Stuart Bowie
Executive in Residence
Stuart Bowie’s background is operational and commercial, with a long and successful career spanning 40 years running market-leading logistics and shipping companies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He brings first-hand knowledge of how to build a successful career in the freight industry and crucially understands what employers are looking for.
- Campus
- Edinburgh
Biography
Born in rural Scotland, Stuart Bowie entered a career in freight aged eighteen that took him from a Manchester warehouse to boardrooms worldwide.
Starting on the shop floor typing manifests allowed Stuart to experience different levels of the logistic industry, gaining practical skills and using that operational experience to deliver for customers, colleagues and shareholders. From single SKUs to oil tankers, from South Africa to North Korea, he experienced many aspects of the logistics industry, product wise and geographically. Stuart was fortunate to have learned his trade with blue-chip companies which supported his career development with time spent at INSEAD, London Business School and the Cambridge Academy of Shipping and Transport.
Stuart’s early roles were in freight Operations from which he steadily progressed into Sales, Sales Management, Marketing, Product Management, Claims Handling, Company Management and latterly a worldwide Group VP role with a global leader. Most of his career was spent overseas with postings in Saudi Arabia, UAE, China, UK and latterly back to Dubai with global responsibilities. His experience encompasses diverse industry sectors, including air and sea freight, supply chain management, projects and almost everything in between. While his first-hand operational knowledge was important, it was his commercial acumen and his repeated success in building great teams and making money in challenging markets that drove his career. Making money is a universally appreciated business attribute in logistics and proved an important foundation and stepladder throughout his career.
Stuart believes in the application of 'freedom with responsibility', the clear sharing of stretching goals as well as accountability and reward for the results. Building strong teams of motivated, productive people, delivering results by working together and aligning individual and corporate goals to the benefit of all. Stuart has always been an advocate of the importance of sales as an important differentiator in an overcrowded service industry, persuading internal and external customers often takes more than a good product or good marketing. He looks forward to sharing his experience with students to turn their academic efforts into profitable and enjoyable careers, whilst also benefiting employers in building great teams.