Scottish Rugby strengthens senior leadership with new appointments

Hilary Spence has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer. Spence will sit on the Scottish Rugby Board.

Spence joins Scottish Rugby from Glasgow based global biotech firm Collagen Solutions where she is CFO and UK Managing Director.

During her time there she helped drive the Group towards profitability and deliver the successful sale and delisting of the Group to a US private company investor in 2020.

Hilary will take up her role with Scottish Rugby in the summer and brings a wealth of experience driving commercial and strategic growth across a number of business sectors.

Prior to Collagen Solutions Spence was CFO with indoor sports provider Powerleague and before that spent three years at Heineken leading a finance transformation programme.

Following the announcement in March that Sheila Begbie was retiring this summer Scottish Rugby has appointed Gavin Scott as the new Director of Rugby Development.

Gavin Scott’s appointment, which followed an extensive interview process, sees him join the Rugby Development Department from a series of senior roles in High Performance at BT Murrayfield.

A volunteer at his local club Currie Chieftains for the past 12 years, Scott was most recently Rugby Operations Director having previously been Scotland Men’s Team Manager from 2012 to 2019.

He brings experience of managing performance pathways and support teams and a breadth of knowledge from the international, professional and community game.

A former Scotland squad member and full-time professional player with Glasgow Warriors Scott has experience of working with multiple stakeholders in a variety of sporting and executive scenarios.

He will spend the coming months working with out-going Director Sheila Begbie before taking on the role full-time in August.

Scottish Rugby Chief Executive, Mark Dodson said: “I am delighted to welcome Hilary to Scottish Rugby and also congratulate Gav on the appointment to his new role. We will continue to develop and reshape the business as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. With a strong financial base and high-quality people, the business is well set for the future.”

Hilary Spence said: “I am incredibly excited and honoured to be joining Scottish Rugby at this exciting time.

“I have been impressed with the vision and drive of the organisation and look forward to building on the strong financial foundations to help enable success on and off the field at all levels of the game in Scotland.”

“I was attracted by the unique opportunity to work with people in clubs, schools and the Rugby Development dept. who are passionate, like me, about developing our game in Scotland.
Gavin Scott

“I’m excited about supporting the many volunteers who provide great rugby experiences across Scotland and will play an essential role in the continued transformation of the game into a vibrant and inclusive sport, as we hopefully move out of this period of Covid pandemic.”