The Female Factor
by Gillian Harrower
Suzanne Urquhart
Mansfield Estates is one of the largest landowners in Perthshire with 33,000 acres of land that are split in two by the River Tay. The Estate stretches as far as Guildtown in the east and Amulree and the Logiealmond Hills in the west.
Responsibility for overseeing the management and operation of the land and properties on the Estate, as well as the opening of
Scone Palace to the public, lies with Suzanne Urquhart, one of only a handful of female Chief Executives running a Scottish Estate.
33 year old Suzanne joined Mansfield Estates in May last year and is employed by Smiths Gore, a leading firm of land agents. However, her sole responsibility is to the Mansfield family and the management of the Estate. Suzanne oversees 45 full time staff on the Estate, with that number doubling during Scone Palace's opening season.
With ten years experience as Assistant Factor with two of the largest estates in Scotland, Suzanne admits that, when she was appointed, she underwent a steep learning curve to meet the challenges of promoting one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions but, she says, that challenge was part of the attraction of the job.
Suzanne explained, 'I've been fortunate to have worked on some of the best known Estates in Scotland including Buccleuch in the Borders and Seafield in Banffshire. Prior to joining Mansfield Estates I had spent five years as Assistant Factor with Roxburghe Estates in Kelso, where I was also involved in managing another tourist-based attraction, Floors Castle. This experience gave me an excellent grounding in resident estate management in Scotland. However I felt I was ready to take on the exciting prospect of managing one of Scotland's most prestigious and well-known Estates and overseeing the running of one of the country's most iconic tourist attractions'.
Scone Palace and grounds
As Chief Executive, Suzanne is responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of clear objectives for the various commercial enterprises on the Estate.
Farming represents the largest land area and the Estate owns 45 let farms and 100 cottages. The Estate also runs its own in-hand farming operation including a hill farm with 1,200 black face ewes, which is tended by a full time shepherd, and 1,000 acres of arable farming, which is managed on a contract basis producing winter wheat, barley, rape and potatoes.
Forestry is another key area of Estate operations, with 2,000 hectares of managed commercial woodland including Sitka Spruce and Scots Pine. The Estate's own sawmill processes timber from the woodlands to make fencing materials that are sold on to local farmers, tenants and businesses. In addition to commercial forestry, the Estate owns amenity woodlands, which form part of the Palace grounds. These include the Pinetum, which houses specimens grown from seed brought back by some of the world's great plant hunters including David Douglas, himself a former employee at Scone.
Suzanne also has responsibility for promoting and managing the Estate's sporting interests, including shooting and fishing. The numbers of grouse are dwindling in common with other areas of Scotland. Nonetheless, the Estate employs two grouse keepers to manage the habitat and also lets out a number of pheasant beats to tenants. It also operates its own pheasant shoots with beats let out by the day to parties coming from across the world.
With the River Tay on the doorstep, fishing is always going to be big business for Mansfield Estates and, according to Suzanne, the prospects are good for an excellent 2006 season. She says, 'We've just had our best Spring for ten years with catch numbers up, and things are looking good for the Autumn run which always lets well'.
Playing polo
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