Lena Cooper Wilson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born c. 1965) is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Scottish executive and bank employee. She rose to be the CEO of

Scottish Enterprise Scottish Enterprise is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, enterprise, innovation and investment in business. The body covers the eastern and central parts of Scotland whilst similar ...

. She went on to directorships with a number of organisations.

Early life and career

Wilson was born in

Yorkhill Yorkhill ( gd, Cnoc Eabhraig) is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated north of the River Clyde in the West End of the city. It is known for its famous hospitals and remains the location of the West Glasgow Ambulatory Care Ho ...

which is part of Glasgow near Partick in about 1965. At the age of two her parents moved to East Kilbride so that her father could work for

Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

. He stepped down in role to become a labourer to give the family a more rural outlook. Wilson was keen at school but she wasn't attracted to science and engineering. When she went to university she studied Business Administration at

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University ( gd, Oilthigh Chailleannach Ghlaschu, ), informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and G ...

with a vague ambition of becoming a diplomat or working for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. She realised that she needed to find the money to travel to London for work and her first job was advertised as a "Girl Friday" when such adverts were legal in Britain. Wilson became the Chief Executive of

in 2009. She had previously lead Scotland’s international trade and investment arm "

Scottish Development International Scottish Development International (SDI) is the international arm of the Scottish Government and Scotland's enterprise agencies, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise. The agency supports interna ...

". Wilson was involved when Scottish First Minister

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...

signed the Masdar agreement with

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber ( ar, سلطان أحمد الجابر, born August 31, 1973) is a Cabinet Member and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates, Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil ...

on behalf of

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Masdar Institute of Science and Technology The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology was a graduate level, research-oriented university focused on alternative energies, sustainability, and environmental research. In 2017, it merged with two other institutions in Abu Dhabi, Petroleu ...

at the

World Future Energy Summit The World Future Energy Summit (WFES) is an annual event hosted in the United Arab Emirates, aiming to advance future energy, energy efficiency, and clean technologies. It began in 2008, held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nah ...

in 2012. Hundreds will co-operate on the development of wind power. Wilson was awarded a

in 2015 for her contribution to "economic development" in Scotland. Wilson lead the government's Scottish O&G job taskforce whose task was completed in 2017 and the same year she left Scottish Enterprise in October. She had received criticism from the Scottish Parliament over taking a paid, non-executive directorship with the multinational product testing and certification company Interek. Wilson had been paid £214,000 a year by Scottish Enterprise and she was replaced by Steve Dunlop. Dunlop was offered £168,000 a year and he was said to be one of the top paid civil servants in Scotland. Wilson also joined the board of the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2017. In 2019, she became the chair of the accountancy firm "Chiene and Tait" which is based in Edinburgh In the same year, she was elected to be a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Lena 1965 births Living people Civil servants from Glasgow Civil servants in the Scottish Government