Meet the Directors
Duncan Swarbrick
(Chair / Secretary)
Co-founding Director
Elected: 13-10-2017
Duncan is one AGCT’s founding Directors and current Chair. He is the owner and founder of Swarbrick Law solicitors with offices in Aviemore and Inverness. He has a degree in history and a degree in law and has been a member of the Law Society of Scotland since 2003. Duncan is a Solicitor Advocate with rights of audience in the Scottish and UK Supreme Courts. He regularly represents clients in court hearings.
Duncan made a career change to law in 1991. He trained and was promoted to senior solicitor in a prestigious Edinburgh firm, before moving back to the Highlands. Duncan became a partner in two Inverness-based firms before setting up his own practice. In 2015 Duncan set up his own practice in Aviemore and Inverness. His practice is predominantly in property dispute resolution and litigation. He also represents clients in cases involving commercial disputes, debt recovery, professional negligence, divorce and family cases, and disputed Wills and Executrys. Duncan undertakes commercial leasing work and the sale of businesses and business assets.
Duncan originally moved to Aviemore in 1991 and was initially engaged in forestry and land-based activities within Badenoch and Strathspey. He has worked as a countryside ranger, footpath worker, ski tow operator, and forestry worker, before setting up a business in forest harvesting and native woodland restoration in 1995. Duncan and his family have run a self-catering business since 2012.
Mike Gale
(Vice Chair)
Co-founding Director
Elected: 13-10-2017
Mike is co-owner of G2 Outdoor and Zip Trek Park Aviemore, two successful local businesses that have been operating since 1999 delivering quality outdoor activities to 35,000 visitors per year and employing 20 staff.
Mike has dedicated a lot of time to the community, organising and running the Big Splash Aviemore extreme sports and music event for ten years, he has also been Chairman of Aviemore Business Association. He is also a Volunteer Driver and Fireman for Strathspey Railway with 60,000 tourists per year and the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway with 200,000 tourists per year.
Michael Dearman
(Treasurer)
Co-founding Director
Elected: 13-10-2017
Founder and Managing Director of Quarch Technology, an Aviemore based technology company with a £3M turnover, employing 18 staff locally, holder of a Queens Award for Enterprise, winner of Scottish International Business of the Year at the FSB awards 2019, shortlisted for Outstanding Performing Small Business at the Highlands Business Awards 2019.
Michael is also a founding director of the Cairngorms Housing Partnership, which aims to assist local businesses in finding sustainable housing for workers.
Lee Bisset
Director
Elected: 25-02-2021
Lee grew up in Aviemore. Lee has a degree in Environmental Design from Jordanstone University. She has several years’ experience of managing hostels and hotels in Scotland. Lee owns Spey Services, a commercial cleaning company managing between 100-150 holiday properties since 1999 and incorporating a commercial laundry, servicing over 500 contracts since 2008. She employs 25 staff, and she has also owned an Art gallery since 2017.
Matt Haggerty
Co-opted Director
Elected: 20-10-2020
Originally from Aviemore, Matt is an architect and has been employed with Ryder Architecture Ltd since 2002. Matt leads the Recruitment group for Ryder in the UK, as well as leading and promoting the Architectural Apprenticeship and new routes into the profession for the practice in Scotland and England. Matt is also a council member of the Edinburgh Architectural Association.
Matt has designed and delivered numerous award-winning projects across Scotland and beyond - most recently successfully delivering projects in Wick (Wick Community Campus), Kirn Primary School in Dunoon, the new Queensferry high school and the new £65M Winchburgh Community Campus. Having worked extensively in the delivery of public sector buildings, Matt has played a central
role in major project community engagement and setting up the wider framework for a place based focussed approach on more recent projects.
Janis Bootle
Director
Elected: 20-10-2020
As a retired nurse with over 25 years of experience serving as a District, Community, and Marie Curie Nurse in the Highlands and Marie Curie Fundraiser for over 30 years, Janis is a respected member of the community. Her late husband and she were skilled ski instructors who managed a ski school based in Ski Road Skis, as well as an Aviemore cycle shop & bike hire. Janis also has a portfolio of holiday and long-term let properties.
Passionate about sports, she has been an active member of the Badenoch and Strathspey Sports Council (BSSC) for two decades.
She became a Director of AGCT in 2021 and played a crucial role in raising funds to establish the Aviemore Ice Rink. Janis's love for sports motivated her to pursue a Level_1 Curling Coach certification which has assisted the Trust in its development and delivery of learn-to-curl sessions and she has provided instruction to primary schools and community groups within Badenoch and Strathspey. Additionally, she supports the fundraising efforts of the Aviemore Avalanche Junior Ice Hockey Club.
Sally Devlin
Director
Elected: 23-08-2023
Sally has grown up in Aviemore and always had a love for the outdoors and what our area has to offer both locals and visitors - hence why she never moved away! Sally has worked in her family’s business Aviemore Bikes (Mikes Bikes) for the past 10 years. The bike shop has always had a firm focus on making cycling accessible to our local community and regularly organises free events, socials, and fundraisers to benefit the local community. In 2018, Sally was awarded the Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, Local Hero award as recognition for her input into the sport within the community.
Erin McBean
Director
Elected: 23-08-2023
Erin was raised in Aviemore and is now raising her five children there too. Aware of the pressures surrounding local places and people, Erin uses a common-sense approach and is a creative thinker, regularly throwing up ideas that are outside the box.
Erin also runs a local business related to the tourism industry, Igloo Holiday Homes and is keen to see collaboration which improves the experience of locals and visitors to the area.
Kirsty Bruce
Trust Co-ordinator / Development Officer
Kirsty has over 25 years of experience working at board and senior management level within both the commercial and charity sectors. She has shown the ability to develop strong relationships with funders and stakeholders, as well as encouraging community buy-in, which is vital to the Trust in its ambition for a community-led future. She was a key member of the team that led and delivered the Trust’s Aviemore Community Ice project.
Over the years Kirsty has also supported other local organisations with their administration and fundraising needs and runs a property management services business that employs 8 staff with her husband.
Amanda Clinton
Aviemore Ice Rink Manager
Amanda is a highly skilled ice technician with over 20 years of experience in ice rink operations. She is an ISU technical specialist in synchronized ice skating and has guided skaters and teams to national and international competitions and actively contributes to the development of synchronized ice skating in the UK.
She has played a key role in the success of Aviemore Ice Rink, assisting the Trust to establish a thriving ice hockey club and offer learn-to-skate and learn-to-curl sessions, which has enabled many in the community to rediscover or develop an interest in ice sports.