My connection with the Clan is something that I assume you will know a little about, and with my father attending the 30th celebrations this spring, you will have an opportunity to verify any of my comments below!

I am married to Anna and we have three boys - Oscar (7), Fergus (4) and Archie (1) - as well as four Sussex buff chickens (8 weeks!), and live just outside Petersfield in Hampshire, England.

Although Anna and I are in our mid-thirties, we have moved home seven times in our 10 years of married life, and our aim is to now try and stay put for the foreseeable future as the boys get settled into school and our business establishes itself.

We are at that stage of life where our children are growing up fast, are full of energy and life and the house is alive with noise from 7 AM until 7 PM - so we are exhausted but love it.

For four years, Anna and I have been running our own business, a sustainability and renewable energy consultancy, advising developers, businesses and architects on improved building specifications and renewable energy technologies specifically within the built environment. With the main office located in a converted farm building which we rent opposite our house, our commute is shorter and less painful than most.

Beyond work, Anna and I enjoy being outside - gardening and growing our own vegetables, walking, biking and now all the activities that boys like doing: football, digging in the mud, and "making things"! We are also active in our local church and have just started a Children's Sunday School "Generator".

Prior to life as it is now, I was brought up in Scotland (near Perth) with my three siblings, went to school in England and then read Architecture at Manchester University. I joined the Army Air Corps, which Mum's father had been a founding member of during WWII, and flew helicopters for 6 years serving in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Belize.

When I left the military in 2001, I completed an MBA at Cranfield University and then worked in the emerging Renewable Energy Sector based in London. I met and married Anna just after my Army flying training, and hence us living in so many homes over the years as we moved with my work.

Anna and I have visited Canada on holiday on a number of occasions, as Anna is half-Canadian and her late grandmother, Ruth, lived in Toronto. Ruth was also an Eadie née Sutherland Cunningham and has provided a Scottish link for Anna's side of the family too! Anna was brought up on a farm in Dorset where her parents still live. She also has three siblings.

Duart and Mull are very special to me, with fond memories of holidays with my grandparents and latterly Mum and Dad, and some great Hogmanay celebrations too. I also realise how special Duart and Mull are as a place and destination to so many Macleans around the world, and I feel the challenges of running Duart as a business and providing a "family home" for the wider Maclean family as one of the main issues going forward.

It has been a real honour to have been asked to follow in Mum's footsteps as your Patron - thank you - and I look forward to supporting your association over the coming years.