Ian was born and brought up in Galashiels, attended the Burgh and Langlee Primary schools, then Galashiels Academy before moving on to Aberdeen University, where he was awarded an Honours degree in Geology. The degree led him to work as a mine geologist at Chingola in Zambia for five years, gaining experience in underground and large opencast copper mining. With his interest in engineering geology, Ian returned to the UK and completed a master’s degree at Durham University.
Following his master’s studies, Ian joined a specialist geotechnical contracting company in the Central Belt of Scotland, Ritchies Equipment Ltd. This specialist organisation was part of a larger Dutch-owned multinational company, latterly known as BAM Ritchies, and he was able to develop his career by starting as a contracts engineer in the late 70s, becoming the company Director & General Manager some 15 years later.
Ian retired in 2015, with one of his last positions being on the Joint Venture Board for BAM Nuttall, which successfully designed and constructed the Borders Railway.
Since his retirement, he has devoted his free time to his interests in all things motoring and rugby, being Chairman of the Borders Group of the Institute of Advanced Motorists since 2016 and having held the positions of Secretary, Vice President and latterly President of Gala Rugby over a similar period, relinquishing the Presidency in 2022.
Ian looks forward to continuing the great work that Mike Gray and his team have done in ‘Energising Gala’ over the past few years, although he is under no illusion that it will be a hard act to follow!
