Jean Lindsay has been appointed Director of Human Resources at the Forestry Commission, based at its Great Britain office in Edinburgh. She has also been appointed as a full member of the Executive Board.

Mrs Lindsay takes charge of the HR requirements of more than 3300 staff working to implement the forestry polices of the UK, Scottish and Welsh Assembly Governments. Forestry Commission staff work in a wide range of trades and professions at locations as far apart as Cornwall and the far north of Scotland.

She brings to the post long personal experience of the Commission's wide variety of staff roles and locations. She began her career with the Commission as an industrial forest clerkess in a district office in Angus, Scotland in 1983. Since then she has worked in various roles throughout the Commission, and her career has taken her from Angus to sites as far apart as Stirling, Northumberland and York.

She first gained experience of working in HR in the Commission's North-East England regional office in York from 1994 to 1996. She rejoined the HR Division again in 2001, when she was appointed HR services manager, based in Edinburgh. She had a brief spell as head of HR shared services, and was most recently HR business partner for Forestry Commission Scotland, the division that implements the Scottish Government's forestry strategy.

Announcing Mrs Lindsay's appointment, Tim Rollinson, Director-General of the Forestry Commission, said,

"I'm delighted that Jean Lindsay has accepted this key post. She'll be leading a team of more than 100 people providing HR support to staff across what, for an organisation of our size, is an unusually wide range of disciplines, ranging from chainsaw operators to world-class scientists at the cutting edge of forest research.

"Few people have the depth of knowledge and understanding of the Commission, its role in the modern world, and its staff and their many and varied requirements for HR support than Jean does. I am, therefore, confident that these qualities, coupled with her proven professionalism and management ability, will ensure that our HR team has the best possible leadership.

"Jean's success in winning this senior appointment after working her way up from the 'shop floor' is also, I believe, a strong endorsement of our people development strategy. It demonstrates that we invest in our staff, and that there need be no limits for staff who are willing to take opportunities to develop and move."

Mrs Lindsay added,

"It's an honour to be entrusted with this challenging but exciting role. The Forestry Commission is a vibrant, 'can-do' organisation with highly talented and motivated staff working to improve people's lives through the many benefits that woods and forests can provide. We're contributing to efforts to tackle issues as varied as climate change and social exclusion, as well as conserving rare wildlife, providing great places for people to relax, producing sustainable timber, and helping other woodland owners to do the same.

"All this effort requires first-class HR support. We recently launched our new People Strategy and secured substantial investment from the business to drive this forward. We are in the early stages of implementing many new initiatives such as e-recruitment, a three-tiered management development programme, four different levels of diversity training, a competency framework and, not least, modernising our HR policies. It’s a busy time for the HR team and an exciting time for staff, and I look forward to the challenges ahead.”

Mrs Lindsay was born and educated in Dundee. She is married with a nine-year-old son and lives in Fife.

• Further information about HR topics within the Forestry Commission is available from www.forestry.gov.uk.

NOTE TO EDITOR:

• The Forestry Commission is the government department for forestry in Great Britain, and works to improve people's lives through the many benefits that sustainably managed woods and forests can provide. It supports other woodland owners with grants, tree felling licences, regulation and advice; promotes the benefits of forests and forestry; and advises Ministers in the UK Government, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government on forestry policy. It manages more than a million hectares (2.56 million acres) of national forest land owned by Ministers for multiple public benefits such as sustainable timber production, public recreation, nature conservation, and rural and community development. For further information, visit
  www.forestry.gov.uk. Through its agency, Forest Research, it carries out world-class scientific research and technical development relevant to forestry for a range of internal and external clients. For further information, visit www.forestresearch.gov.uk.

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