Williamson appointed new Scottish Rugby CEO

Alex Williamson has been recruited as Scottish Rugby's new chief executive.

Williamson, who has a background in finance and will leave Inspiring Learning, could take up new his post before Christmas but Scottish Rugby may need to wait until February for him to start.

The appointment brings an end to a long process that began earlier this year. It was announced in January that Mark Dodson would be leaving a post he had been in for 13 years.

Mark Darbon was close to being named Dodson's replacement but changed his mind and took up the equivalent role at the R&A instead, with senior figures at Murrayfield surprised and upset at the late change of heart.

Williamson was a senior auditor for Ernst & Young in the 1990s then worked for Warner Music as senior business analyst, for publisher EMAP as financial controller in the north east of England before holding senior positions in TUI.

In 2013, he was appointed chief executive of the Goodwood Group, the giant sporting estate in England and after for nine years moved to House of Fraser. When Sport Direct’s Mike Ashley bought Frasers, he changed the management team and Williamson departed in late 2018, just over a year after he had started.

Since 2019, Williamson has been chief executive of Inspiring Learning - the UK’s largest provider of adventure camps for children.

Scottish Rugby said in July they expect to lose £10.6m this year and Williamson will follow David Nucifora's autumn arrival in an advisory role on a two-year contract. Nucifora was previously Ireland's performance director.

Scotland play Fiji, world champions South Africa, Portugal and Australia in November.

Their fifth straight home game will be against Italy in February's Six Nations opener in February.