One of Scotland’s top entrepreneurs is urging founders of new Scottish companies to seize the opportunity to gain expert advice from mentors and collaborate with their peers.
Speaking on the Go Radio Business Show, Sir Tom Hunter explained Scale Up Scotland works through his Hunter Foundation to bring together business pioneers in a forum designed especially for companies that are ambitious to grow.
“This is for entrepreneurs and run by entrepreneurs,” he said. “Right now we’re recruiting 12 chief executives, company owners and founders, and we'll take them to our HQ, Blair Castle in Ayrshire, where experts speak to them and say: ‘This is how it really is in business.’
“There are no consultants allowed, no accountants allowed. It has to be people who’ve personally ‘been there and done it’.
“Most recently, we had Yvette Hopkins join us as a guest speaker. This is a lady who now lives in Shetland but was in the US military and ran their counter-intelligence. Her story was amazing.
“We also had Mark Logan, our entrepreneur-in-residence, and we had Calum Paterson of Scottish Equity Partners.
“One of the people around the table told the story of how he couldn’t pay the wages on a Friday and what he did to solve this. He admitted to everyone this was a challenge he couldn’t have revealed to any group other than this one.
“We have three different cohorts running at any one time, but right now we're looking for 12 individuals to come on board: businesses who are looking to grow or perhaps looking for that quantum leap to go from a turnover of £5 million to £50 million.
“You could not do anything better than get involved in Scale Up Scotland. It’s a brilliant thing. If you want to know more about it, go to scaleupscotland.co.uk and get on the programme!”
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