Board
Sue Beatt - Chairperson
Sue Beatt is the recently retired co-founder and Director of People Solutions (Scotland) Ltd, an HR and Training Consultancy, started in 2006, specialising in HR and employment law advice to numerous and varied small businesses throughout Scotland. She is a Chartered Member of CIPD (Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development) and holds both HR and training qualifications.
Sue has been a Director with Bowls Scotland for seven years, five of those as the first ever female Chair of the organisation.
Jillian Merchant - Co-Vice-Chair
Jillian Merchant is a Partner with Thompsons Solicitors, specialising in employment, equalities law and professional regulation. Jillian is a strong advocate of equalities and is a regular contributor for broadcast and print media. Jillian is a fully qualified highland dancing teacher and has a background as a competitive highland dancer.
Susan Rowand - Co-Vice-Chair
Susan Rowand is currently Deputy Head of Corporate Banking for HSBC Scotland. With 20 years of experience in professional banking, in her current role she sets and implements their strategy. This incorporates: client satisfaction, financial objectives, employee engagement and development, operational risk as well as evaluating, challenging and monitoring all aspects of business performance.
Kim Atkinson - Chief Executive Officer
Kim is the Chief Executive Officer of the Scottish Sports Association. She took up post in March 2010 following a wide ranging involvement in sport, especially within governing bodies of sport.
Nicola Ross - Finance Director
Nicola graduated from Durham University in 1991 and qualified as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand in 1995. After working as a Financial Analyst for GE Capital, she set up her own financial consultancy company working with SME’s and not-for- profit organisations with a focus on creating and managing finance and operations functions, analysing profitability, negotiating commercial contracts, being responsible for HR and IT functions and assisting in the strategic direction of businesses. Nicola is currently Finance Director at Michael Laird Architects and in 2023 joined the board of the Scottish Sports Association as volunteer Finance Director.
Gareth Maritz
Gareth is currently employed as a Senior Manager in Marketing at Booking.com he holds a Bachelors Degree in Law, a Masters in Law & a MBA with a focus in Marketing.
He has a well trodden career across various roles and sectors with over 10 years experience where his primary focus has been in Commercial and Marketing roles. He brings a unique perspective in that he has operated his own start-up and been employed in scale-ups and blue-chips. These blue-chips include businesses such as Dell EMC, Nestle and Booking.com.
Bryan Winning
Bryan is currently heading sponsorship for the Department of International Trade, leading on cross-government projects such as Expo2020 Dubai, Rugby World Cup and Tokyo Olympics. He was formerly Business Development Director of Oman Sail.
Alex Gladkov
Alex Gladkov is a Risk Analyst at CRISP, delivering risk intelligence services to safeguard brands from reputational damage, security threats, and online harm. With over ten years of experience in digital marketing, he has successfully managed accounts for a diverse array of blue-chip companies. He is also the Director of Governance at Scottish Wrestling and a Commonwealth Games medallist. Alex is passionate about sport and aims to promote the many benefits of an active lifestyle.
Colin Sykes
Colin has joined SSA after having been a Director of Horsescotland for 6 years, as well as being current chair of SERC Border branch and still active endurance rider.
Gary Birnie
Gary Birnie is a User Experience Designer & Behavioural Scientist producing behaviour change products within the health and financial sectors. Behaviour change products he has worked on include ‘NHS Couch to 5K’ and ‘NHS Food Scanner’. His research focuses on the motivational effect of goals on physical activity in Scotland.