John has recently resigned as chair of the Formartine Partnership Ltd and the Formartine Rural Partnership (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation). He has been a member of the Formartine Partnership since its inception in 1997. He is a radio Communications Engineer by trade and was an Aberdeenshire councillor for 13 years, and Chair of Meldrum and Bourtie Community Council for 10 years before that. Previously he spent 15 years in Local Scouting including being part of the Scouting Adult Leader Training team.