Owner of a heritage and farming estate and proprietor of another west coast of Scotland heritage and farming estate, Richard is a trustee to a number of other estates. A former President of the Historic Houses Association and Chair of Governors of a number of schools, institutions and foundations, Richard’s experience in diverse organisations is well known. He was also for five years a trustee of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Born in Edinburgh, Peter Ord has an honours degree in agriculture from Edinburgh University and a diploma in Farm Business Administration. He is a Fellow of the RICS, specialising in rural practice. He lives in Angus.

He is experienced in Scottish land management having been factor of Strathmore Estates, Angus and Co Durham, also of Balmoral Estate, Aberdeenshire. He represented the Scottish National Ski Council and founded the Upper Deeside Access Trust, now the Outdoor Access Trust for Scotland of which he is a director. He has also been a partner of Youngs Chartered Surveyors and Trustee of Gordonstoun School and of the National Trust for Scotland.

Simon Woolton has been involved in the ownership and management of Scottish estates and rural businesses for over 40 years. He spent much of his early years between homes in Angus and Perthshire before attending St. Andrew’s University where he graduated with a degree in Economics and Modern History.

His business career has been spent in the financial services sector, principally in corporate finance, where he has worked in both large multi-national organisations and been involved with startup businesses and SMEs. He currently works for a US investment bank in London with a focus on strategic planning and its global operations. As well as his involvement at Invercauld Estate, he is a trustee of two other estates in Scotland and one in England. He is also a partner in a farming and sporting business in Inverness-shire.

Philip currently lives and works in Milton Keynes, with his Venezuelan wife Lilibeth and two daughters, Heather and Iona. He also spends a significant amount of time at Invercauld. Philip was Headboy at his primary school, and after several years at red-brick Universities, where he attained an undergraduate degree and two Masters’ degrees, he worked several years in the history and heritage sector, as an archivist and records manager. Since 2015 he has worked in local governance, firstly for Milton Keynes Council as an advisor to school governing boards, and then from 2019 as a Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer for Parish Councils across the Borough. He enjoys enforcing local governance rules and regulations, and working for the benefit of the community.

Since 2014 Philip had the benefit of shadowing his great uncle, Alwyne Farquharson of Invercauld, who died in October 2021, at the age of 102. He has gradually taken on the roles of Chieftain of the Ballater Highland Games, Vice-patron of the Braemar Royal Highland Society and Chief of Clan Farquharson, positions he values greatly.