About us / The Team
Our team is hugely knowledgeable about timber, which means we can offer you excellent technical advice.
John Russell / Managing Director
Son of the founder of the original business, John has developed Russwood into a specialised timber products company. John has over twenty-five years' experience in the industry and is highly knowledgeable, not only on the huge variety of timber available on the market, but also on the characteristics and technical competences applicable to each.
Sandy Neilson / Chairman
Sandy retired after a career in Banking and Financial Services and became non-executive Chairman of Russwood in 2006. Strategy and Planning are key to long term business success and Sandy works with John and other members of the management team on a number of strategic and tactical projects. A keen golfer, Sandy splits his time between Glasgow and Newtonmore.
Paul-John Mackintosh / Operations Director
PJ, as he is best known, has been involved in building and related industries for over twenty years. His depth of knowledge of the timber market is equally valuable in discussion with customers and in negotiation with suppliers. A stickler for quality and efficiency, PJ’s technical contribution at Board and other levels is invaluable.
Lorna Crombie / Accounts & Administration
Lorna has been with Russwood for over twenty years. She manages the Accounts and Administration team at Station Sawmill and keeps the office running smoothly.
Alaister Jeffrey / Cladding Manager
Alaister is a trained engineer, and Russwood's I.T. expert. Alaister joined the company in 2000 and works closely with PJ, John Smith and David Holt on the cladding side of the business, ensuring prospective projects are accurately specified and priced.
Iona Malcolm / PA to MD and Chairman
As well as assisting John and Sandy, Iona co-ordinates Russwood’s CPD Seminar programme, where architects and other interested parties can arrange to see John Russell’s presentation on external timber cladding.
John Smith / Timber Sales
John has worked in Sales for thirty years, and joined the Russwood Timber Sales team in 2007. In early 2010 John spent a week at BM TRADA’s training centre, learning about visual strength grading of softwood. This allows Russwood to grade Douglas Fir and other softwood beams in-house, meaning assured performance of structural timbers.
Sarah Cheyne / Flooring Manager
Sarah manages our flooring division. She is originally from Edinburgh, but spent her teenage years in Newtonmore. She has travelled and worked abroad for a number of years, in Australia and New Zealand, and returned to Newtonmore and joined Russwood's fast-growing team
David Holt / Cladding Sales
As well as being a valued member of our Cladding Team, David is also an on-call Fireman in Newtonmore. Coincidentally or not, he is also the Fireproofing Adviser for the company!
Eva Oden / Flooring
Eva hails from Sweden, where she worked for fourteen years for a wooden furniture manufacturer. She has now brought her expertise in timber and eye for quality to Newtonmore.
Pippa Hadley / Marketing Development
Pippa assists with a wide spectrum of marketing requirements, helping promote Russwood on many levels. She has an in depth background in customer relations - honed by over a decade working in her family business – and a passion for natural wood that pre-dates her employment here! Perfect for getting our company noticed.
Vicky Dakers / Finance
Vicky is responsible for invoicing and credit control, a particularly important role given Russwood's growth ambitions and requirement for rigorous financial management throughout the operation.
Kirsteen Collie / Haulage and Logistics
Kirsteen is a core member of Russwood's highly efficient office team. She is responsible for the logistics of our haulage operation and ensures that our customers get the goods on time.
Annette Harrigan / Administration
Annette assists with all aspects of the day to day running of our busy office. Annette will usually be your first point of contact when telephoning and has full responsibility for the online shop.
John MacRae / Delivers the Goods
'Big MacRae,' as he is affectionately known, drives all over Scotland and Northern England delivering tons of Russwood timber every year to building sites, homes and offices. A keen photographer, John has compiled a fascinating portfolio of customer projects, from schools and sports clubs to halls and sitting-rooms.
Danielle Bruce / Flooring
Danielle joined Russwood’s team early in 2010 as Trainee in our Flooring department. Building on her eye for designer clothing she is rapidly learning the ropes and undertaking in-house and external training in her programme of learning. As a student Danielle spent her summers working at Newtonmore’s Highland Folk Museum, and is a ‘weel kent face’ to many of our local customers.
James McDonnell / Decking Sales
James McDonnell joins us from the field of customer service, always an area in which we strive for excellence at Russwood. He was drawn to the Highlands from the south by his love for the mountains, and when not advising customers on Russwood’s range of decking products, can often be found scaling the heights of the cliff-faces in the Cairngorms or storming down hill on his mountain bike.
