All Affiliates are currently or have recently managed businesses, provided specialist advice and delivered transactions across a wide range of industries, sectors and geographies.
Mary Campbell leads a team of Affiliates who are brought together to ensure the necessary skills and expertise to address each client’s specific issues. Most Affiliates in our close network have years (often decades) of working together in a variety of roles and projects.
We have the skills, commitment and resources to assess, diagnose and make positive lasting interventions in boardrooms.
We help develop strategies and secure transactions that create value, deal with the risks that destroy value and challenge the behaviours that prevent effective delivery of value.
We help implement the correct solution and our forward focus helps future-proof and build resilience in organisations. You will see in our Portfolio section the original content and methodologies that we developed to help directors.
She is currently a course leader on the Institute of Directors international Role of the Director and the Board governance programme, she speaks at and chairs conferences and judges business awards in the UK and in the USA. Mary has advised or worked with international organisations such as, the European Central Bank, Guardian Media Group, Iberdrola, GE Healthcare, National Australia Bank, Shell, BP, Lloyds Banking Group, Weldex International, Alliance Trust PLC, Sabadel, Schering AG, Bank of America, Teledyne Technologies, and Goldman Sachs.
Her executive and non-executive directorships include UK and US private companies (listed and unlisted) and the public sector bodies, she has served on and chaired Audit and Remuneration Committees and since 1998 she has represented and trained employees on boards, to promote the importance of diversity and inclusion. She was awarded the OBE in 2014 for contribution to economic development and is currently studying on the Power AI programme.
More recently he has been managing his own £120m+ investment business owning social housing assets as well as a portfolio of investment positions in several other businesses in different sectors: infrastructure, social housing, renewable energy and business services. He is a member of the Advisory Board of E2E Exchange, a business dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship, an area of strong interest and expertise.
Dimitrios was born and educated in Athens, Greece, he holds a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Edinburgh, a PhD from St John’s College Cambridge and an MBA from INSEAD. He speaks Greek, English and French. Mary and Dimitrios met over a decade ago when he was leading a restructuring project in the construction sector. Mary explains that Dimitrios is the teams “go-to” person to discuss family business issues with, because he has seen almost every issue, both first hand and as an adviser. Close ownership structures are also ones that benefit from his insights. Dimitrios has developed a structured and objective approach to help deal with the complex and often challenging dynamics of such businesses. Clients really appreciate his ability to demonstrate and share significant commercial acumen and patience. His client relationships often evolve into mentoring ones and Dimitrios is someone clients regularly turn to when they need a non-judgemental listening ear, valuable expert advice and general business support. Clients say of Dimitrios, “He is a highly knowledgeable businessman, with significant commercial bandwidth and has much to offer any CEO facing difficult decisions.”
Interesting fact: Dimitrios is a sophisticated committed eco-warrior. He is a founding member of the Cyclades Preservation Fund, a charitable organisation aiming to support sustainable initiatives and to promote the preservation of the exceptional beauty and natural value of the Cyclades. Since its launch in 2017, the CPF has directed more than €400,000 to help deliver more than 65 projects in 20 different islands.
A decade ago, Seonag took her career in a fresh direction by moving into communications and political engagement on the other side of the fence. She now helps organisations formulate strategic and operational plans to enhance their profile and voice in the media and in government, both in Edinburgh and London. Mary and Seonag first met and worked together in Edinburgh in the 1990s.
She has regularly been called in to help large and small complex organisations with international reach, at a time of crisis or to prevent or close down long-term negative coverage. This work is rewarding she says but she takes equal pleasure in facilitating the well-deserved positive coverage which can be challenging for organisations to secure.
A third string to her bow is internal communications, using a wide range of contemporary techniques to ensure that the maximum number of colleagues are fully behind the company’s direction, particular at a time of change.
Before the BBC, Seonag worked for business magazines in London, broadsheet and (briefly) tabloid papers and websites giving her an unusually broad experience at the media front line. She is credited with asking engaging, constructive questions which go to the heart of issues and with the ability to help leaders express themselves in a way which helps them reach their objectives.
As a Director of Communications and as a consultant Seonag has worked in the private and public sector mainly in education but also in retail. She is a former runner-up for Director of the Year awards of the Institute of Directors, trustee of the charities Remembering Srebrenica and Who Cares Scotland which campaigns and supports those who have spent time in the care system. Seonag studied French at the Universities of St Andrews and Montpelier. Interesting fact: Seonag is from the tiny island of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides, the location of the whisky-laden SS Politician, which inspired Compton McKenzie to write the book and the film, Whisky Galore. Compton McKenzie was godfather to Mary’s dad.
He has worked within the professional investment community; at the commercial-technology-operational interface assessing or working with the leadership of companies going through systematic change between TRL 5 and TRL8; shaping the companies and projects (with SPVs) (typically high value infrastructure) for growth and investment working and helping larger organisations realise the value of these emerging technologies.
