Meet the first woman in top Scottish agriculture role at Royal Bank of Scotland

Press and Journal

29-04-2025

Emma Cowie is just a few months into her job as the face of Royal Bank of Scotland's agriculture offering north of the border.
It marries her career in fiance with her passion for farming.
She's also breaking new ground as the first woman to head up the bank's agricultural activities in Scotland.
Not bad for someone who was once bluntly told it was a role for men.
I'm a farmer first and a banker second.'
She certainly knows her way around a farm,
'I'm a farmer first and a banker second,' the 53-year-old told me.
Her day job has become even busier since she took over the bank's Scottish agricultural remit from Roddy McLean. Roddy retired at the end of last year.
But she's still an active farmer, with that part of her life having been nurtured during childhood days on her dad's croft. He worked for one of the local feed companies, but also kept some livestock.
Her close relationship with agriculture cranked up a gear after she got married.
Emma and her husband, Peter, a fourth generation farmer, keep sheep and cattle at Carlincraig, near Turriff.
When she's not helping others in the industry with their finances, Emma's usually to be found helping out on the farm. She's recently been lending a hand with the lambing, for example.
Other family members chip in too, Emma said, adding: 'It's a real team effort.'
Sheep farming is the mainstay at Carlincraig, but there's also a small herd of suckler cows.
It's obviously a busy workload for the Royal Bank's associate director for agriculture in Scotland. But the combination of a banking career and life on the farm seems to work.
She's been with the bank – now part of NatWestGroup – for 26 years in all, helping to 'add value for customers'.
Ian Burrow, head of agriculture at NatWest, said: 'Emma's appointment really strengthens the support we can give our agriculture customers in Scotland.
'She is in the unique position of having more than two decades of banking experience with Royal Bank of Scotland, as well as a lifetime spent in farming.
'She understands the opportunities the sector can provide and what we as a bank can do to help those businesses grow. Specialist knowledge is invaluable.
'We remain the largest lender to the sector in Scotland, and as we prepare for this year's Royal Highland Show it is great to have Emma in place.'
Emma's a former pupil of Turriff Academy. She joined the bank in 1999 as a relationship manager.
In September 2023 she became associate director, credit delivery, corporate and commercial mid-market, an Aberdeen-based role which she held until earlier this year.
Away from home and work, she's always keen to get involved with the Scottish Association of Young Farmer's Clubs (SAYFC) and its activities, including the annual Young Farmer of the Year competition.
Explaining her enthusiasm for this in a social media post following an SAYFC awards night last year, she said: 'The Scottish Association of Young Farmers; Clubs is such a fantastic organisation, providing a number of opportunities for young people to thrive and grow.'
Her CV reveals another role of which she's equally proud – that of Women in Business ambassador.
She told us she is thrilled to be the first woman to head up the Royal Bank's agricultural activities in Scotland.
But the identity of whoever it was told her this could never happen remains a mystery.
Emma, who was promoted to her current role in February, will have a high-profile role at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh in June.
The Royal Bank has been a title sponsor of Scotland's leading agricultural event for more than 40 years. The prestigious tie-up is the longest partnership in the bank's history.
The bank continues to support agricultural charity RSABI.
And since 2017 it has been heavily involved in the Women in Agriculture group.
This provides mentors and specialist support to help equip women with the tools they need to counter some of the barriers they face in their careers.
In customer-facing roles, the bank has specialist advisers working as agricultural relationship managers able to understand the unique needs of land-based businesses.
One-third of these are women. All of them draw on farming experience and some are farmers themselves.
Further learning is done via a training partnership with Edinburgh University, keeping them up to date on best practice in areas such as sustainability.
The Royal Bank claims to be the largest supporter to the agriculture sector in Scotland. although it doesn't publish figures.
'But more than one in three bank with us', a spokesman said.
The wider NatWest Group has supported the UK agricultural sector for more than 200 years.
Highlighting its ongoing commitment to farmers on its website, the group says: 'We support a wide range of business models, from traditional to vertical farming, and the agritech that increasingly supports the sector.'
NatWest is also working with so working with conservation charity WWF-UK to bring together UK Government, food companies, farming organisations, financiers and non-governmental organisations to focus on financial and practical ways to support farmers.
This includes incentives for farmers to collect data and the adoption of common metrics across the industry