Culture Perth and Kinross Limited – Directors

All our Board Members work with us on a voluntary basis and do not receive payment for their role with Culture Perth and Kinross.

Culture Perth and Kinross is a Company Limited by guarantee and a registered Scottish Charity. It also operates a trading subsidiary which delivers café, retail and venue hire services across its venues. There is a Board of Directors, chaired Charles Kinnoull and comprised of 11 highly experienced individuals bringing expert knowledge and support to the organisation including in business, finance, law, public sector, marketing and sales as well as the Arts.

The Board meet quarterly in full and on a regular basis through a number of smaller sub-committees and working groups designed to ensure robust scrutiny and governance of the organisation is in place. To contact a member of the Board please email [email protected]

Chris Ahern was born in London and lived in the south of England before joining the Royal Air Force. He served in the UK and Germany and saw detachments in the Falklands, Cyprus and Sardinia. On leaving the RAF he worked with British Aerospace to help establish a new Reconnaissance Squadron in the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Chris has now lived in Scotland for 25 years and worked briefly as a Prison Officer in Perth Prison and later as the Practice Manager for Condies Solicitors where he worked for 13 years.

Chris is also a Director of the Perth and Kinross ADHD+ Group helping families of those that have ADHD and associated disorders.

Jason Elles CA, is a former partner at EY (Ernst & Young) where he spent most of his working life. He specialised in dealing with companies in financial difficulties, financial restructuring and crisis management. Now retired, he is a trustee and director of several charities in the arts field and building restoration world where his financial acumen is much appreciated.

Married with three children and six grandchildren, he lives outside Coupar Angus.

His interests are the arts, fishing, golf and sport.

James Findlay KC has stayed in Perthshire for over 16 years, having previously lived in London and originally comes from South Ayrshire.  He is currently practising as both an advocate in Scotland and as a barrister in England and Wales, specialising in local government, planning, environmental and licensing matters.

He was Head of Chambers in his London chambers until 2014 and is currently chair of the Scottish Planning, Local Government and Environmental Law Bar Group.

He is also chair of the Findo Gask Community Association.  He has three children and his wife is a supply primary school teacher.

Charles Kinnoull is a Crossbench member of the House of Lords. A qualified barrister, he spent 25 years working for Hiscox Group, the specialist international insurer.

Among other things, Hiscox is the largest specialist insurer of art & heritage in Europe, an area that he ran.

Charles is also Chairman of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, and President of the Royal Caledonian Charities Trust, among other voluntary involvement.

Born in London, he graduated from Aberdeen University before starting a career in the British Army.

As an officer in the Royal Corps of Transport and later the Royal Logistic Crops he spent much of his career abroad, serving with the Brigade of Gurkhas in Hong Kong, the British Army of the Rhine and the Belize Garrison. He saw operational service in Northern Ireland and the Gulf. In his final appointment in the Army, he headed up the movements planning team within the armed forces staff responsible for global movements and logistics. Since leaving the army after 36 years of service, Andrew has become actively involved with local politics, having joined the SNP just prior to the 2011 Scottish Election. He was first elected to Perth and Kinross Council as a Perth City Centre Ward councillor at a by-election in May 2015 and was re-elected in May 2017His other interests include military history and railway history.

Having spent 30 years in the tourism industry promoting Britain internationally Sandie is an active Trustee and non-executive director in a number of culture, heritage and business organisations.

As CEO of VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, she led the strategy to maximise the tourism benefits of the London 2012 Olympics, played a leading role in the UK Government’s GREAT campaign, and saw visitor numbers reach record levels.

In the New Year Honours of 2015 she was awarded a CBE for services to tourism. 

Asif Khan is currently the Director of the Scottish Poetry Library, having joined the organisation in June 2016. With a professional background in business development, marketing and engagement, he has worked across many cultural platforms including public libraries, performing arts venues and art galleries.

Asif Khan is an associate of the Cultural Leadership Programme, and was previously the Engagement Manager for Bristol Libraries, with a particular interest in widening participation and social inclusion.

Kathryn Thomson has been Chief Executive of National Museums Northern Ireland since March 2016.  Prior to that, she was Chief Operating Officer at Tourism NI for 11 years.

Kathryn has a background in public sector finance and holds a public appointment as a Director of the Strategic Investment Board Ltd.  She also sits on the Boards of both Tourism Ireland and Visit Belfast.

Reyahn King became Chief Executive of York Museums Trust in 2015 and is responsible for the strategic leadership of the Trust and its trading subsidiary. York Museums Trust includes three museum venues: York Castle Museum, Yorkshire Museum and York Art Gallery as well as 2 scheduled ancient monuments and York Museum Gardens.

Reyahn joined York Museums Trust from the Heritage Lottery Fund where she had been Head of HLF West Midlands and was previously Director of Art Galleries at National Museums Liverpool. Reyahn began her career as a curator of art at Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery.

Reyahn is a Fellow of the Museums Association and a Clore Fellow.

Stewart Donaldson was appointed to the Board in June 2022. He is one of the Perth and Kinross Council nominated trustees/directors. As a councillor he has represented Strathearn, covering Crieff, Comrie, St Fillans and Gilmerton, since 2017.

Apart from his Council roles, he is also a trustee of Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust, and a Governor of Innerpeffray Library.

During his working life he was an investment analyst and investment manager at several financial institutions, mainly in Glasgow and St Andrews.

Alastair Muirhead is a director and company secretary of a national distribution business and runs one of Perthshire’s oldest country stores. Also, he is a partner of a family farming business in the Carse of Gowrie.

Alastair has in the past been a community councillor and has for 20 years helped raise funds for the Perthshire Abandoned Dog Society.

For several years, he has campaigned to find an alternative use for the former Perth City Hall. As a result, he is delighted to be involved with its museum redevelopment.