Sir James S Milne CBE
Chairman and Managing Director, Balmoral Group

Sir James established Balmoral Group in 1980 with just five employees designing and manufacturing glass reinforced plastic products. Today, employing approximately 700 people, the privately-owned company provides design and manufacturing solutions to the global subsea, renewable energy, civil and environmental engineering sectors.

Sir James Milne CBE, DL, DHC, Hon DBA, Hon FRIAS is a member of Entrepreneurial Scotland, Fellow of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and Chairman of the Friends of ANCHOR, a fundraising body which supports cancer care and research at Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust.

He was awarded the CBE in 1994, received an honorary doctorate from Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University in 1999 and was made Burgess of Guild in the City of Aberdeen during 2004.

Sir James became Deputy Lieutenant of Aberdeen City in January 2007 and received a Degree Honoris Causa from the University of Aberdeen in 2008. In 2011, he was inducted into the Entrepreneurial Exchange’s Hall of Fame and, in 2013, was made Honorary Doctor of Business Administration by Edinburgh Napier University.

Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce granted him Hall of Fame entry in 2015 while the Press and Journal awarded the same honour in 2016. The Entrepreneur of the Year award was presented to Sir James by Entrepreneurial Scotland in November 2016 and he became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland in 2018.

In 2019 Subsea UK presented him with an Outstanding Contribution to Industry accolade and in the Queen’s Birthday 2022 Honours List he was awarded the honour of Knight Bachelor for services to business and charity.

Jim’s interests include gardening, the Scottish countryside, field sports, football and Formula 1 racing.