Chris joined the SIS family in 2016 as the Lead Fund Manager for the Social Growth Fund. Prior to that, he spent 19 years working in corporate and business banking with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Chris is passionate about building new relationships as well as supporting high growth and impact in social enterprises.  

Chris has volunteered for various charitable organisations and social enterprises, combining his financial and business expertise with his passion for making a measurable and sustainable social impact. Being on that side of the fence and helping with grant applications has helped to fine-tune his commercial acumen when it comes to impact-led organisations. 

Chris is a keen sportsman: he has competed in fencing world championships and local golf tournaments. He now enjoys cycling and exploring the many bike trails along the East Lothian coastline and in the Pentland Hills. 

Since joining SIS in 2017, Brian has advanced to the role of Investment Manager where he looks after the needs of our existing customers, whilst also looking at funding proposals for potential new clients. Over the last few years, Brian has built up considerable knowledge and understanding of the Credit Union sector and personal lending Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs).

Prior to joining SIS Brian worked with the Royal Bank of Scotland for just over 12 years, undertaking various roles. As Portfolio Manager for Credit Delivery, Brian was responsible for completing financial analysis and credit reports for new and existing business lending requests. He also has experience of working with the retail and commercial banking branches of RBS.  

Away from work, Brian spends most of his free time with family and coaching a local youth football team.

As Head of Credit & Compliance with both SIS And SIS Ventures, Alistair provides strong direction and support for the company’s investment activities and regulatory compliance. His extensive experience in financial management, coupled with his relationship building skills, make him the ideal fit to support mission-led businesses.  

Before joining SIS in 2011, Alistair worked for over 20 years in various roles at the Bank of Scotland, gaining the most enjoyment from the time he spent as a relationship manager for SMEs and corporate businesses.  

In his spare time, Alistair likes playing football and walking his Border Terrier.   

Meet our communications guru, Nicola.  

Since 2020, we’ve benefited from her in-depth knowledge of marketing and communications for both private and not-for-profit sectors. Forefronting the SIS communications strategy, and its execution, she has helped to strengthen the SIS brand and facilitate team-wide marketing efforts. 

In her spare time, Nicola enjoys cooking, floristry and walking with her cockapoo. She has previously volunteered in rural Zambia, where she taught financial literacy in a teacher training college. 

Annie joined the SIS team in August 2022. With a strong financial background, she has experience of working in both the public and private sectors – including roles in investment banking, not-for-profit business development and, more recently, as a founder and lead of her own Scottish-based start-up social enterprise. 

At SIS, Annie primarily works with third sector organisations looking for mission-aligned investment. Helping organisations realise their long-term development aspirations, she provides in-depth advice and support on how to get there. 

Outside the office, you’ll most likely find Annie at the beach – either swimming or bobbing in the waves. She also likes playing golf and spending time with family and friends. 

Calum joined SIS in December 2023 as a management accountant, taking over ownership of the management accounts along with driving process improvement and rounding out the newly expanded Finance and Operations team. 

Calum's other great passion in life is Gaming and Esports, combining an Accounting & Finance degree from University of Glasgow with roles in internal finance for both global tournament operators, broadcast production and marketing start-ups in the space. In his spare time, he is a freelance Esports commentator and continues to work within the Scottish Esports industry championing responsible and sustainable business practice.

Sharon started her career in financial inclusion as a money advisor in the public and not-for-profit sector, where she saw first-hand the impact problem debt and a lack of access to affordable credit have on low-income communities. She then had the opportunity to work at policy level within local authorities to deliver financial inclusion strategies developed to address these problems. Before joining SIS as an Associate, Sharon was Chief Executive Officer of Scotcash, a social enterprise delivering affordable credit and wrap around financial inclusion services to excluded communities across the UK.

She is passionate about contributing to solutions that will address the barriers vulnerable households face in accessing mainstream financial services and in addressing the unfairness of the poverty premium. Outside of work, Sharon is an avid yoga, swimming and boxing enthusiast and enjoys taking trips across Scotland in her campervan.

George took over as Chair of SIS in December 2023. He was previously Chair of the Scottish Housing Regulator and a Non-Executive Director of The Pensions Regulator. As well as his significant NED experience in Scotland’s public and third sectors, George spent nearly 30 years in the financial services sector with executive roles at Standard Life Investments and Friends Ivory & Sime, both in the UK and overseas. George’s experience includes several other board positions in numerous Scottish social and health care organisations including NHS Lothian, Waverley Care, Edinburgh & Lothians Health Foundations and as Interim Chair of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

Carol-Ann is an experienced director with an international career spanning multiple industries. Carol-Ann’s commercially astute senior decision-making, leadership capabilities and focus on the continual development of staff have delivered sustainable improvements in organisation-wide performance during complex transformation programmes.

Carol-Ann has an exceptional track record of achievement with several industry-leading multinationals such as Intercell Biomedical (Valneva) and Aviva, where she successfully defined and implemented new operational models, driving meaningful changes in culture and integrating commercial objectives with talent management and development. Carol-Ann is currently the Director of People & Culture at Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans.

Claire is the founder of Bealach Advisory, a consultancy firm providing financial advice for growing businesses, covering strategy, capital and corporate structure. Prior to that, Claire held several senior appointments. She was Head of Risk at Valad Group, where she established policies, procedures and processes to manage risk across 13 countries and 20 offices, then Chief Financial Officer for Europe for the Cromwell Property Group. Claire has also spent time on multiple corporate boards, including investment committees, risk committees and debt committees.

Louisa is the Director for Scotland for Business in the Community (BITC), working with companies in the UK and abroad who are committed to improving their impact on society. She is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Edinburgh Business School, and she mentors a variety of small businesses, particularly social enterprises and companies run by women. She also sits on the Strategic Board of Interface, which connects businesses to academic expertise.

Louisa was previously the CEO of the Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), the membership organisation for community-led businesses. Before joining DTAS, Louisa was Head of Economic Development at the Scotland Office and worked in energy strategy development at Scottish Enterprise.

Caroline has over 20 years of building and developing networks, partnerships and collaborations to create social impact in regions as varied as Australia, the UK, Asia, Atlanta and Turkey. Until recently, she was Chief Partnerships Officer at AVPN, and in 2022 she founded Heriot Row Advisors to support organisations and philanthropic networks to be catalysts for impact. Caroline also sits on the board of Alliance Publishing Trust and Amala Education.