Harper Macleod Chairman Appointed To Board Of Highlands And Islands Enterprise

Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism Jim Mather has announced the appointment of Harper Macleod Chairman, Professor Lorne Crerar, LLB (Hons) NP to the Highlands and Islands Enterprise Board.  The appointment is effective April 1, 2008 for a period of three years.

Professor Crerar LLB (Hons) NP is a founding partner and Chairman of leading Scottish commercial law firm Harper Macleod LLP, which has offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.  He has held the part-time Chair of Banking Law at Glasgow University since 1997. 

Lorne has broad experience of public sector operations.  He was formerly Deputy Chairman of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and one of three Chairmen of the Housing Improvement Task Force with his group completing their work in 2002.  He sits on the appointed implementation team for the single survey process, one of his task force proposals.  He was appointed as Convener of the Standards Commission in June 2003 (under the Ethical Standards in Public Life (Scotland Act 2000).  Lorne resigned from this office in September 2006 to take up the Chair of the 'Independent Review of Regulation, Audit, Inspection and Complaints Handling of Public Services in Scotland' which reported in September 2007.  

Lorne is a non-Executive Director of the Scottish Government Justice Programme Board, and resides in Glasgow and Gairloch, Wester Ross.   

Highlands and Islands Enterprise is the Scottish Government's main agency for economic development in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The Scottish Government provides the Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise with a clear strategic direction through the Government Economic Strategy. 

Established in 1988, Harper Macleod has 40 Partners, 115 Fee Earners and a complement of 230 staff.  The firm is renowned for its expertise in Public Sector & Housing, Sports, Recoveries, Corporate, Real Estate, Litigation, Banking and Employment and includes The Scottish Government, The Child Support Agency in Scotland, The Scottish Premier League, Whitbread, William Hill, BP, Airtricity, Optical Express and Tulloch Limited in its impressive list of clients.