North Glasgow College

About NGC

Board of Management - Biographical notes

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

mark_armstrong_200 Mark Armstrong
BSc(Eng) Hons
MBA

I have over 20 years experience as a highly effective leader and manager within the public and voluntary sectors across the fields of learning, culture, sport, community development and social care. Through the range of my experience and my proven ability to deliver results across this wide portfolio, I demonstrate that I bring a unique breadth and depth of experience, knowledge, skills and abilities to this application.
My particular strengths include: effective leadership; strategic and service planning; partnership working; a track record in modernising services and improving performance; delivering cultural change and inspiring staff towards change; and proven competencies in maximising best value through the creative use of budgets and resources.
I have a very strong track record of achieving results and ensuring that objectives are met and standards attained. Over recent years I have led the successful delivery of millions of pounds worth of efficiencies and budget savings while also retaining and improving service quality and impact. For example: Aberdeen City Council’s Museums and Galleries service is internationally renowned and along with the Council’s Library and Information Service rank in the top quartile for Statutory Performance Indicators; under my leadership all four HMIE Learning Community inspections have been positive with aspects of national ‘good practice’ highlighted. This is within a context of all these services having delivered significant budget savings over the past 3 years.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Ed Brown

Tony Crosbie

Pg Dip Local Economic Development
MSc Technology and Regional Development
BA Arts/Social Studies

Having worked in a variety of roles within higher education, teaching, research and local economic development, I feel that I can bring a range of skills to the board of management. In highlighting some of my skills and achievements, I would point to the following:

For the last 10 years have held a strategic post within the Senior Management Team of GNRA, a voluntary sector organisation that now employs over 100 full-time staff, supporting its growth from a turnover of £3million in 2001 to £6million in 2009. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive and the Board, I have been responsible for the Company Strategic plan, performance monitoring and evaluation, contracts and funding applications, quality systems, shaping organisational structure and future planning activities.

Funding – as an applicant (European, Community Planning, Glasgow Works, Department of Work and Pensions, Skills Development Scotland) and as an Advisory Group member (10 years as a member of the Labour Market and latterly ESF P2 advisory groups- Strathclyde European Partnership and East of Scotland European Partnership)

Board Membership- Vice Chair of SLIMS 2001-2007, helped to take the organisation out of direct local authority control and establish a subscription and membership based consultancy with the ability to trade as an independent organisation.

Board Membership – Petershill Community Initiative supporting the funding, planning, development, build and running of the Petershill Community Initiative

Partnership – Strong experience of working within partnership structures acroos North Glasgow, City, West of Scotland and Europe. EG Alternate member of Community Planning Partnership Boards, working with =in North Glasgow Strategic and Operational Employability Structures, LRA Citywide Strategy Bid Team (specifically focussing on working through DWP funding contract bids)

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Craig Ireland

Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland
BA Accountancy & Economics

I am an experienced senior finance manager with a track record of high quality delivery in financial, commercial and strategic roles within ScottishPower and Deloitte.

I specialise in leading teams through change, improving process efficiency and successful project delivery.

I have experience of sitting on a number of cross-functional committees or Boards within ScottishPower with the aim of bringing together and leading the work of a number of teams in achieving operational objectives. The best example of this is my role in the Unbilled Steering Committee which I formed in 2003 to bring together Directors from the key operational areas of the energy retail business with divisional finance and IT teams to help address the risks associated with one of the most complex issues in the industry. This committee still exists and I have rejoined it after some time in different roles and it continues to be successful in resolving operational issues

I have also been involved in Business Planning and Strategic roles where I worked with the divisional management team to devise a strategy and prepare a 10 year business plan for the division. This helped develop my commercial thinking, and knowledge of the key drivers of the business and applying that knowledge to make proposals to the management team around pricing, customer acquisition strategy and movement into new products.

Finally, as well as financial roles I also spent time in a commercial role, managing assets and commodity contracts. In addition to having responsibility for the financial performance of these contracts, this role gave me an insight into wider commercial and operational issues.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Mrs A Floyd

After qualifying from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Ann completed teacher training in Moray House College and then took up her first teaching post in Holy Cross High school in Hamilton. She moved to Taylor High in Motherwell and secured a promoted post as Principal Teacher in Notre Dame High School in Greenock. She was then seconded for several years as an Education Development Officer within Ayr, Renfrew and Argyll and Bute Divisions.After 13 years in education Ann became Assistant Head Teacher in St. Leonard's school in Easterhouse, and then Depute Head in St. Margaret Mary's in Castlemilk , Glasgow.

In January 2008 she then became Head Teacher of All Saints Secondary in Barmulloch on a seconded basis for a year. This seconded post is now complete and Ann has returned to St. Margaret Mary's for the time being.Ann has always been passionate about learning and teaching and her work in secondary education has enabled her to work with and support many amazing young people.
Ann joined the Board in 2009 and is a member of the Audit and Learning and Teaching Committees.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Mr W L Govan - Secretary to the Board

Bill is a Charted Secretary with an extensive career and wide experience as a Company Secretary or deputy with many Listed companies including Grampian Holdings plc, Havelock Europa plc and Scottish Power plc. He was also Secretary to the Boards of a number of institutions in the further and higher education sectors, including Glasgow School of Art.
Bill recently retired from the Board of South Lanarkshire College, where he chaired the Finance Committee and was a member of the Nominations and Remuneration committees.
As Secretary to the Board he has full responsibility for all corporate governance issues.
Previous experience has included involvement in major company acquisitions, securing a full Stock Exchange Listing for a FTSE 100 company, setting up and managing share option schemes and managing substantial budgets.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Mr I Hodgson

