Board of Directors
Dr Morag Macdonald Simpson CBE, Chair
A barrister by profession, Morag Macdonald Simpson brings to the Trust a wide range of business and public sector expertise, having been company secretary of Girobank and of the Post Office Group, where she was a member of the executive board. She has also had non-executive director experience as a Management Committee member of the Industry and Parliament Trust and as a board member of St George’s Hospital Medical School. Her current roles as Chairman of the Adamson Trust, a Perthshire-based charity, and as Secretary of the Friends of Innerpeffray Library provide further trustee and historic interest experience.
Brian A Park, Vice Chair
Brian is a founding partner of Page Park Architects based in Glasgow where he studied Architecture at Strathclyde University. In addition to having the role as managing partner, he has a particular focus on conservation and historic building work, being an accredited conservation architect at the highest level under the RIAS Accreditation Scheme. In addition to his role with Glasgow City Heritage Trust (where he currently chairs the Grants Committee), he is a member of the RIAS Conservation Committee and a past Convenor of both the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society and Glasgow Conservation Trust West.
Thomas F O’Connell, Treasurer
Tom is a Chartered Accountant and has been in professional practice for over 40 years. He has considerable experience with charitable bodies both as a trustee and also providing professional advice through his firm. He was previously a Governor and Chair of the Finance Committee of the High School of Glasgow, Chair of the Audit Committee of the University of Glasgow and Finance Convenor of the Western Club. He is presently a Trustee of the Stanley Morrison Charitable Trust and is Chair of the Trustees of the St Aloysius Charitable Fund. He chairs the GCHT Finance Committee
Michael Gale
Michael is a Chartered Surveyor with thirty years experience in the property industry in a wide variety of roles. He has the RICS Dip in Bldg Conservation and been involved in a considerable number of conservation projects and served on a number of committees, including, the Steering Group of Stanley Mills Perthshire and Brechin THI Project Support Group. Michael worked for Scottish Enterprise from 1991- 2009, gaining a wide range of experience leading and supporting a broad range of large and small, commercial and non-commercial projects. His particular strengths lie in project management and the assembly and appraisal of project funding.
Christine Jess
Christine was born and brought up in the city of Glasgow. She has had involvement with the historic built environment through her work with a leading environmental charity and was responsible for developing education programmes for young people and communities, including the development of two heritage trails. With a master’s degree in management, she has a particular interest in building successful organisations and utilises her skills as a business coach to promote effective working practices. In addition to her role as a trustee of the city’s Heritage Trust, she is a UK Government Ambassador for promoting diverstiy in public appointments.
Eddie Tait
Eddie is a former civil servant who worked in a diverse range of administrative posts for over 40 years. His work experience includes policy formulation, HR and staff training. His interest in building conservation stems from his time as Head of Investment at Historic Scotland where he managed the agency’s building repair and conservation area grants programme from 1987 until retiring in 2007. During this time he recognised the important contribution made by the voluntary sector in protecting and conserving the built environment and the need for it to be strongly supported by the Scottish Government. He is also a trustee of the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust.
John McGee
John is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with over 20 years experience in the construction industry and is a Partner in the global construction consultancy, Gardiner & Theobald LLP. Prior to joining Gardiner & Theobald LLP, he was the Director of Glasgow Building Preservation Trust. He has a RICS Diploma in Building Conservation and is also an RICS Accredited Surveyor in Building Conservation. He has been involved in many conservation projects and is currently advising on Rosslyn Chapel, Abbotsford House, Maryhill Burgh Halls, Fairfield Building, Govan and Cottier Theatre, Glasgow. He has advised many conservation clients including Building Preservation Trusts, Charities, Urban Regeneration Companies and public agencies. John previously served on the board of Glasgow Conservation Trust. John has experience of working and advising Clients on projects in the UK, Europe, Middle East and North Africa.
