Our Board

Ewan Brown, CBE, SFE Chairman

Ewan was appointed Chairman of SFE on 1 August, 2012. An executive director of Noble Grossart for 35 years and now a non-executive director of Noble Grossart Holdings.

Previous Scottish financial sector board appointments have included:-

Chairman of Lloyds TSB Scotland; Non-Executive Director of Scottish Widows Bank; Chairman of Dunedin Income Growth Investment Trust; Non-Executive Director of
Amicable Smaller Enterprises Trust and Scottish Development Finance. Member of the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Also sometime financial adviser to Scottish Investment Trust, Scottish American Investment Trust, Scottish Equitable and Scottish Life. Also, a Non-Executive Director of Lloyds TSB Group;

Ewan Brown, was educated at Perth Academy and St Andrews University. He qualified as a chartered accountant with Peat Marwick Mitchell before joining Noble Grossart in 1969. For 20 years he was an honorary professor in finance at Heriot-Watt University and also chaired that university's court. He also chaired CS 2009 which oversaw, for the Scottish Government, the amalgamation of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen into Creative Scotland.

He is currently senior governor of the University of St Andrews, deputy chair of the Edinburgh International Festival and Treasurer of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Owen Kelly, SFE Chief Executive

Owen Kelly was appointed as Chief Executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) in January 2008.

Owen’s role focuses strongly on representing the industry to governments and regulators in Scotland, London and Brussels. He has also worked extensively in China and other Asian markets, promoting in particular Scotland’s internationally recognized strengths in asset management and servicing, life assurance and pensions.

Owen regularly contributes to public debate on financial services matters in articles, speeches and media appearances.

Before joining SFE in January 2008, Owen worked for 20 years as a government official, in both the UK and Scottish Governments. His key policy specialisms in government were EU and international relations, and communications. He spent two years in Tokyo in the 1990s, promoting Scotland as an investment location.

Owen joined the government service in 1988, shortly after graduating from Edinburgh University with an honours degree in Chinese. He also studied for one year at Shandong University.

Hywel Ball

Hywel Ball is Ernst & Young's Senior Partner for Scotland. Based at the firm's Edinburgh office, Hywel is responsible for providing regional leadership across the firm's Scottish offices, and leading the business in the Scottish market place.

Hywel is one of Ernst & Young's key global account handlers, having over 25 years' experience with the company. He was made partner in 1996 whilst working in the Financial Services team in London and New York. Prior to taking on the role as Managing Partner for Scotland in 2007, Hywel was Head of the firm's Energy, Chemicals and Utilities practice for the UK, Middle East, India, and Africa.

Ken Barclay

Kenneth Barclay is Chair of the Scotland Board and Head of Corporate Banking Division in Scotland, RBS.

Ken started his career in Scotland and has held a variety of roles in corporate & commercial Banking both in Scotland and England. He returned from Hong Kong where he was Managing Director, Head of Corporates, Asia Pacific to take up his role in UKCB Scotland.

Prior to that assignment, he established and led the Technology, Media & Telecoms relationship management business in the UK and continental Europe for 10 years, establishing RBS in the process as a pre-eminent financing partner to the industry.

Ken is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland.

Kenneth Barker

Kenneth graduated MA (Hons) in Politics and Economics from the University of Glasgow in 1985. Prior to joining Baillie Gifford he was a Vice President in JP Morgan’s London office and subsequently Head of Bond Options at Banque Paribas.

Kenneth joined Baillie Gifford in 2001 as an Investment Manager in the Fixed Income Team, where he specialised in corporate bonds for seven years. He is now a Director in the Institutional Clients Department with special responsibility for Fixed Income clients.

Ken became a Partner in 2008 and has been a CFA charter holder since 2001.

Jim Coyle

Jim was appointed Group Financial Controller at Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) in 2012, having previously been Divisional Finance Director, Group Operations. He is also a key member of the LBG Finance Board and amongst other things holds direct responsibility for all aspects of external reporting, assurance and the Group-wide cost base. Prior to that Jim was leader of the Group Finance function in HBOS and before joining Bank of Scotland in 1991, he held a senior position with BP, following qualification as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and a degree in Law and Accountancy from Glasgow University.