After over 32 years in local government, Irving left his position as Acting Director of Housing and Regeneration with West Dunbartonshire Council in 2007 to establish his own consultancy practice. He has experience of operating in a senior management role in the public sector and has an interest in strategic management and finance. He holds an MBA in Public Sector Management, gained through part time study at the University of Stirling. A qualified town planner, Irving's professional interests lie in the fields of regeneration, economic development and planning.Away from work, Irving's enjoys sport. Having been a keen cricketer, he now plays golf. He also admits to being a season ticket holder at Queen of the South FC and recently followed his team to Copenhagen when they qualified for the UEFA Cup.
Irving joined the Board in 2009 and is a member of the Finance Committee and the Learning and Teaching Committee.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Mr Robert Izat

Mr R Knox - Principal/Chief Executive

Principal of the College since 2002. Ronnie is a Partner in Knox Brothers, Automobile EngineersHe is a board member of North Glasgow SIP and Glasgow North Limited.He is a member of all committees except Audit, which he attends by invitation.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Ms Cathie McGrory

Mr A Milne

Tony became interested in furthering the prospects of young people after joining local youth organisation Lenzie Crusaders at the tender age of sixteen as a young leader. At its peak the group saw numbers approaching two hundred young people engage in weekly activities, sports endeavours and extra-curicular engagement all set in a safe and supportive environment aimed at promoting holistic health and well being. After fifteen years, Tony co-founded an Alumni society called FOLC, whose aims include retaining contact with former members. In 2005 he conceived and engaged the support of FOLC and Lenzie Crusaders to run a Youth Engagement programme in collaboration with an East Dumbartonshire secondary school called “The Adrenaline Playground”.

After leaving school Tony joined the Merchant Navy and studied at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies whilst serving as a sea going engineering officer on ships in the Gulf of Mexico and South East Asia. At the age of nineteen, Tony left the Merchant Navy to take up further academic study at Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian University which saw him gain an Honours and then masters degree in Engineering and Management related disciplines.Tony joined Ayrshire based electronics manufacturer Prestwick Circuits for three years where he progressed through production management and maintenance logistics roles.

In 1996, he joined respected construction sector consultancy KJ Tait before setting up his own construction consultancy in 2003. In 2003 Tony became a member of the British Institute of Facilities Managers (BIFM). The following year, Tony was asked to represent the specialist Facilities Management Group of professional institution, the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) in Scotland and that year was awarded the youngest ever Fellowship status by CIBSE. In 2008, Langside College co-opted Tony to their board for a short time to draw upon his construction sector experience. In 2009, Tony joined the Board and serves on the HR and Facilities Committee and the Audit Committee.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Mr A Robertson

Alan has degrees from Strathclyde and Glasgow Universities, supplemented by a management diploma. He is a chartered town planner with over 20 years experience in the fields of physical and economic regeneration. Following spells with local authorities in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, he moved into the consultancy sector and undertook a wide range of assignments across Scotland, with practices based in Edinburgh and Glasgow. He took up his current position with Clydebank re-built, the pathfinder urban regeneration company, in 2003 after a number of years with Glasgow North Ltd, one of the main predecessors of the Glasgow North Regeneration Agency.

In his present position of Projects Director, Alan oversees the team undertaking major site servicing works, business space construction and environmental improvement initiatives that have the objective of bolstering Clydebank’s position as a competitive and sustainable place within the Glasgow conurbation. In addition, he is an Advisory Group member for ERDF Priority 3: Urban Regeneration within the Lowlands & Uplands Scotland 2007-2013 (European Structural Funds) Programmes.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Mrs E Robertson

Mr J Russell - Chairman

John retired from BBC, as its Senior Education Officer and Secretary to the Educational Broadcasting Council for Scotland, in September 2005, having spent 20 years in BBC, working as an educationist with production staff in Scotland and London. Much of his work was with producers and consultants who made Radio, Television programmes and online sites for learners at school but he also worked with post-16 Sector in Adult Education – Community and FE. As BBC Scotland’s senior educationist, he spent considerable time meeting with Directors of Education, Advisers, HMIe , SFEU and LTS researching Educational Trends and the place of the Media in delivering learning material to meet the Scottish Market’s needs.

As Secretary of the Educational Broadcasting Council for Scotland, he managed and organised the process in Scotland where educationists held BBC accountable for its learning output. John had previously worked as a schoolteacher – as a PT Guidance in Glasgow and finally, as an Assistant Headteacher in Lanarkshire, where his main claim to fame was implementing Action Plan in 1985 (College/Schools joint-working isn’t a 21st Century invention!). His first career on leaving University was in Field Marketing with Proctor and Gamble(UK)Currently, he is now busier than ever - he is Assistant Chaplain at a South Lanarkshire school and he became Chairman of North Glasgow College Board in December 2008, having previously served on the Board and 3 of its committees – Audit, Learning & Teaching and Human Resources.Appointed to the Board in 2003, John became Chairman in 2008.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Ms E Slessor - Vice Chair

Head of Social Work (retired). Specialised in residential care of Disturbed Adolescents. Voluntary work includes the Hospice Movement, Mind Jane, and is a member of the Society of Friends. Keen interest in music and is a member of the Glasgow Cathedral choir.Liz was appointed to the Board in 2003 and is Vice Chair of the Board, Chair of the Audit Committee, a member of the HR and Facilities Committee and the Learning and Teaching Committee.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk

Mrs A Wilson

Ann is a Senior Lecturer at the College and is the Academic Staff representative on the Board.She was appointed to the Board in May 2002 and is a former Chair of the Property Committee, which merged with the Human Resources Committee to form the newly constituted HR and Facilities Committee.

If you would like to contact any of the members please email: infocentre@north-gla.ac.uk