Our Trustees

The role of the trustees is to provide strategic direction and constructive challenge, ensuring RSST delivers its objectives and is managed effectively

The Earl of Kinnoull – Chair

Charles Kinnoull also chairs the UK Squirrel Accord. Formerly Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees and Chair of the European Union Committee of the House of Lords, he was in 2023  elected Convenor of the Crossbench Peers.  He is a qualified barrister who worked at board level at Hiscox for ten years. He farms organically in Perthshire.

David Bliss

David Bliss is the CEO of Lowther Estates in Cumbria, managing 36,000 acres of land and 4,000 acres of woodland. He worked previously for Felix Dennis and The Heart of England Forest where he created 3,500 acres of new broadleaf woodland.

The Hon. George Lopes

George Lopes is a chartered surveyor who manages properties in Devon and Scotland. He has been variously Chairman of the Royal Development Commission and the CLA in Devon, of the Northern Deer Management Group in Scotland, and a trustee of the Game Conservancy.

Giles Mounsey-Heysham

Giles Mounsey-Heysham is a chartered surveyor with Savills. He holds various trusteeships and non-executor directorships and is a past master of the Grocers’ Livery Company. He sits on the Historic Houses Tax Committee and farms on the Solway Estuary in Cumberland.

Simon Pring

Simon Pring is a partner at Farrer & Co. where he specialises in property law, dealing extensively with rural estates.

Sir Bertie Ross KCVO

Bertie Ross was Secretary and Keeper of the Records for the Duchy of Cornwall between 1997 and 2013. A trustee of the Pirbright Institute and the Ernest Cook Trust, he sits on the executive committee of the UK Squirrel Accord.

Stephen Trotter

Steve Trotter is CEO of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Previous roles include Director, England and Living Landscapes at The Wildlife Trusts and Chair of the Red Squirrels United project.  He now chairs the UK Squirrel Accord’s Red Squirrel Conservation working group.

Leonie Schroder

Leonie Schroder is a director of Schroders. She farms in Hampshire and runs an estate off the west coast of Scotland with a focus on farming, woodland conservation and deer management.