Graduates welcomed into Scottish Woodlands team
Seven new graduates have celebrated the completion of their training programme at Scottish Woodlands’ 2026 Graduate Recognition Event. Two were from RTS Forestry and five from Scottish Woodlands, and the event was celebrated in unison.
Victoria Potts (Forest Manager) and Hugh Fraser (Assistant Forest Manager), both based in RTS’s office in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, were the history-makers as the first RTS Forestry graduates to attend the ceremony in Crieff.
Aaron Murray, Larissa Pagan, and Lewis Taylor were also recognised at the Scottish Woodlands Graduate Development Programme event. Aaron, Assistant Forest Manager, and Larissa, Assistant Harvesting Manager, are both based in Dumfries, while Lewis is an Assistant Compliance Manager based in Elgin. He featured in a video about the Graduate Development Programme released last year.
The programme for 2027 opens in early November, and full details will be available here.
The graduate event recognised Lucy Phillips and Angus Rushin, who were celebrating the completion of their Professional Forester Degree Apprenticeship at the University of Cumbria. They are now working as a Forest Manager based in Alnwick (Lucy) and Assistant Forest Manager in Wolsingham (Angus).
The day of celebrations began with clay shooting at Dunkeld (won by Larissa Pagan), followed by the ceremony at Crieff Hydro in Perthshire, dinner and drinks. Ian Robinson, Managing Director of Scottish Woodlands Ltd, presented the awards, and Ross Kennedy and Norman O’Neill, joint Managing Directors of RTS Forestry, were also in attendance.
Mr Robinson said: “I’m delighted to welcome seven great new talents into the Scottish Woodlands and RTS Forestry businesses. They are already making their mark, and we have very high hopes for their future success”.
Natasha Bruce, HR Advisor at Scottish Woodlands said: “We have now welcomed over 70 amazing young people into the business through the Scottish Woodlands Graduate Development Programme. We continue to tweak the training to ensure it provides everything the graduates need to hit the ground running in the business world of 2026 and beyond.”
- Victoria Potts features in a video about RTS’s Forestry team. Watch it here.
