Crerar adds to public service roles

Professor Lorne Crerar, chairman and co-founder of legal firm Harper Macleod, is taking on further public service roles with two new appointments.

In addition to chairing Highland & Islands Enterprise (HIE), to which he has just been reappointed until 2020, he will chair the implementation board for the new strategic board which will provide guidance on the overall direction of Scotland's enterprise and skills agencies, and will co-chair a new National Council of Rural Advisers to support the development of the rural economy.

The strategic board was one of the main recommendations of Professor Crerar's report on phase 2 of the Enterprise and Skills Review carried out by the Scottish Government. One of the implementation board's first jobs will be to facilitate the setting up of a new enterprise agency for the South of Scotland with similar aims to those of HIE.

Among the functions of the new National Council of Rural Advisers will be to examine the potential implications of leaving the EU for the rural economy and make recommendations to help ensure the sustainability of that economy.

Professor Crerar commented: "I am honoured to have been asked to carry out these roles and look forward to an exciting and busy few years ahead. Being chairman of HIE has been one of the highlights of my career and I'm delighted to be given the opportunity to continue my work in that regard.

"Similarly, having been asked to carry out the review which has led to a new strategic board for enterprise and skills I feel well placed to carry its recommendations through to the next stage as chair of the implementation board which will begin to deliver on those aims.

"The National Council of Rural Advisers is a new endeavour and I look forward to working with my fellow chair Alison Milne and the rest of the members of the council to deliver for the country's rural economy."