The Inverness Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors are nominated from within the membership and voted for by the members.
Nominations aim to ensure best representation of balanced gender, sectoral representation of membership, geographical representation of business location, representative of member business size and representative of public / private sector membership.
Marc Wilson
President
Marc is Head of Marketing and Engagement at High Life Highland, supporting the development of opportunities in culture, learning, sport, leisure, health and wellbeing across 9 services throughout the whole of the Highlands. He is responsible for the leadership, planning, and execution of marketing strategies, promotional activity, and communications. With over 15 years of experience working at in Marketing roles, Marc takes a great source of pride from being part of a strong, driven, and hard-working team with a passion for making life better for thousands of individuals across the Highland region. A proud native of Inverness, he is enthusiastic about his belief that the Highland and Islands’ is a hard-working, innovative, and forward-looking region. Marc lives in Inverness with his wife and son, and is a fan of running, especially off the beaten track, and enjoys travelling.
Steve Barron
Steve Barron heads up Highland News & Media as Publishing Director. With over 20 years’ experience in the local media, Steve has collaborated on projects with many private and public sector organisations across the Highlands and beyond. Steve believes that the built in resilience of businesses in the north of Scotland mean that we are well placed to bounce back quickly from the effects of the pandemic. A proud Invernessian, outside of work Steve enjoys making the most of the culture, sport and outdoor space on our doorstep.
James Forbes
James is the Director of Engineering at Arthain, a company that provides environmental, planning, engineering, safety and design services across the Highlands and beyond. As well as directing a group in the company, he holds a dual role and heads up Arthian’s Highland and Inverness offices, which cover three locations and over 20 employees. He is a chartered engineer and environmentalist and routinely supports clients as they work to minimise environmental impact, reduce carbon emissions and work towards net zero. He is responsible for leading a diverse team of engineering professionals, with accountability for group commercial and technical performance.
Ben Hosie
Ben is the Product Manager at sfG Software, which provides IT support and software development services to businesses throughout the Highlands, since 2010. Ben attended university in the US, gaining his first degree whilst playing football on a scholarship. After returning to the UK in 2013, Ben began his journey in the world of IT. Whilst learning and developing in management roles at Capgemini for IT support, Level Global for product support and project delivery, Ben also picked up a degree in Business Management with a focus on leadership. Having gained a lot of experience in his various roles, Ben then got the opportunity to join sfG Software. A local lad, Ben lives in Inverness with his wife and two children. Outside of work Ben enjoys playing football, travelling with his family and enjoys lots of food.
Sarah Lilley
Sarah has lived and worked in Inverness since 2012. She is a highly experienced family lawyer and a partner at Brodies, leading their family law team in the Highlands and Islands. She advises clients on all aspects of family law and is the only solicitor in the Highlands who is triple accredited by the Law Society of Scotland as a specialist in child law, family law and family law mediation. Sarah regularly appears in courts across the Highlands and Islands and is frequently appointed by the courts as a child welfare reporter and curatrix ad litem. She is also a Director of Relationships Scotland-Family Mediation Highland.
Sarah lives in Inverness with her husband and sons and when not working or spending time facilitating her sons’ many extra-curricular activities, enjoys walking, playing the piano and spending time with extended family.
Kirstin MacDonald
Kirstin is an Associate based in Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie Solicitors’ (WJM) Inverness office, providing corporate and commercial advice to a wide range of businesses in the Highlands and Islands in a variety of areas including, business and share sales and acquisitions, equity investments, partnerships, succession planning, restructuring and re-organisation, commercial contracts, company secretarial and corporate governance as well as advising the charitable and not for profit sector.
Stéphane Portès
Stéphane is currently the General Manager for The Drumossie Hotel, part of Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, and was previously GM at Norwood Hall Hotel, Aberdeen. With thirty years’ experience in hospitality both in the UK and internationally, previous roles include Head of Hospitality & Retail Services at the House of Lords and Hotel Operations Director for Goldman Sachs’ European headquarters in London. He holds an MBA from Oxford Brookes University, is a Board member for the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards, an Ambassador for Highland Tourism and an advisor/member for Visit Inverness Loch Ness.
Gavin Ross
Gavin has worked in both the public and private sectors prior to moving up to the Highlands from Stirling in 2021 with his wife and four children and settling in Fortrose. He joined LifeScan just as Johnson and Johnson bought the company, working there for 18 years as Senior Engineering Manager until 2017. He joined SGL for three years then left to join Northeast Nutrition in Invergordon who are part of Cooke Aquaculture. He rejoined SGL in 2023 and is currently restructuring the business to meet the current market demands. Gavin is also renovating a Mirror Class offshore yacht complete with inboard diesel engine. He enjoys innovation and have a patent in his name. He enjoys swimming, cycling and hill walking and is a keen fly fisher.
Hilary Clelland
Hilary is an experienced tax and accounting professional with 18 years’ tax expertise and currently leads Saffery LLP’s corporate tax offering in Scotland. She advises a wide range of clients, including owner-managed businesses, large corporates, partnerships, and not-for-profit entities, throughout all stages of their business lifecycle. After training and working at EY for a decade and gaining in-house experience at Barchester Healthcare, Hilary joined Saffery LLP in 2017 and became a partner in the Inverness office. Raised in Inverness and educated at Inverness Royal Academy, she is passionate about supporting local businesses and contributing to the growth of the regional economy. She is proud to have built a strong tax team in Inverness and is committed to creating opportunities for the next generation of professionals. Hilary’s national and international client experience, combined with strong technical skills, allows her to provide valuable insights into developments in accountancy, tax, and the economy. As a mother of two, she is deeply invested in helping ensure the Highlands continues to offer bright futures for young people.