Bailie Catherine McMaster
Catherine has been a Councillor for 12 years and has worked in Education, Development & Regeneration and Roads & Environmental Services. Her local service has been as a member of the Social Inclusion Partnership in Greater Easterhouse, and as Chair of Local Community Planning Partnership for Baillieston, Shettleston and Greater Easterhouse. Catherine’s special interest has been with Historic Glasgow, developed from the local history and archaeology strategy (which she chairs). She is delighted to serve on the Board of Glasgow City Heritage Trust, furthering the conservation and richness of the built heritage in the City for the future.
Professor Robin Webster OBE
Robin is a partner in the Glasgow firm of Cameron Webster Architects, and professor emeritus at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, where he was head of the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture for twenty years. There he led research on the stone cleaning of historic buildings. He is Secretary of the Walmer Crescent Association, Chairman of The Alexander Thomson Society and a trustee of the Scottish Stained Glass Symposium.
Glasgow City Heritage Trust staff:
Torsten is from Hamburg, Germany, where he worked as a cabinetmaker before studying for a Diploma in Architecture and Town Planning first at Hamburg University and finally at Edinburgh College of Art. A two-year stint in Japan as an English teacher followed before he returned to Scotland to study for a MSc in European Urban Conservation at Dundee University. After a period as the Buildings Adviser for the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust and five years managing the Arbroath Townscape Heritage Initiative regeneration scheme, he started his work as Director of the Glasgow City Heritage Trust in May 2007. Since 2004 Torsten has been a member of the ICOMOS-UK Executive and World Heritage Committees and became the chair of ICOMOS-UK International Affairs Liaison Committee in 2008. Since April 2010 Torsten has been representing the UK as an expert on the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for Historic Towns and Villages (CIVVIH).
Gordon Urquhart, Grants Officer
Gordon was born in New York City. He first returned to his father’s native Scotland in 1979 to study Scottish History as an exchange student at King’s College, Aberdeen. Between taking a BA in History at Hamilton College, New York and an MSc in Architectural Conservation at Columbia University, he lived and worked in Edinburgh’s New Town. In 1988, he left New York and settled in the West End of Glasgow. For fifteen years he was Assistant Director with the Glasgow West Conservation Trust, during which time he co-wrote The West End Conservation Manual. Gordon has written and lectured widely on traditional building technology, architectural conservation and local history. In 2000 he published Along Great Western Road, the first comprehensive history of the West End of Glasgow and last year GCHT published his second book, A Notable Ornament, Landsdowne Church: An Icon of Victorian Glasgow.
Magdalena Kania, Office Administrator
Magdalena is from Poland, where she worked for international companies dealing with Human Resources and People Management and studied for a Master’s degree in Marketing and Management in Katowice, Silezia. In 2009 she came to Scotland, working for IBM as a Software Administrator and studying for a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management at Caledonian University. She joined Glasgow City Heritage Trust in January 2010.
Andrea Pearson, Communications and Projects Officer (maternity cover)
Andrea has joined GCHT for nine months. She is a journalist who has previously worked as the Deputy Editor of the Sunday Herald Magazine and runs her own PR and communications consultancy, Copytaker Ltd. She has carried out work for various organisations including Education Scotland and The GalGael Trust. She also edited the Glasgow section of The List’s Eating and Drinking Guide in 20010/11. Although she does not have a background in architecture and museums she has a passion for Glasgow.
Helen Kendrick, Communications and Projects Officer (maternity leave)
Helen’s background is in museums and galleries and she worked in public and commercial art institutions in Bristol, Brighton and London before relocating to Glasgow in 2004. Here she developed her interest in Glasgow’s turn-of-the-century architecture and design through working on a research and conservation project for the Charles Rennie Mackintosh tearooms collection for Glasgow Museums. She then moved to The Lighthouse as Education Co-Ordinator for the national Six Cities Design Festival, and has been with the Glasgow City Heritage Trust since 2007.
From L to R: Helen Kendrick, Robin Webser, Michael Gale, Christine Jess, Eddie Tait, Morag MacDonald-Simpson, Hanzala Malik, Gordon Urquhart, Torsten Haak, Magdalena Kania.
