By Scott Wright

A RAFT of senior financiers have been appointed to the board of the soon-to-be-launched Scottish National Investment Bank.

The nascent institution is due to open before the end of the year with a war chest of £2 billion from the Scottish Government. The bank has been set up as a mission-led, patient capital investor that will back companies engaged in areas such as the transition to net zero carbon emissions.

Following the appointment of infrastructure financier Eilidh Mactaggart as chief executive designate earlier this year, eight non-executive directors from an array of finance backgrounds have now been added to the board. The new appointments are Tracey Ashworth-Davies, director of workforce at NHS Education for Scotland; Carolyn Jamieson, chief legal officer at Trustpilot; Peter Knott, managing director in the Edinburgh office of the Green Investment Group; Jason McGibbon, partner of private equity firm Bridgepoint; Nicholas Moon, partner at LeapFrog Investments; Candida Morley, director and head of governance at UK Government Investments; Jacqueline Redmond, non-executive chair of CENSIS, the innovation centre for sensing, imaging and Internet of Things technologies; and international banking veteran Sir Jonathan Taylor, formerly vice president of the European Investment Bank.

Each non-executive director will receive up to £21,250 per year, with those appointed chairs of the audit, risk and remuneration committees and the senior independent director receiving an additional £4,250 per annum. Non-executive directors will be expected to devote up to 25 days per year to the role.

Willie Watt, chair designate of the bank, said: “The depth of experience brought together by these appointments reflects both the scale and ambition of what we hope to achieve.

“By combining their talent, we now have the variety of skills necessary to help deliver our vision of a globally competitive, sustainable and fairer economy for Scotland.

“We will be able to draw on a broad range of expertise, knowledge of both the Scottish and international business community, public and private sector, as well as mentoring small businesses and supporting scale-ups.

“The impact investment strategy guided by this board will support innovation, drive the green recovery and promote inclusive economic growth.”