By Karen Peattie
SIR Tom Hunter has admitted that he feared the pandemic would affect Scotland’s business birth rate but spoke of his “pride” at the success of the high-profile Scottish EDGE Awards, the initiative which supports Scotland’s most innovative and high-growth potential early-stage businesses.
The founder of The Hunter Foundation, speaking yesterday on The Go Radio Business Show with Hunter and Haughey, said that his initial fears proved unfounded as last week Scottish EDGE invested £1.5 million in start-ups and scale-ups – its biggest ever amount – in the latest round of the long-running business competition.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Tom paid tribute to fellow entrepreneurs supporting the initiative this year including Sir Tom Hunter, Kevin Dorren, Sir Brian Souter, James Watt, Lord and Lady Haughey, and Chris van der Kuyl.
But the “secret sauce” of Scottish EDGE is peer support, he said, adding: “Everyone last week wated their fellow entrepreneurs to success and that was really heart-warming to see,” said Sir Tom. “New connections were made, new entrepreneur to entrepreneur support – I don’t see it working so well anywhere else in the world and it is something I am really proud of.”
Both Sir Tom and Lord Haughey, the Labour peer and owner of City Facilities Management Holdings, agreed that Scottish EDGE is a blueprint for economic recovery and that collaboration with business and Government is key. Lord Haughey described Scottish EDGE as a “template for business success”, recognising support for the initiative Royal Bank of Scotland, the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.
“This is what business can do,” he said. “People are giving something back and I have no doubt that all the people who were given awards last week … in five or six years’ time there will be hundreds of jobs created from that. A hand up is better than a handout and that is what Scottish EDGE does.”
However, Lord Haughey noted that Scottish EDGE had not been an overnight success but “20 years in the making”, adding: “Scotland now has one of the best conveyer belts for building entrepreneurs in any country in the world. This is where Scotland is shining a light for budding entrepreneurs.”
Sir Tom, pointing out that “this is what can happen when we collaborate – we get a better outcome”, alluded to the diverse range of businesses rewarded by Scottish EDGE last week, including medical technology company OrganLike which took the biggest share of cash in the latest record-breaking round of funding.
The Strathclyde University spin-out received £100,000 to support development of realistic models of human organs for surgical training. Set up in 2017 by Professor Will Shu and Dr Isaac Wang, OrganLike’s technology combines synthetic tissues with computer-generated augmented reality.
A total of 42 businesses received awards valued from £10,000 upwards in what is billed as the UK’s biggest competition for young businesses with high-growth potential. Awards are made up of a combination of grants and loans.
“I was really encouraged by the breadth of businesses and the age of entrepreneurs bring their business forward,” said Sir Tom, encouraging budding entrepreneurs to find out more by visiting the Scottish EDGE and Scale Up Scotland websites for further information, adding: “Scotland is a brilliant place to start and grow your business.”
Along with guests from the Scottish business community, The Go Radio Business Show features business advice and insight from Sir Tom and Lord Haughey at 10.30am on Sundays.
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