Board members

Garry Sutherland
Chair of the Board of Management

Garry was born and raised in Castletown, Caithness. He joined Northern Constabulary as a police cadet in 1979, rising through the ranks to the position of Deputy Chief Constable.. He retired in April 2011. Garry has an MA from Manchester University and a post graduate diploma in criminology from Cambridge. He is married with two adult children. Garry is passionate about the ongoing development of the Highlands and Islands.

John Wilson
Vice Chair of the Board of Management
Chair of the Performance Review and Remuneration Committee

John is the founder and owner of 2 local businesses, JBW Business Solutions and Motivated 2 Change.  Both are designed to assist individuals and businesses achieve the best they can by providing advice, consultancy and coaching services to them.  Formerly, John was a senior manager in the public service where, over 30 years, he has gained experience in Human Resources, project management and the introduction of Information and Communication Technology projects as well as managing large financial budgets.  These skills he intends to utilise to the full on behalf of the college.

Donella Steel
Chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee

A native New Zealander, Donella moved to Scotland in 1994.  She is a former student of Inverness College graduating with an HND in Accounting and then obtaining her professional accountancy qualification with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA).  She worked in public sector audit for 6 years and has been working for Scottish Natural Heritage since November 2004 – the last three years as the Head of Finance. 

Andrea Sillars
Chair of the Human Resources Committee

Andrea Sillars was brought up in Inverness before pursuing her education in Glasgow at the University of Strathclyde where she obtained a BA (Hons) in Geography and an MSc in Human Resource Management.  She returned to the Highlands in 1994 taking up the post of Personnel Officer at Moray College where she also lectured in Human Resource Management on a part-time basis. In 1996 Andrea joined Northern Constabulary as Recruitment and Personnel Advisor and was promoted to Director of Human Resources in 2000. 

Hector Douglas
Chair of the Learning and Teaching Committee

Hector is a Director of 2KNOW Ltd a company which provides financial training and management development programmes.  He established 2KNOW Ltd in 2005 following a 25 year career at The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen which he joined as a lecturer in accounting and progressed to be Head of Aberdeen Business School.

During his time as Head of Aberdeen Business School he was responsible for leading the School through a period of major change and achievement which included the design and delivery of management development programmes for clients such as, British Airways, National Air Traffic Services, the Abbey National Bank and attaining AMBA Accreditation for the MBA Programme.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants an MBA graduate and maintains his association with Aberdeen Business School as an Honorary Professor.

Rick Ladds
Chair of the Audit Committee

Rick Ladds lives outside Culbokie on the Black Isle. He initially trained as a Mechanical Engineer at Manchester University, and then was in the RAF as an Engineer for the next 34 years, working on many different aircraft types as well as manufacturing aircraft components. Latterly he specialised in computing, in both the administrative and real-time spheres. For a time Rick was a lecturer on real-time systems, but then moved to the more specialised area of validating weapon release safety-critical software. After leaving the RAF he joined the MOD Civil Service working on Management Information software, and four years ago he and his wife moved to the Black Isle where he is now a Software Consultant.

Robbie Bain

Following a science degree from Glasgow University and a PhD from Glasgow Vet School, Robbie’s career took him overseas for 15 years, working firstly in sheep research in The Falkland Islands and then research management and poverty-focussed development work in East Africa.  Robbie returned to Scotland in 1999 and currently works for Highland Council as Ward Manager (Wester Ross, Strathpeffer & Lochalsh).

Carolyn Caddick

Carolyn grew up in Aviemore. She graduated from Birmingham University in 1981 after which she joined the British Army. She retired as a Major in 2000, having served in a variety of leadership positions.
Carolyn worked for a short time as a visiting lecturer at reading College and then at the Universities of Westminster and Hertfordshire. She returned to the Highlands with her young family in 2001 and is currently HR Manager at Lifescan Scotland, leading the Training, Recruitment, Employee Benefits and HR Policy and Procedures function.

Ian Grigor

Ian's first career was in biomedical sciences in which he developed a specific interest in cancer research. His links to higher education led him to a second career as a senior lecturer at Leeds University where he focused on research and management.

Louise James

Louise was born and educated in Canada but has lived in Britain for almost thirty years.  She moved into health care education in 1990, progressing to curriculum manager (Health Studies) at the University of York until 2002. During this time she obtained her MPhil in Social Policy, examining inter-professional working in health and social care.  After relocating to Scotland in 2003 Louise worked as a part-time lecturer in evidence-based practice at Glasgow Caledonian University until 2008.  She moved to the Highlands in 2006 where she has become involved in voluntary and committee work.

Colin McEwen

Born and raised in Inverness, and a former student of Inverness College, Colin has worked in the NHS for over 20 years, following several years in private architectural practice and oil rig construction. Currently working at Raigmore Hospital as the Senior Building Officer, Colin is a member of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists.

Suzanne Stewart
Support Staff member

Suzanne is the support staff member and joined the Board in April 2008. Employed at the College since 1999, Suzanne is now the Information Development Manager. Prior to working at Inverness College, Suzanne worked for 8 years as a Skills Development Manager in a Local Enterprise Company, and holds qualifications in areas including management, internal audit and health & safety.

Arthur Shearer
Teaching staff member

Arthur has been the elected teaching staff member on the Board since September 2005. Arthur is the Curriculum Manager in the Scottish School of Forestry at Balloch campus.

John Spencer
Principal

John Spencer was appointed as Principal of Inverness College UHI in May 2007. With a strong background in change management in the further education sector, his most recent role was as Vice Principal at Sutton Coldfield College, a large college in the West Midlands. Prior to this, John directed the creation and set-up of Asia Europe College, a further and higher education institution in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, and has worked at senior level in several colleges in England. John started his career as a product designer, and his first role in further education was teaching art and design in Sheffield in 1979.