Major General Buster Howes appointed as new Chief Executive of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Board of Directors has today announced the appointment of Major General Buster Howes as the new Chief Executive. This follows last year’s notification that Brigadier David Allfrey would relinquish the role in 2020.

Buster, who will become the charity’s first Royal Marines CEO, has served as a Non-Executive Director with the Tattoo since September 2015. He brings a wealth of business knowledge, as well as unrivalled experience from a distinguished military career.

Buster’s last military appointment was as Head of the British Defence Staff in the USA, working to the Obama administration. Prior to that, he Commanded the Royal Marines. He was subsequently the Chief Executive of Here be Dragons, a commercial-philanthropic hybrid, dedicated to the conservation and sustainable development of the Island of Principe, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Gulf of Guinea. Most recently, he advised the NHS, helping them to enhance organisational and individual resilience through the Coronavirus pandemic.

Buster takes up the Chief Executive’s role in June, leading the Tattoo into its eighth decade and at a time of enormous change and, therefore, opportunity. The Tattoo will embrace the chance to adapt and evolve to remain one of the world’s leading public events.

Brigadier Allfrey has held the appointment for nearly a decade. He has been instrumental in developing the Tattoo from a celebrated annual event in Edinburgh into a world-class spectacular, which celebrates, at scale, the very best of Scottish and military culture and music, with the power to unite peoples from across the world. The Tattoo attracts anaudience of 220,000 to Edinburgh Castle and global television viewing figures of 100 million annually. During his tenure, the Tattoo expanded its footprint to host shows in Australia and New Zealand while planning shows in China and North America. At the same time, the Tattoo has significantly developed as a group of companies, contributing over £70 million to the UK economy and £1 million to Armed Forces charities and the Arts, each year.

Marc Crothall, Chief Executive of the STA said; “The Scottish Tourism Alliance has had the privilege of working very closely with Brigadier Allfrey over the course of many years and I would like to thank him for the immense contribution he has made to Scotland’s tourism industry, not only in terms of the development of the Tourism Scotland 2020 tourism strategy in his position within the Tourism Leadership Group but in his capacity to consistently inspire, guide, motivate and impassion all of those who know him and work with him.

Not only has Brigadier Allfrey been an outstanding beacon of creativity and innovation, showing us all the wonderful possibility and opportunity for our sector by creating and growing a global brand that we are all so proud of, he has been a unique leader, a close friend and of course, a legendary raconteur with his tales from the Tattoo and beyond.  We will miss him hugely and wish Buster all the very best in his new role.  We look forward to working with him over the coming months in many different capacities.”