Tag: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Botanics announces new Regius Keeper

phpThumb_generated_thumbnailjpgThe Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RGBE) has announced the appointment of Simon Milne MBE (pictured above) as its new Regius Keeper.

Mr Milne will succeed Professor Stephen Blackmore following his retiral later this month and will become only the 16th person to hold the post since it was created in 1699.

Simon Milne (54) is currently Chief Executive at the Scottish Wildlife Trust in Edinburgh, a post he has held since 2004. Prior to this, he was Director of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire for four years, preceded by a distinguished 20-year career as a Royal Marines officer.

Sir Muir Russell, Chair of RBGE Board of Trustees paid tribute to the new appointee: “I am delighted to have someone of Simon’s calibre joining us to continue the excellent work done by Steve Blackmore. Simon is familiar with many of the issues facing us, particularly our hot topics of conservation and biodiversity, and we will benefit hugely from his extensive experience in senior leadership roles. I very much look forward to working with him in the future.”

Mr Milne said he was thrilled to be offered the opportunity to take up such a prestigious and important role, adding: “I had a fulfilling and enjoyable time leading the Scottish Wildlife Trust; it was an honour to work with so many committed staff, volunteers and members to help protect and restore our precious wildlife and wild places. The role of Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh offers me an opportunity to return to the remarkable world of plants. I am looking forward with relish to new challenges and the opportunity to play a crucial role in developing appreciation, education, knowledge and conservation of the plant kingdom.”

The new Regius Keeper will take up his post in February.

Five star Botanics

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It’s been wowing visitors for centuries, but the world-renowned Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is celebrating after being awarded five-star visitor attraction status by national tourism organisation VisitScotland. 

Established in 1670 and famed for its horticultural and scientific excellence, the Garden received VisitScotland’s highest grading award under its Quality Assurance Scheme.

The award marks only the second garden in Scotland to achieve such status with RBGE-run Dawyck Botanic Garden in Peeblesshire in possession of the other.

Everything from visitor welcome, signage, decor, menu, merchandise and cleanliness are judged and graded to give the final scoring.

Presenting the award to the RBGE’s Regius Keeper, Professor Stephen Blackmore, VisitScotland Chairman Mike Cantlay said: “The timing of this award could not be more fitting given the forthcoming launch of the Year of Natural Scotland on January 1. The Year of Natural Scotland is a chance to showcase Scotland’s unique natural environment and grow tourism spend in every corner of the country.

“The five star award denotes world-class status and is testament to the hard work by all staff and the ongoing investment that has made the Royal Botanic Garden what it is today. I would like to congratulate the team on a wonderful achievement.’’

Professor Blackmore said: “On behalf of everyone at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh I am delighted to accept this award from VisitScotland. We know how important visitor attractions and tourism are to the economy of Scotland, we know that expectations are always rising and we are glad we can provide a warm welcome and high level of service to our visitors”.

VisitScotland has operated Quality Assurance grading schemes since April 1995 and these are recognised worldwide. The scheme offers tourism operators an independent quality assurance award for visitor attractions, as well as many other sectors of the tourism industry.