Janet Swadling OBE

Janet played an instrumental role in the process to establish TIAH and became Chief Executive when the Institute was formally established in July 2021. On stepping back from that role in June 2023, Janet became a member of the Board.

Following a decade working for a professional body, the London Stock Exchange and a further education college, Janet joined the Scottish Agricultural College in 1996 as Head of Administration. She went on to hold a number of roles, including acting Chief Executive and Principal during 2011-12 when SAC merged with three other land-based colleges to become Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Deputy Principal and latterly acting Chief Executive for three years until leaving in 2017. 

Janet has held numerous non-executive board positions, including: Director of Care Farming Scotland (CFS), a charity she helped to found; Trustee Director of Citrus Pension Plan; and Director of National Land Based College Limited. She was a director on the Agri-Skills Leadership Group, which co-ordinated and led the agricultural industry’s efforts to establish TIAH as the home of skills and professionalism. 

Janet is currently an independent director on the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board; a director of the City of Cambridge Education Foundation and also Zero Waste Scotland. She Chairs the HGCA Pension Plan Trustees Limited and as Chair, recently merged the Cambridge Academic Partnership into United Learning, in which she continues to be involved. She is an Associate of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. 

Janet is a qualified Chartered Governance Professional with a certificate in public practice and an MBA from Heriot Watt University.  

Janet has two grown-up daughters.