Stuart Lindsay
Stuart is an experienced community and economic development manager who specialises in rural regeneration and in project and business development, funding and management. Stuart has been based in South Ayrshire since 2002 when he set up and ran a community economic development team and then floated the organisation away from the local authority as a social enterprise in 2009. Prior to that Stuart had a career in economic development in Scotland and Zimbabwe. Currently, Stuart works as a freelance consultant and is a founding member of the South Ayrshire Social Enterprise Network and Director of South Ayrshire Community Transport. He has 3 grown up sons and lives with his wife and one son in Girvan, a seaside town around 7 miles from the Assel Valley windfarm.
Rita Miller (Chair)
Rita Miller lives in Ayr and has two children and two grandchildren. Rita went to Glasgow University and gained BSc Hons in Geography. She taught in secondary schools in Strathclyde for a number of years before transferring to working in the knitwear business set up by her husband in Ayrshire. Rita served as a Councillor on South Ayrshire Council for 14 years. She was Chair of Social Work and Housing, Deputy Leader, and Portfolio Holder for Social Work and Health. Latterly she was Chair of the South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership. Nationally, Rita chaired the COSLA Social Work Committee and was Spokesperson on Social Work and Health for several years. She is the current Chair of the Co-operative Party in Scotland and has been active in the Coop Party in Ayrshire and Scotland for many years. Rita has also served on the Board of SEPA West, West of Scotland Water and completed a full 8-year term as a non-executive Board Member of NHS A&A with 4 years of that as Deputy Chair. She has been a volunteer board member of South Ayrshire Women’s Aid for many years and is the current Board Chair. She has now retired from full time work.
Annette Heslop MBE
Annette is the Finance and Administration Director of Energy4All, which she joined in 2002. Annette has been working in the renewables industry for 20 years and was a director of Baywind Energy Co-op up to 2015. She is currently a director of High Winds & Arrochar Hydro Societies. Annette is responsible for new project financial modelling, costing, projections, banking and treasury. Annette acts as the Company Secretary for all Societies in the Energy4All family and serves as a trustee of the Baywind Energy Conservation Fund.
Andrew King
Andrew had a varied career in business before becoming interested in community renewables over 25 years ago, when he and his wife joined the newly formed Baywind Co-op.
In 2000 he was heavily involved in Baywind becoming the UK’s first community energy co-op to own and operate a wind farm, and in 2002 created Energy4All with a colleague, to help other communities achieve the same.
Andrew Chaired Energy4All for 10 years, laying the foundations on which the remarkable successes of more recent years have been built.
Although he ‘retired’ a decade ago, Andrew retains close links with the sector and is active on the board of the Findhorn Community project in Moray, and the Highland Community Energy Society as well as recently joining the board of the Assel Valley project.
Ken Johnstone
Ken gained an LRIC in Chemistry and worked for 25 years as a chemist in a number of companies and ended up working for Alginate Industries where he moved into management. As a manager, he was involved in computerising the works production control system and became so hooked on computing that he went back to university and achieved a BSC in applied computing. Ken has worked for a number of companies as a contractor but ended his career working as an Analyst Programmer at Sky before retiring.
Jim Lee
Jim is currently the Development Manager in Scotland for Energy4All Limited. He is a director of several community energy co-ops including the Edinburgh Community Solar Co-operative, five hydro co-ops and two co-ops in the onshore wind sector. Since 2013, he has been directly involved in eleven community energy share offers raising over £12 million pounds. He has worked with communities all over Scotland helping them source the capital required for renewable energy generation and enjoy the community benefit available from these investments.
Jim has been active in the Co-operative Movement and the third sector for many years. He is Chair of the Thistle Credit Union. He has worked for Community Links South Lanarkshire, establishing food co-ops and the Scottish Fairtrade Forum where he supported the development of Fairtrade Towns. He was active in the democratic structures of the Co-operative Group for over 25 years.