Board of Management

Liz Connolly

Liz was appointed as Principal of West College Scotland on 3 September 2018, she was formerly Vice-Principal Corporate Development. 

She was born and brought up in the East End of Glasgow and has an honours degree and an MBA from Strathclyde University. She attended Harvard University to study Executive Development.

Liz worked for the Scottish Development Agency before its merger with the Training Agency in 1991 to become Scottish Enterprise. She then spent the next 16 years with Scottish Enterprise, becoming Chief Executive of three separate Local Enterprise Companies, as well as Operations Director for the West of Scotland.

Liz left the organization in 2010 to spend time working on charity projects, including the building of a community centre in a village in South Africa. She has since assisted in similar projects in Nepal and Cambodia.

Before joining West College Scotland, she project-managed the merger of Anniesland, Cardonald and Langside Colleges to create Glasgow Clyde College.

Liz is a board member of Colleges Scotland and Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, and a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh.

John Leburn

A qualified Chartered Accountant, John has enjoyed a long and varied career with many blue-chip organisations. Well known for his “left-field” thinking, John has a strong track record of implementing best practice throughout all major areas of a business or organisation.

His experience spans many sectors such as Audit; FMCG; Infrastructure; Defence; Aerospace, Wines and Spirits and SME’s. He has managed Finance, IT, Business Analysis; Customer Service, Strategic Planning, Consumer Intelligence, Commercial Development, Supply Chain and Investor Relations functions – contributing new ways of thinking to many of them.

John is a Principal Consultant for Exponentiate.uk, providing a wide range of business support services (Strategy, Leadership, Change Management and Business Modelling) to a varied client base.

Ronald Leitch

Ronald, from Paisley, started his career at Glasgow Airport as a Modern Apprentice in partnership with Reid Kerr College back in October 2000.  He has held numerous senior roles at the airport and the wider AGS Airport group with a range of leadership responsibilities across our airside, rescue and fire,  security, terminal, engineering, and capital investment.

From 2015 to 2019, Ronald led the Capital and Engineering functions where he was  responsible for delivering capital investment programmes totalling £70 million, including the replacement of the airport’s baggage systems to meet Standard 3 compliance and also major refurbishment programmes in the terminal and airfield. Ronald also played a crucial role in bringing the iconic A380 aircraft into service at Glasgow in 2019, which was a first for Scottish aviation, using his experience in operations to lead design development and construction delivery.  

Now the leader of Glasgow Airport in the role of Operations Director, he has led the business over the last two years through its most difficult time and looks forward positively to better times ahead.  

With his wealth of knowledge and experience across two decades in aviation, Ronald has joined the Board with a desire to support and assist those in Education harness links with industry and be part of shaping the future of West College Scotland for its staff and students to ensure the best learning opportunities exist in the communities it serves.

Danny McMahon

Danny is an experienced Engineering Leader having joined Rolls-Royce straight from School and completing an apprenticeship, Danny went on to graduate with an honours degree from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2011. Working as a Business Metrologist within Rolls-Royce Danny completed a Master of Science degree with the University of Strathclyde in 2015.

Having worked in the aerospace sector for 11 years Danny then moved roles to take leadership of the Metrology team at the Advanced Forming Research Centre, Part of the University of Strathclyde, where he grew the teams activities and helped to establish a Digital Team. Danny then led both teams growing their activities and capabilities around Digital technology and Measurement into what is now a key part of the Digital Factory within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS).

Danny is currently a Business Partner within the Digital and Technology Plan function of Diageo looking at global investment and strategy for manufacturing. This role involves engagement across all Diageo sites globally to identify key areas where investment should be made in technology solutions.

Having made lifelong learning a key part of his career Danny has particular interest in skills and culture development and the ever-increasing impact technology has in these areas.

Dr Jillian Couto-Phoenix

Jillian is Head of Skills and Talent for the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre.  Here she leads a range of career development programmes to encourage new generations into aquaculture and to develop those who are already working in the sector.

Jillian has had a varied career to date. She started out as an academic scientist in the medical/life-sciences, and then, following a discipline hop, pivoted to develop a research and teaching portfolio in environmental engineering and biotechnology.

 Wanting to enable newly discovered science and technology to make a more direct impact in society, Jillian moved from academia to managing research and innovation programmes that connected universities to manufacturing businesses.  She then joined the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, where she oversaw the delivery of two transition training fund programmes focused on upskilling and training to meet the industry’s digital transformation, net zero and sustainability skills requirements.

 Jillian is passionate about the transformational capability of life-long learning and has a particular interest in helping develop inclusive programmes to enable individuals to transition back into careers after a break and to help those wishing to transition across sectors.

Terry Dillon

Terry has spent most of his career leading successful transformation and change programmes across both the public and private sector.

Since joining Skills Development Scotland in 2008, Terry has successfully led the delivery of a range of innovative programmes and projects, including the design and implementation of Foundation and Graduate Apprenticeships in Scotland.

Terry’s extensive international knowledge of, and advocacy for, work-based learning has been instrumental in driving transformative change of Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland. Working with the devolved governments, national agencies, industry and employers, Terry led the design and implementation of a best-in-class, employer led approach to apprenticeship development which has improved industry engagement in workforce development while supporting inclusion and diversity in fair and productive workplaces.

Passionate about skills development and its contribution to a prospering Scottish economy; Terry has joined the Board of West College Scotland with the desire to enhance the delivery of public services and support Scotland’s post-school skills and education system for better outcomes.

Terry holds an MA in Politics from Glasgow University and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde. He also sits on the Board of the Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock.

Fiona McLaren

Fiona has been a member of the Support staff at Clydebank College and latterly West College Scotland since October 2006.

She has a BA (Hons) from Strathclyde University and has post graduate qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Chartered Management Institute.

Fiona also sits on the College Development Network (CDN) Communications Steering Group for Choose College, working closely with members from other colleges to develop a sector strategy and raise the profile of the college sector nationally.

Fiona is passionate about using her experience and connections to help support positive changes at the College.

John Scott

John is the Director of Facilities and Capital Projects at NHS Golden Jubilee and is responsible for Estates, Capital Planning, Health & Safety and Security. He is also lead on the Board's Hospital Expansion Programme which has seen the construction of a new Eye Centre and Surgical Centre on the site with a value of £115m.   He started his career in architecture before a move to the NHS where, for over 25 years, he worked for various Health Boards and has significant experience of delivering major capital projects.

From 2010 to 2017, John was Head of Capital Planning & Programmes at NHS Ayrshire & Arran where he was responsible for delivering the Board's capital investment programme.  This included leading on the Board’s  Woodland View project, a £52m, 206 bed Acute Mental Health and Community Hospital.   The hospital opened in May 2016 and has since received national and international awards.

John is also an independent assurance reviewer for Scottish Government, Programme and Project Management Centre of Expertise, which involves carrying out independent reviews of designated public sector projects across Scotland.

John has joined the Board with a desire to support those in education and as well as helping shape the future of West College Scotland.