Sir Tom Hunter has announced an exciting evolution of the Scale Up Scotland initiative. Speaking on the Go Radio Business Show, he revealed Scale Up Scotland 2.0 will build on the success of the original scheme for entrepreneurs, with intensive, strategic support.
“Scale-ups grow by more than 20 per cent over three years but we all know they are actually the rocket fuel,” said Sir Tom. “They are the ones who employ the people, pay the taxes and really move the economic dial.”
Research, including an Oxford Economics study commissioned by his Hunter Foundation, shows scale-ups are vital for the economy and feed into the Government’s 10-year economic strategy.
He added: “It was Ewan Hunter, our chief executive at the Foundation, who came up with Scale Up Scotland, which was taking the best of businesses that wanted to grow. There is another group, however, who are sitting with a turnover of five to 10 million today but whose ambitions are to go to a hundred million.
“So, we got together with the Scottish National Investment Bank, and its chairman Willie Watt, and we said this is where you should be investing. Willie said yes. That was great for a government body because there was no mucking about.
“What can we do to help them? First, we can bring them together and provide peer-to-peer support and learning. They learn so much from each other and support each other. Second, we’ll get seasoned entrepreneurs who’ve been through recessions, know how to grow their business, know about internationalisation.
“Then we’re going to bring everyone together to retreats at our new home, Blair Estate in Ayrshire.
“The scale-ups will spend their afternoons with entrepreneurs. We’ll have dinners and really get into it about what’s on their minds. We have entrepreneurs they would never normally get to meet who will inspire them but also be honest, talk about failures and challenges and finding a way through.
“Hopefully, at the end of the 12-month programme, they will say: ‘That was amazing! That’s something not happening anywhere else in the world!’.”
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