Sarah Millar has been appointed as the new chief executive of Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).
She will be leaving her current position as director of market intelligence at the company and taking over the role from Alan Clarke, who is stepping down after five years of service.
Millar first joined QMS in 2018 and is widely known is farming circles; she grew up on her family’s hill farm in Manarkshire, and now lives in Angus on her husband’s family farm.
She holds an honours degree in Green Technology from the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) Auchincruive and has previously worked for Soil Association Scotland where she delivered a knowledge transfer programme.
Millar has been involved in an advisory capacity to the Scottish Government on the development of post-Brexit rural policy as a member of the National Council of Rural Advisors, as a member of the Food and Farming Advisory Group and the Suckler Beef Climate Scheme Implementation board.
Kate Rowell, chair of QMS, said the appointment followed a robust recruitment process.
“We look forward to Sarah stepping up into the top role at QMS,” she said.
“She brings a lifetime of knowledge and experience of the Scottish farming industry and has a good understanding of working at director level within a non-departmental public body.”
Rowell also paid tribute to Alan Clarke for his contribution over the past five years which has been a period of extensive change at QMS:
“Alan will leave the organisation in a strong position to move forward and on behalf of the Board of QMS we wish him well in his journey to semi-retirement.”
Also congratulation Millar on the appointment, National Sheep Association (NSA) chief executive Phil Stocker said:
“I’m delighted that QMS have appointed Sarah as their new chief executive. Having worked with her on a number of occasions QMS’ decision to appoint her into this position doesn’t surprise me and I welcome the chance to strengthen the connections between NSA and QMS even further.”
“NSA Scottish region wishes Sarah every success in her new role and look forward to continuing to work with her in the near future and beyond which will no doubt be busy with many challenges to overcome,” added NSA Scottish region chairman Jen Craig.
