Will Whitehorn, the man known as Richard Branson’s right hand man, has been appointed as non-executive director of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Whitehorn, currently president of Virgin Galactic having spent 20 years at Virgin, will join the board of directors at the Glasgow exhibition conference centre.

Whitehorn said that the SECC was entering ‘an exciting stage’ with the development of the Scottish National Arena currently taking place.

“Its investment and growth plans, including the world class Scottish National Arena, have positioned it strategically to capitalise on a significant period for both Glasgow and Scotland’s event market. We’ve a great opportunity now to position the business as a centre of event excellence and a world class and globally recognised leisure and business brand,” he continued.

 Whitehorn was made director of Virgin Rail Group in 1997, following this he became brand development and corporate affairs director for Virgin Group in 2000.

Four years later he was appointed as president of Virgin Galactic, and took on the role in an executive capacity in 2007, when he became special adviser to Sir Richard Branson.

He also sits on the broad of Loewy Group and Next Fifteen Communication as non-executive chairman, and is a member of Scottish First Minister’s ‘GlobalScot’ business mentoring network.

John Sharkey, CEO of the SECC, commented:  “Will brings the perfect combination of skills and experience that match our ambitions for the SECC. His career is packed with success stories that combine business acumen, innovation, creativity, leadership and most importantly success. What is more, he has outstanding international networks within the private and government sectors that can add genuine value to the business.”