His appointment has been a long time coming and even the fact he was second-possibly even third choice if you believe some within the SRU- to take over from Mark Dodson as chief executive officer won’t bother Alex Williamson.

The 50 year-old joins Scottish Rugby from private equity-owned education provider Inspiring Learning, where he has been CEO since 2019. He is working his notice there and won’t start at Murrayfield until January or February of next year although the SRU want him in post earlier than that if a deal with his current employers can be done. 

Williamson, whose wife is Scottish and whose daughter goes to Edinburgh University, will be under massive pressure to make a difference to Scottish rugby but being paid £350,000 a year to be in charge of one of the biggest sporting organisations in the UK is a plum job and he will be delighted to get it, first choice or not.

From an SRU point of view they will be relieved that their long search for a new CEO is finally over after indicating last January that Dodson was leaving.

They were left hugely embarrassed when their first pick for chief executive Mark Darbon, who was CEO at Northampton Saints, led them up the garden path and accepted the job at Murrayfield before getting a better offer from the R and A. Sources within the SRU suggest Scotsman Sanjay Patel who helped set up cricket tournament The Hundred and is now at Yorkshire cricket as their interim chief executive was someone that some members of Scottish Rugby wanted to approach after Darbon decided to run the R and A rather than the SRU but that approach didn’t materialise.

Williamson may be the new CEO by default but when you look at his CV you can understand why it impressed John McGuigan, chairman of Scottish Rugby Limited and his team that offered him the job.

He is a qualified accountant (which is handy as he is taking over an organisation with a debt of £10.5m) and started out at Ernst & Young. He then worked for EMAP Publishing before taking up a business analyst role at Warner Music. He then held senior management roles in the travel, sports and retail industries working in Europe and North America.

He went on to be CEO in charge of a workforce of 650 at the Goodwood estate that hosted events like Glorious Goodwood horse racing festival and the Goodwood festival of speed. 

He next briefly became chief executive of House of Fraser where he gave the go-ahead for store closures and redundancies as the company struggled. ‘The scale and brutality of the decision was not something I or the senior team took lightly,’ he said at the time. ‘It is really grim.’ He was only in post at House of Fraser for fifteen months before former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley bought the ailing company in 2018 and replaced its management team.

In a statement when announcing Williamson’s appointment the SRU claim he has “a proven track record of achieving commercial growth, accelerating the transformation of established businesses to achieve improved performance, and at the same time, consistently emphasising the importance of authenticity, openness and community values.” 

Openness is the word there that those involved and who follow Scottish rugby will pick up on. When Dodson was chief executive, especially in the later time of his 13 years in charge, he was hardly seen. The only time he had to appear was once a year at the AGM when he was obliged to hold a press conference afterwards and after that he was gone. 

He stayed out of the spotlight as much as he could and any big decisions were made behind closed doors with not much explanation. Let’s hope that Williamson, who is based in West Sussex but will move north, gets around the clubs and talks to fans and makes himself more available than Dodson ever did. 

The SRU statement also claims that "throughout his leadership career Alex has consistently built high performing, collaborative and energetic teams with measurable growth in both employee engagement and individual development."

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That suggests he gets on with folk which is important at senior management level at the SRU where not everybody sees eye to eye.

The one key man he has to get on with more than anybody is the SRU’s new performance director David Nucifora who he has already met and who is just in the door at Murrayfield. In a prepared statement Williamson said they got on well and he looks forward to working with him.

I am sure they were perfectly pleasant over tea and biscuits but they are both arriving at Murrayfield with different aims. Nucifora has been brought in to improve the playing side of Scottish rugby and create a pathway to the top for young players.

He may think the decision to abandon the semi-pro Super6 league was wrong because the gap between the amateur game and the pro one is too big. To reinstate that would take time and money. So would bringing in new coaches if Nucifora felt those currently in place aren’t up to the job. He is likely to go cap in hand to Williamson for cash to finance his ten year plan for Scottish rugby.

How will the new CEO react? He takes over an organisation in massive debt and will be under pressure from the finance department to slash costs. A compromise has to be reached or the pair could be at loggerheads further down the track. How much money will Williamson release for Nucifora’s grand plan? Will it be enough to keep him happy? 

Willamson also has to factor in finding money to revamp Murrayfield that celebrates its 100th anniversary next year. Upgrading the famous old stadium won’t come cheap. Where will the money come from to pay for that?  Can the SRU even afford to pay for it? Questions Williamson must answer.

The governing body is currently in the process of getting rid of 35 jobs - a decision made before Williamson was appointed- and those in charge don’t want anymore to go just now. McGuigan has already indicated that cuts could be made to the playing budgets of Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors that are around the £7m mark each but that won’t be enough to balance the books. The new CE0 may drive through other cuts in admin staff at a later date at Murrayfield. 

One way that the SRU are hopeful that he will bring in extra revenue is by embracing the digital age more. Dodson had a background in print newspapers before he joined the SRU while Williamson knows how important new technology is to growing a business.

The SRU statement continues: "Alex has extensive knowledge of membership models, ticket sales, hospitality and sponsorship agreements, major build projects and multi-layer governance structures. His experience also includes utilising data and digital, both through the importance of building a data-rich customer view, alongside developing content digital platforms, World Horse Racing being the case in point.

"During his time at Goodwood the estate enjoyed around 1million visitors annually with revenues doubling. More recently Inspiring Learning has delivered in excess of 500,000 life-changing outdoor educational experiences to young people and adults each year at locations across the UK and Asia, increasing revenues by a third in the past three years, in a time of unprecedented market turmoil."

Willliamson, in a separate statement released on his behalf by the SRU, said all the right things and mentioned Nucifora.

"I am very pleased to have the opportunity to lead a team charged with shaping the future of something that is about so much more than rugby,” said the new SRU CEO. "A sport that brings families together, inspires fans and connects communities in the way Scottish rugby does makes it more important than ever.

"There are many opportunities ahead for the sport globally and locally and I see no reason why Scotland cannot continue to be a positive force in the world game and within the wider sporting community.

"My interactions with John McGuigan and David (Nucifora), along with a number of board members have only amplified my confidence in what we have the potential to achieve. I cannot wait to get to Edinburgh and crack on."

If he had his way Scottish Rugby Limited Chairman, John McGuigan, who led the search for a new CEO, will melt into the background and would no longer be the public face of the SRU now Nucifora is in place and Williamson has agreed to join.

"Alex has significant experience in the areas we need to excel in over the coming years, combined with fantastic energy and an open style of leadership," said McGuigan. "During the later stages in the recruitment process Alex had the opportunity to connect with our recently announced performance consultant David Nucifora. They will be a great partnership with complementary skills and a shared desire to grow the game in Scotland at all levels.’

Scottish Rugby Union Chair, Professor Lorne Crerar, added:  "Alex is an excellent appointment as chief executive and a very positive addition to the leadership team of Scottish Rugby. I have been very impressed with Alex’s understanding of the key issues and opportunities facing us."

Williamson’s honeymoon period hasn’t even started yet as he doesn’t officially arrive at Murrayfield until next year unless things change. The time to judge him will be later. Just now everybody should be thankful someone has been picked to run Scottish rugby at last.