Alongside his role as Group Financial Controller, Jim sits on the LBG Scottish Executive Committee, a body that decides and drives the strategy for LBG in Scotland and is chair of the Scotland Finance People Board that focuses on career development and the talent management strategy for the strong Finance Community in Scotland.

Jim is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, on the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, and a member of the Financial Reporting Council's Financial Reporting Review Panel. Jim is also Chair of Audit Committee of Vocalink Holdings Ltd and Chairman of the Board of National Youth Choir of Scotland (Charity Board).

John Gill

John Gill was appointed Managing Director, Customer Service in August 2006. He is responsible for the customer service provided to Standard Life Assurance Limited's 4.5 million customers.

John has spent his entire career of 20 years with Standard Life. From 2003 to 2006, he was Managing Director, Finance in UK & Europe Life & Pensions. From 1998 to 2003, he was Finance Director of Standard Life Bank. Prior to this, he fulfilled a wide variety of roles for Standard Life in the UK and internationally, including three years based in Montreal.

John joined Standard Life in 1986 after graduating in Mathematics from Edinburgh University, and qualified as an Actuary in 1990.

Adrian Grace

Adrian started his career at the Head Office of Leeds Permanent Building Society in 1979, before joining Mercantile Credit in 1984 in the Dealer and Asset Finance Division.

In 1991, Mercantile Credit was acquired by GE (General Electric) and Adrian had 10 years in a variety of roles in the United States (for four years) and in the UK.

In 2001, Adrian joined Sage Group PLC as Managing Director of the Small Business Division for the Group. Barclays asked Adrian to join them in 2004 as Chief Executive of its Insurance Division in order to turn around its business model and operations.

Adrian joined Bank of Scotland in 2007, as Managing Director of Commercial within the Corporate Division. In 2009, Adrian joined AEGON UK as Group Business Development Director and on the 4th April 2011 became Group Chief Executive. Adrian is also a Non-executive Director of Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE).

Adrian has an MBA from Henley Management College.

Benny Higgins

Before joining Tesco Bank as Chief Executive, Benny served as Chief Executive Officer, Retail Business of HBOS Plc.

Between 1997 and 2005, Benny was Chief Executive, Retail Banking at The Royal Bank of Scotland where he was responsible for personal, affluent and SME businesses across both NatWest and RBS. He led the successful integration of NatWest Retail Banking within RBS, the largest single merger in UK banking for some time.

Before joining RBS, Benny was at Standard Life for 14 years where he held a range of senior positions, including being a Member of the Group Executive.

Benny has a First Class Honours degree in Mathematics from the University of Glasgow. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and is a board member at Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE).

In 2011, Benny took on the role of Ambassador for The Prince's Trust Scotland - a youth charity helping to change young lives and a community partner of Tesco Bank.

Michael Polson

Michael Polson is Head of Sectors and Clients at Dundas & Wilson, a leading national law firm, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. He is also an Executive member of the Firm's Board and a partner in the UK Corporate Group, where he specialises in the corporate finance needs of clients, with a primary focus on the financial services sector.

Michael has significant financial services sector experience through his advisory and transactional work, and acts as relationship partner for a number of Dundas & Wilson's leading financial services clients. He is ranked by the UK Legal Directories as a leading individual in Corporate Finance and Investment Funds.

Michael has an MBA from Edinburgh University Management School.

Jamie Matheson

Jamie Matheson, aged 58, was the Executive Chairman of Brewin Dolphin Holdings PLC until March 2013 – when he stepped down after eight years leading the company. Prior to this Jamie was a Glasgow director of the Bell Lawrie division of the Brewin Dolphin Group and was responsible for the Group’s Corporate Broking activities.

Jamie started his career in 1972 at Parsons and Co. remaining with that firm through its various evolutionary stages until January 1996, when he joined Brewin Dolphin as a divisional director and then joined the PLC Board in 2002. Jamie Matheson was a Non-Executive Director of Scottish Radio Holdings plc from 2000 until its takeover by EMAP and a Non-Executive Director of Maven Income and Growth VCT5 PLC until April 2013.

Jamie is currently a Non-Executive Director of STV Group plc and is involved in a number of charitable organisations and their activities.