Forth Green Freeport chief appointed

Forth Green Freeport (FGF) has hired Sarah Murray as the first chief executive to promote the Scottish port complex, starting 27 August.

FGF officially opened for business 12 June with a commitment to deliver an ambitious green growth strategy in the major import and export centre in Scotland, UK. It intends to bring economic and net-zero benefits for local communities in Fife, Falkirk, Leith and east Scotland.

Ms Murray has considerable stakeholder engagement experience as she is director of Local London, a sub-regional economic growth partnership of nine London (UK) boroughs, and was previously executive director of the Thames Estuary Growth Board (2021-2023) and head of regulation for the City of London Corp (2016-2021).

She also spent 16 years working in Brussels in senior roles including leading the East of England’s Brussels office, Lancashire’s Brussels office and as deputy director at the Channel Islands’ Brussels office.

Ms Murray was appointed following an exhaustive recruitment process led by independent recruitment specialists and involving a recruitment panel and a two-stage interview process.

The Forth Green Freeport opened following approval from the Scottish and UK governments of its outline business case and the designation of its three tax sites, located in Grangemouth, Rosyth, mid-Forth (Leith and Burntisland).

The consortium plans to attract new businesses and new jobs into the FGF area, aided by a suite of financial incentives. It will focus on the key target sectors of offshore wind, hydrogen generation, sustainable fuels, modular manufacturing and logistics.

The consortium is currently developing its final business case, which will be submitted to the Scottish and UK governments later in Q3 2024.