Scottish Continuity appoints Alison Stone as new Chair

Scottish Continuity has named Alison Stone as its incoming Chair. The appointment is due to be formalised at the Resilient Scotland Annual Conference in Edinburgh later this month.

The membership organisation focuses on resilience across Scotland, working with professionals in business continuity, crisis management and related disciplines across the public and private sectors.

Stone has more than 20 years of experience in risk management, business continuity, cyber security, information security and data protection. She is a Senior Consultant at Beyond Blue, which describes itself as a cyber and resilience specialist, and is also described as an award-winning governance and data privacy professional.

Her appointment comes as resilience and continuity teams face a wider range of pressures. Many organisations now treat cyber incidents, supply chain disruption, severe weather and geopolitical instability as interconnected risks rather than isolated events.

Founded in 1995, Scottish Continuity began as a forum for business continuity management in Scotland, with membership initially limited to financial services professionals. It later expanded to cover a wider range of sectors and roles.

"I am honoured to be taking on the role of Chair at such an important moment for Scotland's resilience community," said Alison Stone, incoming Chair of Scottish Continuity. "Organisations today are navigating increasingly complex risks, from cyber threats and supply chain disruption to climate events and geopolitical instability. Scottish Continuity has spent over 30 years supporting professionals at the forefront of these challenges. My focus will be on strengthening collaboration across sectors, championing professional standards and ensuring our members have the practical insight and networks they need to build resilience that truly stands up to real-world pressure."

Conference agenda

The Resilient Scotland Annual Conference will take place at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. The programme will examine resilience across four themes: Human, Community, Business and Cyber.

Organisers have positioned the event as a forum for practitioners to discuss emerging risks and practical strategies. The agenda includes workshops, case studies and peer discussion, as well as networking with practitioners and suppliers across the resilience sector.

Speaker line-up

Speakers include John Frost Hon.MBCI, a resilience professional who spent 24 years at Marks & Spencer, including 15 as Head of Business Continuity. He also spent more than a decade as Chair of the Retail Business Continuity Association and is credited with leading responses to incidents including the Grenfell Tower fire, terrorist attacks, major flooding, Covid-19 and a cyber attack. He now works as an independent consultant.

Lucy Easthope will also speak. She is described as an authority on emergency planning and disaster recovery, with experience supporting recovery from major incidents across the UK. Her work is also said to have shaped national policy and informed best practice in crisis response.

Another speaker is Gaven Smith, described as former Director General for Technology and Chief Technology Officer at GCHQ. According to the event details, he is expected to discuss the role of technology and cyber resilience in national security.

Leadership change

Stone is expected to take on the chair role following the annual conference. She will lead the membership body as it continues to broaden engagement across sectors that increasingly treat continuity planning as a board-level concern.

In recent years, resilience planning has moved beyond traditional disaster recovery. More organisations now integrate physical security, information security, crisis communications and supplier risk into a single framework. This has increased demand for professional development and shared practice, particularly for smaller teams that rely on common standards and trusted networks.

Stone takes up the role as the organisation marks more than three decades since its formation, and as conference organisers place increased emphasis on cross-sector collaboration.