The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Importance of scaling to the next level highlighted
Sir Tom Hunter has claimed scale-ups are the “missing link” in Scotland’s business DNA.
He addressed an audience of more than 140 Scottish entrepreneurs, banks, investors and professional advisers gathered at the Scale-Up Scotland Forum.
The event was hosted by Entrepreneurial Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and focused on discussing how to overcome barriers to growth.
These barriers have been identified by the UK Scale-Up Institute as access to talent, access to markets and customers internationally, and leadership development and training.
Scale-ups, with the potential to grow to a £50 million to £100m turnover, are recognised as the critical engine for growth for Scotland’s economy with benefits for society as a whole.
Mr Hunter, whose West Coast Capital has been one of Scotland’s success stories in recent years, told attendees how Scotland can successfully grow businesses to the next level – to create a significant increase in jobs and boost the Scottish and UK economies.
He said: “Start-ups are good, scale-ups are great. Scale-ups are the missing link in Scotland’s entrepreneurial DNA – we need more of them because, quite simply, they move the economic needle for Scotland.
“We need to join the dots in the provision of support for entrepreneurs who have the ambition and drive to scale their organisations. There’s a wealth of talent out there to be nurtured.”
Following the forum, Entrepreneurial Scotland announced their entrepreneur of the year awards.
Gareth Williams, CEO and co-founder of Skyscanner, won the top award.
Angus MacDonald, chairman of ICS Learn, was scale-up entrepreneur of the year and Callum Murray, CEO of Amiqus, was named rising star of the year.
Sandy Kennedy, chief executive of Entrepreneurial Scotland, said: “Every year it is truly inspirational to meet the finalists and hear what they have achieved. They are a force of nature and are all playing their part and bringing something different to Scotland.”