Mary and Ian met on the Chartered Director programme when Ian asked her the question that gave rise to the formation of Resilient Corporate, “How can boards get access to advisers with real world understanding of what it is really like to be at the sharp end of trying to deliver value for stakeholders?. Executive directors really benefit when they get input from non-executive directors, who understand the challenges of steering a course in complex, inter-dependent, opaque and volatile environment, when most of the factors needed to secure success are out with the direct control of boards. Boards often find themselves engaging with topic specialists, rather than with other directors with lived experience of the interdependence of value creation, risk and governance.
Sensitivities around experienced directors taking on too many non-executive appointments (“over-boarding”) has resulted in experienced directors having time available to help boards particularly on short-term assignments. The increasing focus on the governance responsibilities has resulted in organisations being more cautious about allowing their directors to take on non-executive appointments (even in charities), but they do see the value of directors getting that experience. The needs of organisations and of the directors who govern those organisations could be met. This started a body of work, by experts in their field to build original content based on original thinking that could accelerate boards to high performing teams. Evidence of the outputs from four years of engagements with thousands of directors can be found in our Portfolio section, where our experienced directors have developed and battle-tested methodologies and toolkits that improve performance in boardrooms.
Ian is the team’s go-to person for systems thinking and he is always focussed on “releasing the power of AND”, ensuring that an organisations purpose is clear to all from its behaviour. Ian challenges organisations to look beyond the players to the real-world rules of the game, helping organisations to build resilience by supporting the interactions that hold organisations together and drive purpose. Resilient organisations are those with deep awareness and an active set of mechanisms to maintain integrity of purpose. Ian helps build resilience by ensuring that organisations are: adaptive to change, responsive to dynamic events, goal seeking, self-repairing, attentive to long-term survival, self-organising and evolutionary.
Interesting fact: Ian and his life partner have a family attachment to Uganda where they are active supporters of the protection of turtles.
Fiona’s first CEO appointment was as Chief Executive of Inverness and Nairn Enterprise and in that role, she was influential in the successful development of all types of businesses including a premier league football club and a world leading biomedical hub. Fiona then held senior management positions in business process outsourcing with Cap Gemini and Vertex Data Science Ltd. She returned to the Highlands and played a formative role in the creation of the University of the Highlands and Islands as Chief Operating Officer and Secretary and was awarded the MBE in 2017 for services to higher education in Scotland. Throughout her professional life, Fiona has volunteered in a non-executive capacity on the boards of charities and business organisations.
She is currently a member of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland, a director of the Robertson Trust, Scotland’s largest independent grant-making trust, a director of the Port of Cromarty Firth, a director of Highland Tourism Community Interest Company and chair of the Scottish Council Development and Industry’s Highlands and Islands committee. She chairs the audit committees of the Robertson Trust, the Law Society of Scotland and the Port of Cromarty Firth. In 2017, Fiona also found time to successfully complete mediation training.
Interesting fact: Fiona is a globetrotter. She was seconded to live and work on St Helena for a year in the late 1980s and has spent the decades since visiting, the world’s less populated islands to see how their economies work, as well as making regular return visits to St Helena, now by plane!
“I have cooperated with Mary for over 20 years on a variety of corporate finance and business situations. In 2013 when Mary decided that she was moving across to Manhattan and was no longer interested in being a controlling person within the Financial Conduct Authority regulatory regime, DC Dwek we delighted to facilitate Mary keeping her personal authorisation. Our combined way of working has been to clearly define the achievable objectives with management, directors, and shareholders. This includes providing clear advice on both strategic and funding options available and the time scale to execute a successful transaction. We have worked together in a variety of sectors both in the UK and internationally and have overcome the inevitable challenges and hurdles of any transaction. I look forward to continuing our close cooperation, as it has benefitted many clients.”
Interested in what clients would say about how we work with DC Dwek have a look at the Project Islands case study.
Mary and Deborah were first introduced to work together when, Deborah, as a 32 year old, was appointed as the youngest and first female director in the Miller Group and became the first female CEO of a volume residential development company in the UK. She brings extensive and diverse executive experience at CEO level for large scale companies and SMEs. With over 20 year’s experience as NED/trustee for public sector organisations and charities including Treasurer and Audit, Risk & Remuneration Committee roles, Deborah is currently a trustee for Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis and Cyrenians Edinburgh and has recently completed terms as trustee/NED include Edinburgh Womens Aid (Treasurer & Depute Chair); Scottish Canals (Audit committee); EDI Group - City of Edinburgh Council's 'arm's length' property development group of companies, (Audit Committee).
Included in Deborah’s current portfolio of assignments is a consultancy assignment for organisation within the NHS, where she is providing advice on guiding its approach to strategic development, including its future governance and organisational structures. A sample of a recently completed assignment was for a leading hospital in Tanzania, working with its board and senior leadership team to aid its transition from a charity to a social enterprise, involving more than 20 interviews as part of the data gathering. Deborah has been a consultant to, trained and/or mentored over 3,000 directors across diverse industries and sectors. Deborah is our go-to team member for assignments involving strategy, for third sector organisations and assignments involving leadership personal development, including development of our own team because she is world-class at making sure that executives are heard and understood.
