Mark Beaumont spent the first 15 years of his career building teams around sporting success and is best known as an athlete and BBC broadcaster. He still holds the 18,000-mile circumnavigation cycling record in a time of 78 days. Mark’s degree education was in Economics & Politics, and for over thirteen years he has also worked a leading UK’s mid-market private equity firm, before becoming a partner at Eos Advisory in 2019 to focus on impact investing in early-stage Scottish science and technology.
Zehrid is head of the Global Long-Term Unconstrained team and is manager of Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust.
Chloé is an investment specialist in our Japanese Equities Team and a member of the Japan Product Group. Chloé maintains a close relationship with the Japanese Investment Team, participating in stock discussions and portfolio meetings, as part of her investment specialist role. Prior to joining the Japan Team, Chloé spent four years with our LatEMEA Team, responsible for existing clients and new business relationships in the Nordics and Iberia. She joined Baillie Gifford in 2013, having started her career in Martin Currie Investment Management. Chloé graduated MA (Hons) in Economics and International Relations from the University of St Andrews in 2011.
Kim McAllister is a freelance business journalist and communications consultant at Connect. She presented seven series of Clever About Cash on BBC Radio Scotland and contributes to a number of BBC shows including Radio 4’s Inside Science. She writes for newspapers across Scotland and hosts conferences across the UK plus once in Belgium, which allowed her to use her French! She lives in Edinburgh with her husband and two sons.
Be sure to check out some of the Clever About Cash episodes on the Blog page
Elizabeth Pirrie is CEO of AccelerateHER; a founders’ network that is moving the dial to create more opportunities for and increase the visibility and backing of female founders in the UK. In her role as COO of Investing Women Angels, she is also working to change the face of angel investment.
Through AccelerateHER’s programme of events, support, and market-building missions the organisation is helping female founders to accelerate growth, scale their companies, and access investment.
After a longstanding career as an Accountant and Finance Director in the private sector, Elizabeth brought her experience to the field of entrepreneurship, supporting founders to scale their businesses, consulting on everything from product launches to international market expansions.
A keen advocate of mental health in the workplace, Elizabeth is also an avid runner and supporter of all the benefits running can bring to both one’s personal and professional life.
Jo is senior sustainable finance manager at EY. Jo specialises in Sustainable Finance, particularly the integration of climate-related risks and opportunities and the quantification of climate risks for investment and insurance firms.
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.