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ADVANCING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS
1 2 3 4 5
71
ADVANCING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS
1 2 3 4 5
Isla Prentice
PLANT MANAGER , IVERNESS
A pathway to leadership
Isla Prentice started her career as a graduate
with no prior exposure to the malting industry .
Today , she heads up our Bairds Malt ’ s plant in
Inverness , Scotland .
Having joined the site during the harvest season
in 2015 , she was employed as a temporary
laboratory technician after completing her
degree in biomedical sciences . Isla ’ s potential
was immediately recognised and she went
on to progress through our accelerated
development pathway for maltsters .
Her development combined hands - on
operational experience with structured learning ,
including assignments across four countries .
Working directly in malthouses gave her practical
insight into how operating decisions and
leadership behaviours inf luence performance ,
safety and quality outcomes .
I was given the space to learn , encouraged
to progress , and supported along the way .
That support was key to my development and
will be just as important for those coming up
behind me .
Here ’ s what one of our graduates has to say
about her experience .
This was reinforced through support and
coaching from senior leaders and learning
from real operational contexts . “ I learned by
being in the process and having time to
understand why things were done a certain
way , ” she says .
Today , as Plant Manager at Inverness , Isla ’ s
operations - led , people - centred leadership style
is shaped by experience across the business .
Her journey demonstrates how internal
mobility , targeted skills development and
sustained investment in people support
leadership continuity and long - term
operational performance .
Sustainability Report 2025 Malting a world of difference