Remuneration Committee
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Sue Irving
ChairBiography
Sue is Director of Housing Services for Loreburn Housing Association and was previously Chief Executive Officer of the award-winning Dumfries & Galloway Citizens Advice Service. Sue worked for many years with third sector organisations supporting people affected by homelessness and spent four years working for the Scottish Government as their Health and Homelessness Coordinator.
As well as being on the College Board Sue is also a non-executive Director of Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce and a Trustee of Centre Stage Youth Theatre. She has a Master of Business Administration from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and returned to her native south west Scotland in 2008 having spent 20 years living and working in the north east of Scotland. Sue’s other great passion in life is being a lifelong supporter of Liverpool Football Club.
Sue was appointed to the Board of Management in March 2021. She is currently Chair of the Remuneration Committee, is a member of the Audit, Board Development and HR Sub Committees and is also Vice Chair to the Board of Management.
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Ann Hill
Non Executive MemberBiography
Ann is a highly experienced further and higher education professional, working at Director Level in the UK College sector. Her most recent post involved responsibility for improving quality assurance standards in respect of professional development for over 800 staff at a large college. This involved developing a successful and bespoke two year coaching programme for senior managers and governors. Alongside this, Ann was responsible for the strategic development of learning technologies/digital strategies across the College.
Ann left fulltime employment seven years ago, and is currently employed as an Independent Further and Higher Education Consultant, working primarily for the UK Quality Assurance Agency as a higher education Reviewer, and also as an Elite Independent Reviewer. She enjoys working with a wide variety of colleges and universities to improve academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities for students. She also works on academic appeals with the Quality Assurance Agency, and is experienced in judicial review processes.
Ann originally qualified in Librarianship and Information Sciences and practised as an academic librarian for several years, teaching Research Skills. She is experienced in commissioning new library builds, and particularly enjoyed a placement in Kentucky, USA, developing a new college library. She was awarded a Master’s degree in Women’s Studies (1985) and is vocationally qualified as an Assessor (Customer Care.) and as a Mental Health First Aider.
Ann relocated to Dumfries and Galloway two years ago, after spending many happy years holidaying in the area (from 1971). She also works for the Law Society of Scotland and was selected to sit on the Legal Aid Quality Assurance Committee, which monitors the work carried out by solicitors offering Civil Legal Assistance.
Implicit through all the work and life experience that Ann has, is her commitment to fairness and social justice, and the provision of life long educational opportunities for all sectors of our multi-cultural society.
Ann is a member of the following Committees: Audit, Learning and Teaching, Remuneration, Grievance and Appeals and HR Sub-Committees.
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Caroline Stuart
Chair of the Board of ManagementBiography
A Technology and Business Studies graduate, Caroline initially worked in the City of London where she trained as an Investment Analyst. She returned to Scotland and managed three companies before moving into business consultancy and then joining Oracle as global industry advisor for 16 years. She is now an independent consultant.
She has been a Commissioner on both the Widening Access and Make Maths Count Commissions.
Caroline sits on various Boards and Committees including SFC and SPA. She joined Dumfries and Galloway College as Chair of the Board of Management in February 2022 and sits on the following Committees: Chair of Board Development Committee, Grievance Committee, Remuneration Committee, and Finance and General Purposes Committee.
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Claire McLean
Chair of HR Sub-CommitteeBiography
Claire studied photography in Edinburgh and then spent over 15 years as an HR practitioner in Scotland working for a variety of different businesses such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, AO.com and Specsavers before she founded Realise HR, an HR consultancy in 2015. Claire founded Realise HR to make a difference to people’s working lives and works with small to medium businesses and large organisations, both locally and across the UK. Realise HR has created 9 jobs for people in that time and has further ambitions to grow. Claire started her career with the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh then progressed to HR management of small teams within global businesses before moving into HR Director roles where she focused on strategic people planning and building competent teams to support company growth. To relax at the weekend Claire loves to read, travel and enjoys good food with her husband David and daughter Molly Rose.
Claire joined DGC Board of Management in April 2022 and sits on Remuneration Committee, Finance and General Purposes Committee, Chair of HR Sub Committee, Board Development Committee and Grievance Committee.
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Jamie Ross
Chair of Audit CommitteeBiography
Jamie joined the DGC Board of Management in April 2022.
His career has spanned more than two decades in senior leadership positions across the transport sector.
Most recently he was Global Commercial Director for Menzies Aviation and a member of the Executive Management Board of John Menzies plc and prior to that he held senior commercial and business development positions at Serco and the Go-Ahead Group.
Starting his career within the Ferries Division of multi-national company Sea Containers, other roles have included operational and general management positions in the UK rail industry with GNER and Northern Rail and Jamie also had a four year spell as a Senior Civil Servant in the Scottish Government with responsibility for a wide-ranging transport portfolio.
Jamie was born and grew up in Stranraer and graduated with a law degree from the University of Aberdeen. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
Jamie is the Chair of Audit Committee and is a member of Remuneration, Board Development and Grievance Committees.
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Richard Nash
Chair of Finance and General Purposes CommitteeBiography
Richard qualified as a chartered certified accountant back in 1997, progressing onto fellowship status (FCCA). After starting his career within the finance department at Essex University, Richard progressed through a number of service-related industries including timber importers, freight forwarding and shipping agency, the cruise industry, and holiday travel agency. In 2013, Richard moved himself and his family to SW Scotland to commence his current role as Finance Director and Company Secretary for a global renewable energy consultancy and service operations business. In addition to finance, this also involves directing the business support functions for the company.
Richard’s voluntary interests have previously been successfully developing and growing a running club, progressing to chairing the county athletics association for several years. After moving to Scotland, these running interests translated to directing local running events including the 10km run in Gatehouse of Fleet and the Half Marathon race in Kirkcudbright.
Richard was appointed to the Board of Management in March 2021. He is Chair of the Finance and General Purpose Committee and is a member of the Remuneration Committee and Board Development Committee.
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Sharon Hodgson
Chair of Learning and Teaching CommitteeBiography
Originally from N Ireland and with degrees in Spanish and European Studies and in Urban Regeneration, Sharon is an Economic Development Consultant, specialising in business planning and funding bids. She has had an extensive career in the public sector and worked in a number of key economic development roles within local government – most recently Sharon led the team who successfully negotiated and signed off the Ayrshire Growth Deal – a £250M investment package. Previous roles have included Head of Strategic Services at Riverside Inverclyde Urban Regeneration Company and Project Manager, Tall Ships Inverclyde 2011, and over a thirty year career, Sharon has gained extensive experience of business support and employability and training programmes; events management and inward investment.
Sharon joined DGC Board of Management in April 2022 and is Chair of Learning and Teaching Committee. She also attends the Remuneration and Board Development Committees.
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Will Dowson
Snr Independent MemberBiography
Will joined the Board of Management in March 2021 and is currently the Agent for Scotland for the Bank of England. He has a wide range of policy making and leadership experience in internal and external facing roles. He is well known and respected within the Scottish business community, public and third sector. He joined the Bank of England in Glasgow in 2015, he is also the mentor to the Scottish Chief Commissioner, Girl Guiding Scotland.
Since 2019 he has been a Member of the Industry Advisory Panel for University of Edinburgh Futures Institute and is also Director of The David Hume Institute, a public policy research organisation since 2020.
Will acts as Senior Independent Member for the Board of Management and is a member of Audit Committee, and Remuneration Committee.
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