Council of The Prince's Trust - Scotland
The Scotland Council is established by The
Council. Its function is to provide high level support to the
Scotland Director to enable them to develop and deliver the
Business Plan. The Scotland Council has no executive responsibility
for the management, operations or administration of The Trust.
Debbie Atkins – Council Member
Debbie is a qualified lawyer and brings a wealth of experience
in business development, marketing and PR to her role on The
Prince’s Trust Scotland’s Council. With a career that spans the
professional service sector and the hotel and leisure industry,
Debbie is a committed member of The Trust’s Council and supports
development in Scotland through facilitating a number of networking
opportunities.
During her time as a member of The Prince’s Trust Development
Board, Debbie has directly helped raise over £300k. She is a
Director of Critical Path Marketing Ltd and a Visiting Fellow of
Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
John Anderson - Council Member
A well known specialist in entrepreneurship and new venture
creation in Scotland, John brings considerable experience of
emerging and high growth companies to his role as Chief Executive
of The Entrepreneurial Exchange.
An experienced non-executive chairman and director in growing
businesses, John is a Par Equity Advisory Panel Member and Chairman
of the Gabriel Investments angel syndicate.
He is a regular contributor to the media on issues facing
emerging and high growth companies and was instrumental
in setting up the Scottish Enterprise "Local Heroes" project, based
in part on his own MBA thesis "Local Heroes - Scotland's
Entrepreneurial Role Models".
John is a Visiting Professor at the Hunter Centre for
Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde and a founding
GlobalScot member.
James Barrack 
– Council
Member
James is the Chairman and Managing Director of Knight
Property Group plc and Chess Group plc.
James established the Knight Property Group in 1987. Knight
Property Group is now regarded as one of Scotland’s leading
commercial property developers and in 2009 won the Scottish
Property Developer of the Year award.
James is a member of the Young Presidents Organisations (YPO)
and is a past local board member of the Institute of Directors.
James is a Patron of The Prince’s Trust Scotland.
Natasha Marshall - Council Member
Natasha creates collections of fabrics and wallpapers for the
Interior industry used by Interior shops, architects and Interior
Designers worldwide.
Natasha set up her first business in 1997 with Neil Fullerton
with a loan from the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust.
Together they run a design studio in Glasgow working with mills
around the world creating collections for a number of clients based
throughout the UK and Europe. The company is called Natasha
Marshall Limited and is best known for its iconic graphic designs
including Plectrum, Always, Blossom and Beanstalk.
Natasha is passionate about helping young people start up
in
business, is a Board member of The Scottish Textile &
Leather
Association and gets involved in many charity events.
Andrew McLaughlin - Council Chair
Andrew McLaughlin is Group Director, Communications and
Group Chief Economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland
Group.
Before joining the Group, he worked in corporate finance for Ernst
and Young.
Andrew holds a first class honors degree in Economics and
Politics, and a PhD, for which he was awarded the Walter Bagehot
prize for best UK dissertation in the field of government and
public administration.
He published a book on the automobile industry in 1998. He is a
member of the University of Nottingham Globalisation and Economic
Policy Advisory Board and the Oxford Business School Business
Economics Programme.
Michelle Mone OBE - Council Member
Michelle is the co-owner of MJM International and creator of
Ultimo, the UK’s leading designer lingerie brand. The idea
for Ultimo was born in 1996 and MJM International was set up later
that year.
In 2000 Michelle won the ‘World Young Business Achiever Award’
at the Epcot Centre, Florida, and then ‘Business Woman of the Year’
at the Corporate Elite Awards in London.
Over recent years Michelle’s success has soared; not only was
Ultimo the first UK lingerie brand to debut on the catwalk at New
York Fashion Week in 2009, but she has opened 23
‘shop in shops’ within Debenhams and has landed a deal to develop,
design and manufacture ‘Bra Queen’ lingerie
for Tesco clothing.
In 2010, Michelle was awarded the OBE in recognition of
her
contribution to the lingerie industry.
Mike Still – Council Member
Mike Still is Managing Director, National Corporate Practice,
Marsh Ltd with 17 regional offices in the UK and Northern
Ireland.
He has over 20 years experience in the insurance and risk
industry and his specific areas of expertise include transport,
food and beverage, construction and providing insurance and risk
advice on buying and selling companies.
He is a member of CBI Scotland Council and Young President’s
Organization and The North British Hotel Trust.
James Thomson – Council Member
James is Proprietor of Prestonfield House, The Witchery by the
Castle and Tower Restaurant in Edinburgh. He currently employs over
250 people within his company. An active ambassador for the
Scottish Tourism Industry, James was awarded a ‘Silver Thistle’
from the First Minister in 2004 and received an OBE in the Queens
Birthday Honours List 2005 for services to Hospitality and the
Scottish Tourism Industry.
James is a founder member and past Chair of Edinburgh
Restaurateurs Association and currently sits on a number of
committees/boards including the Scottish Executive Committee of The
British Hospitality Association and the Board of the National
Restaurant Association. He is a Governor of George Heriot’s Trust
and a Trustee of Prostate Scotland.
James is a Patron of The Prince’s Trust.
Alex Linkston CBE – Council Member
Alex Linkston is the former Chief Executive of West Lothian
Council.
Having worked his way up from a trainee accountant, becoming the
youngest student to qualify for membership of the Chartered
Institute of Public Finance & Accounting (CIPFA), Alex was
appointed Chief Executive of West Lothian Council in 1995 and was
instrumental in leading the council to UK Council of the Year in
2006.
A committed Prince’s Trust volunteer, Alex recently completed a
sponsored cycle from West Lothian to the council's twin area in
Meschede, Germany, raising over £13,000 for charity. Alex is Chair
of Youth Link Scotland and brings a wealth of public sector
experience to the council.