THE man due to take charge of energy-related activities at Scottish Enterprise (SE) next month is well equipped for the job despite being a newcomer to the oil and gas industry, his boss said yesterday.
Paul Lewis, SE’s managing director for industries, research and policy, said accountancy graduate Adrian Gillespie – whose appointment was unveiled last week – was the right person for the job. He is also familiar with the north-east and its energy connections because earlier in his career he spent nearly a year in Aberdeen.
He was a Marks & Spencer management trainee before joining SE in August 2001 and has led the quango’s digital markets and enabling technologies team for three years.
Mr Gillespie’s leadership skills are seen by SE as easily transferable, meaning there is no concern about any lack of energy knowledge or experience. He will become SE’s senior director for energy and clean technologies as part of a shake-up of the ITI Scotland network.
The three intermediary technology institutes – Aberdeen-based ITI Energy, Dundee’s ITI Life Sciences and Glasgow’s ITI Techmedia – are being integrated into the wider research, commercialisation and innovation operations of SE.
Duncan Botting, managing director at ITI Energy, was widely tipped for the new post combining his role with that of Brian Nixon, who is SE’s energy team director.
Mr Nixon is also thought to have been in the frame to lead the enlarged energy team, but the agency has instead gone for an industry outsider in Mr Gillespie.
Visiting Aberdeen yesterday, he said he was excited about his new role in helping to take energy research projects from the development stage through to commercialisation, adding: “It is a huge challenge personally.”