Merger plans for two of Scotland’s best known agricultural research institutes took a significant step forward yesterday with the appointment of a chairman to oversee the process.
Former financial journalist Ray Perman is to lead the as yet unnamed joint institute that will be formed from linking up the Scottish Crop Research Institute at Invergowrie, near Dundee, and Aberdeen’s Macaulay Land Use Research Institute.
Mr Perman was a board member of Scottish Enterprise until December. He is also a former chairman of environmental group WWF Scotland. He was chairman of Social Investment Scotland.
His first task will be in finding a chief executive, a process that Mr Perman last night told the Press and Journal would involve a global hunt.
He too will be leading the effort to find board members for the new institute. Members of the existing boards will be asked if they want to join, but if there are any skills areas felt lacking then the recruitment net will be spread wider.
Mr Perman said: “We will be starting the search for a chief executive immediately. This will be a worldwide search as we are looking for the best qualified individual to lead what will be a very important new institute. I hope and expect we will get internal candidates too, but what we want to make sure is that we get the best person for the role.”
Mr Perman said the new institute would instantly become one of the biggest of its types globally, allowing it to compete for bigger scientific projects.
“This all about growth and developing new skills, more skills. I see it as positive rather than negative. This new institute will have a turnover of more than £35million a year and staff of in excess of 600.
“That will allow it to move into a higher league as it will have the combined resources to tackle larger and more complex research work. It will bring together a wide range of complementary skills that will allow it to tackle real world problems across a range of disciplines.”
SCRI’s focus is on research into agricultural crops and breeding new potato, barley, blackcurrant and raspberry varieties.
The Macaulay concentrates on scientific work to protect natural resources, the development of integrated land use systems and in securing the long-term future for rural areas around the world.
SCRI chairman Peter Berry said he looked forward to working with Mr Perman in establishing a world-class organisation that would be the result of the merger of two of Scotland’s great scientific institutions. Macaulay chairman Michael Gibson added: “I am very proud that the Macaulay is going to be a founding partner in what will be one of Europe’s foremost scientific institutes that is based here in Scotland.”
The merger plans were exclusively revealed by the Press and Journal in October. Both institutes will initially keep their existing bases, but longer term the plan is to possibly bring all 600-plus staff under one roof. Existing chief executives are Professor Peter Gregory at SCRI and Professor Richard Aspinall. Prof Gregory is thought likely to be among the internal candidates for the new post.