Jackie Brierton
Jackie is CEO of GrowBiz Scotland – a rural enterprise development organisation based in Perthshire. She has more than 35 years experience in business, enterprise and policy development, including a period advising the UK Government’s DTi Small Business Service. Passionate about encouraging more people to start and grow businesses, she is Co-Founder and Vice-Chair of Women’s Enterprise Scotland CIC. Jackie was a member of the Scottish Government’s National Council of Rural Advisers and has chaired the Rural Perth and Kinross LEADER programme since 2015. She is UK expert for the EU-wide ‘Smart Rural Areas’ project and is a director of Smart Village Scotland. She was won a number of business awards, including an MBE for services to enterprise in 2008 and induction to the Saltire Society’s ‘Outstanding Women of Scotland’ in 2019. In her spare time she enjoys walking her dogs, dreaming about yoga classes and supporting St Johnstone FC.