline and living in Zurich, they have three boys, all are married and, so far, they have two grandchildren.

David Currie

With over 27 years experience in the oil and gas industry, David has held several global executive positions at FMC Technologies ranging from the role of Vice President and General Manager of the company's Measurement Division based in Erie, Pennsylvania, Managing Director of all UK subsea operations based in Dunfermline, Scotland, to his most recent position as Director of Global Subsea Operations based at the company's corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas.

David has a high level of international business experience with responsibility for all aspects of business - focusing on the delivery of improved results and performance, leadership of organisations and change and innovation. David has a proven track record of turning business around and leading them to high profitability.

Following his most recent move to Houston, David's successful contribution to growing business in Scotland is being continued in his role as a GlobalScot; just one of 67 other Scottish members sponsored by the Government and who represent the energy sector and help Scottish companies at home and overseas with all aspects of growing their business by sharing their valued insight, knowledge and expertise.

Mark Laing

Mark Laing gained an Economics and Law Degree at Cambridge University, before joining United Biscuits in 1972. In 1987 he became Production Director of McVities, before returning to Scotland in 1996 to lead a Management Buyout of Nairn’s from UB. He is currently Managing Director of Nairn’s Oatcakes based in Craigmillar Edinburgh. Mark is a member of the Court of Queen Margaret University since October 2009, and a Trustee of the Robertson Trust since 2010.

Married to Susanna for 30 years they have three children.

Kirstin Mackie

Kirstin joined the family business in 1994 and became Development Director in 1998 with responsibility for Range Development and improvement, New Products, exporting, and wider brand diversification.

In the latter role, she spent much of 2008 researching manufacture of Potato Crisps around the world, leading to creation of Mackie’s crisps and a new joint venture company- Mackie’s at Taypack.

As Managing Director of the new company, Kirstin has overseen the start of production in 2009, launch followed by Product of the Year Award in 2010, sales volume reaching 2.6m in 2011 in UK, early export to Middle and Far East and on-going export development for sales across the USA and Rest of the World.

Kirstin lives in Edinburgh with her husband and three children.

Colin Robertson

Colin Robertson, aged 47, is the Chief Executive of Alexander Dennis Limited, Britain’s biggest bus and coach manufacturer. The company employs 1,900 people of which 900 are based at the HQ facility in Falkirk.

A qualified Mechanical and Production Engineer with an Executive MBA, Colin began his career with Cummins Engine Company before joining JI Case, the tractor manufacturer, and then moving on to Terex Corporation.

He enjoyed a meteoric rise with Terex, earning promotion throughout the business before becoming President of their $2 billion construction division. This was followed by his appointment as Executive Vice President of Global Operations, based at the company’s headquarters in Connecticut, USA, where he was part of a leadership team that turned Terex into an $8 billion worldwide corporation.

In April 2007 he left Terex to become CEO of ADL. Since then the business has increased its manufacturing capacity by 50% and seen turnover grow more than 100%. It has established itself as the western world’s fastest-growing bus and coach manufacturer and formed new alliances and assembly operations in China, North America and New Zealand.

ADL is market leader in the UK bus sector and, on a global basis, is at the forefront of developments in the design and production of low emission heavy duty buses. ADL is Europe’s leading supplier of low carbon, hybrid-electric buses that are leading the world with 35% fuel and CO2 reductions.

Colin was Scotland’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2011, an accolade that followed a string of awards collected by ADL for innovation, export achievement, manufacturing excellence and business growth.

Gilad Tiefenbrun

Gilad Tiefenbrun was born in 1972 and grew up in Glasgow where his father, Ivor, had established Linn Products Ltd in the same year.

After gaining his degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Edinburgh University, Gilad held various positions in the mobile electronics industry.

Gilad took up his first permanent role at Linn in 2003 as Head of R&D, making critical changes to the product development process which led to the introduction of Linn DS - regarded by Gilad as his greatest achievement to date, cementing Linn’s early leadership in digital music streaming and marking a shift of seismic proportions for the industry as a whole.

In 2008 Gilad attained an Executive MBA from Harvard Business School, providing an invaluable foundation for his appointment as Managing Director of Linn in February 2009.

Gilad plays a key role within the Future SME Project, a multi-million pound European project to develop a future business model for SME manufacturers across Europe.

Gilad is married to Rachel and they have three young daughters. His key interest outside Linn is music; he plays guitar and sings, occasionally with a band, as well as listening to an eclectic mix of recorded and live music.

Yan Tiefenbrun

Yan L Tiefenbrun is the third generation of the Tiefenbrun family to join Castle Precision. He is involved in several areas across the business including strategy development, marketing & brand development, process improvement, training development and workforce communication. Yan has also been responsible for leading a number of projects including leading a successful campaign in The Manufacturer of The Year Awards in 2010.