Deborah graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science, before completing an MBA General Management and a Doctorate in Business Administration: Leadership & Management. Her doctoral thesis employed interview-based qualitative research into leadership.
Interesting facts: A highly regarded riding instructor, Deborah is training an ex race-horse at her picturesque base in the Borders where clients can enjoy strategic discussions whilst walking in the rolling hills.
Mary explains “Throughout his executive career David has earned a wealth of transferable business and sector skills and has built an extensive network of contacts particularly in Africa, Asia and Middle East. He is our “go-to person” for spinout projects with global impact, particularly in the healthcare sector”. David’s notable career highlights including developing a novel green sustainable concrete for Saudi Aramco, being CEO of Virgin Health Bank, a stem cell focussed joint venture between Sir Richard Branson (Virgin), Professor Sir Christopher Evans and the Qatar Foundation, serving as the Scottish Government’s first ‘Drug Czar’ and establishing the Scottish Biomedical Research Trust – a collaboration between Scotland’s medical universities. The project office was evaluated and selected by the UK Treasury as one of only two UK projects that demonstrated best practice and value for money in economic development (Source - Financial Times). In his most recent executive role, David led the design, build and strategic direction of a major new advanced biotechnology facility for the Irish government focusing on biopharma and synthetic biology in the medical, food and agri sectors Asked to say why he is a Resilient Corporates affiliate David paraphrases Jim Lovell, the NASA astronaut, there are people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who wonder what happened! Mary Campbell and her team are the epitome of the of first of these with a reputation for doing the hard things well.
Interesting fact: David is an accomplished photographer and Mary’s favourite photograph is one with a craftsman deep in concentration in his creative process. Other samples of David’s work can be found at the effigy.media website.
Key sectors where Heleen has worked include Technology, Retail, Financial Services, Healthcare. Mary was introduced to Heleen when Heleen married a Scotsman more than 20 years ago and Mary immediately recognised Heleen as a global talent who would have a lasting impact on the Scottish business community. Mary explains “Heleen is our “go-to” colleague for complex transactions because her natural intuition for systems thinking means she very rapidly cuts through large amounts of potentially distracting information to find the areas of real risk and opportunity”.
Heleen is currently on the board of Snapdragon Monitoring, an AI-powered anti-counterfeiting company. She has advised the Scottish Government in the design and set-up of the £2bn Scottish National Investment Bank and was a non-executive director of Capital for Enterprise, which merged into the British Business Bank. She is a former Chair of Scottish Health Innovations Ltd and is well-versed in the impact of innovation on value creation. Benefiting from a diplomatic upbringing, Heleen prides herself on her ability to create trusted relationships easily and, as a certified mediator, to diffuse conflict before it grows.
Heleen has a MS in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research from Stanford University, and a MS in Chemistry from Leiden University in her native The Netherlands. She attended the Lycée Français in Mexico City, San Francisco and The Hague and speaks four languages. Heleen has her own consultancy business, but also enjoys working in the Resilient Corporates team, as she explains “Mary has real depth and breadth of experience to draw on and a true knack for uncovering the issues and opportunities floating in the undercurrent and bringing she to the surface, to everyone’s benefit. Clients, such as Marcus Brook, say of Heleen’s work “I’m always blown away by Heleen’s ability to look at things differently and provide invaluable insight, so much so that I call her ‘Brains’”. Marcus Brook, CEO of Our.Net Energy.
Interesting fact: Heleen is an accomplished crime writer and based her novel ‘Stay Mad, Sweetheart’ on the best and the worst of the character that she meets in the corporate world!
Resilient Corporates is part the Blas stable, which comprises Blas, Rutland Square and Resilient Corporates, three entities founded by Mary Campbell over the decades.
Blas was established in 2002, as an FSA regulated entity, providing corporate finance advice; Rutland Square was established in 2012 when an office in Manhattan was opened and Resilient Corporates was launched in March 2020 in response to increasing demands from directors to expand the pool of experienced talent prepared to help with the challenges in boardrooms, directors advising directors.
Blas is Gaelic for “experience”, “savour” or “relish” and the founding strap line Experience Shared remains the guiding ethos in the Blas stable, sharing the considerable experience of its teams and their networks with clients and each other.
Trivia
Blas was a spinout from British Linen Advisers, which itself was a buyout from the British Linen Bank, the 20th Century name for the British Linen Company. The British Linen Company featured in the final pages of Robert Lewis Stevenson’s 1886 literary classic, “Kidnapped”, which became a Disney movie in 1960 and traces its history back to 1746, when the British Linen Company was formed.
Blas was based at 1 Rutland Square, in the heart of Edinburgh’s Georgian New Town, so Rutland Square was an obvious name choice for the new entity that was needed when Mary “moved to the big boys’ playground” and set up in Manhattan’s midtown in 2013. The branding team won the battle for a name that describes what we are about when Resilient Corporates was a formed in 2020 and the Experience Shared strapline remains.
