Connect Winter 2017 | Page 42

College News

MEET OUR NEW AYRSHIRE COLLEGE board members

Margarette Bryan

Douglas McIvor

Margarette was brought up in Kilmarnock and left school at the age of 15 , without any qualifications , to join the retail industry .
She has worked with Alex Begg for 20 years where she has worked her way up to Retail Sales Manager .
Margarette delivers talks to our students , gives them live briefs for coursework , and sponsors them with fabric .
Margarette said “ I thought I could bring something to the table for the students . I feel I can help steer people who leave school without knowing which direction to go , into a career that they would like to pursue .
“ So far , it ’ s been very interesting on the Board . I ’ m finding my voice ; it ’ s completely different to my experience in a private sector company .”

I thought I could bring something to the table for the students .

Douglas started his career as an apprentice at BAE Systems in Prestwick , where he attended Ayrshire College on day release .
He now leads the Weir Group ’ s value chain transformation programme , after a spell at Rolls-Royce and 12 years in management consulting with EY , Capgemini and Bearingpoint .
Douglas said “ I am enjoying my role as a board member . Everyone has been very welcoming . My role at Weir Group involves a lot of travel , and the opportunity to be involved in Ayrshire is great .
“ It is an interesting time to be involved with the new Kilmarnock Campus and the developments on the other campuses . This combined with the developments in the curriculum are very exciting . All of this work is balanced with the challenging financial constraints .
“ I have watched the progress of Ayrshire College from a distance but was not fully aware of the scale or complexity of the organisation . Frankly , I have been very impressed - the facilities are great , the leadership team is very capable and committed and the discussion at the board meetings I have been involved with are without exception focused on continuing to move the college forward .”
Tracey is a board director with consumer electronics distributor , Maxiim Ltd , and works with some of the UK ’ s best known brands and retailers . would like to introduce their new chairperson

tracey stark

She has previously held senior positions in Sales , Operations , Media and General Management , with substantial profit and loss and HR responsibilities . She was Sales Director for global corporate insurer , Willis Towers Watson and also has experience in the hospitality and events industry . Through this work Tracey has been involved with charity fundraising .
She is passionate about education and technology and has an MBA from Strathclyde University .
Having spent several years working in London , Tracey moved to Ayr with her husband fifteen years ago and has two daughters . She enjoys travelling and following Scottish Rugby .
we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate tracey on her new position with the ayrshire college foundation
42 The magazine of Ayrshire College