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Our Team

We have a small team here at SFE led by our CEO, with significant expertise across our core functions of public affairs, communications, membership services and events. The work of SFE is complemented by a number of special interest groups and committees representing industry subsectors and public affairs professionals.

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Sandy Begbie
Chief Executive

  • Sandy Begbie CBE, FRSE was appointed Chief Executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise in October 2020.

    Prior to joining SFE, Sandy led the development of the Scottish Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee following an 18-month contract at Tesco Bank as the Chief Transformation Officer.

    Sandy was responsible for the Global People, Organisation and Culture Integration following the successful merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017. Before the merger Sandy was the Chief People Officer and Lead Executive for China and Hong Kong for Standard Life for eight years. During this time, he led the Standard Life HR team to be recognised as one of the top performing functions in the UK and also led the turn-around of Standard Life’s Chinese Joint Venture. Sandy was appointed Senior Advisor to the Standard Life HASL Asia business in Hong Kong in July 2020, having been Chair of the Hong Kong-based Board since 2014. In December 2023 Sandy was appointed as International Director to the HASL Asia business and stepped down as Senior Advisor.

    Before joining Standard Life in May 2010 Sandy held similar Transformation and Group HR Director positions within Aegon, Scottish Power and Royal Bank of Scotland.

    Sandy holds several non-executive positions including Chair of Place2Be Scotland and a Trustee on the National Place2Be Board, Chair of Young Person Guarantee and Chair of DYW (Developing the Young Workforce).

    Sandy was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in August 2018 for services to business and social inclusion. He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) in March 2023. In December 2024 Sandy was awarded Freedom of the City of London for his transformative leadership in Scotland's financial sector and his enduring commitment to fostering economic growth and social inclusion across Scotland.

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Ben Rose
Director of Public Policy & Communications

  • Ben joined SFE in September 2023, and is responsible for leading SFE’s policy development, government engagement and broader stakeholder communication.

    He brings over 15 years of public and private sector experience, much of that spent advising senior figures in politics and financial services. He was most recently a Senior Public Policy Manager for NatWest Group, and also served as Chair of SFE’s Public Affairs and Communications forum between 2021 and 2023.

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Sara Votta
Programme Manager

  • Sara joined SFE in August 2024 as our interim Programme Manager, responsible for the delivery of SFE’s skills and careers hub getinto.finance and our industry skills strategy. As of June 2025, Sara was appointed as a permanent member of the team.

    She brings over 14 years of consultancy and delivery experience in the tech and data industry across financial services and the public sector.

    As a previous SFE member, Sara is passionate about supporting SFE’s sector growth strategy whilst promoting the pathways, skills and opportunities within financial services in Scotland.

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Jayne Currie
Director of Membership Services

  • Jayne joined SFE in October 2021 as our Director of Membership Services. She is focused on ensuring our members get the best possible value and experience from us and is also driving forward our changing customer needs strategy activity. 

    She has been working in Financial Services for over 25 years, mostly within the life and pensions sector.  Her passion is the customer and of course SFE members. Jayne has worked at Standard Life, Scottish Widows and Royal London in various marketing, strategy, and insight roles.

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Peter Horne
PR & Communications Manager

  • Peter joined SFE in March 2025 as the PR & Communications Manager, focusing on highlighting the work of the organisation within the sector and beyond.

    He brings 6 years’ of both in-house and agency comms experience with organisations in the financial, tech and scale up sectors.

Lauren Kerr
Senior Membership Relations Manager

  • Lauren joined SFE in January 2026 as Senior Membership Relations Manager, where she supports the Membership Director in strengthening and developing member relationships to ensure an exceptional member experience.

    She brings over six years of account management experience within the field of recruitment, with four years specialising in financial services. In addition, Lauren serves on the leadership team of the Scottish Financial Services Young Professionals Network, where she helps equip emerging talent with the skills and insights needed to succeed in the financial services industry.

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Harry Meighan
Marketing Executive

  • Harry joined SFE on a one-year Digital Marketing Modern Apprenticeship in April 2022 and worked towards supporting SFE to plan and deliver digital content across all of our platforms.

    After completing his apprenticeship in March 2023 and obtaining his SCQF Level 6 diploma in digital marketing, Harry was kept on permanently at SFE where he now holds the title of marketing executive. His main responsibilities include planning and delivering content across SFE’s digital channels, website management and the day-to-day support of the SFE member platform.

Tom Langdale-Hunt
Events & Marketing Executive

  • Having previously worked for SFE in a temporary capacity, Tom returned to SFE full-time as an Event and Marketing Executive in January 2026. He brings with him over eight years’ experience delivering engaging events and supporting meaningful community and stakeholder relationships across the not-for-profit, public, and private sectors.

    Having previously spent three years at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand, where he supported events, member engagement, and advocacy work, he shares SFE’s passion for creating welcoming, well-run events and thoughtful marketing that help organisations connect with their communities and create positive impact.

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David Hedley
Office Manager & PA to the Chief Executive

  • David joined SFE in 2012 working in several roles including office support and more recently as Events and Communications Executive where he managed the members events schedule and helped support our members.

    After a brief period away from SFE, David re-joined in May 2022 as PA to the CEO ensuring the smooth running of the executive office.