Business Matters Winter 2019

Business

Matters WINTER 2019 EDITION

HELPING RENFREWSHIRE GROW & PROSPER

ROCCO 2019 THE WINNERS INSIDE: ROCCO Winners, Annual review in pictures, Members news,

Council updates, Young people and lots more…

Business Matters Winter 2019

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President’s Welcome Welcome to our final Business Matters of 2019. As the year draws to a close this is a useful opportunity to reflect on some of the key achievements of your Chamber in the last year.

• Chamber membership remains healthy at just over 570, with 81 new members joining the chamber family in the last 12 months • B2B 2019 Business Matters in Renfrewshire had close to 60 exhibitors at the Lagoon with 6 seminar speakers, strong attendance throughout day, over 400 attended.

• ROCCO 2019 took place on 15th November with 17 awards, record 115 entries and 500 people attending.

Paisley.Is returned as Main Sponsor for second year.

• Three new staff joined the Chamber team in 2019: Laura Ritchie and Martin McAlinden have joined the export documentation team to increase capacity in response to Brexit. Communications graduate intern Courtney Norris completed her 6-month term before going on to secure a role with Glasgow Airport.

• Laura Connor and Carol Griffiths completed training to qualify as Customs Brokers.

• Launched Customs Declarations Service to maintain trade flows where possible in response to Brexit.

• Our Chamber processed 12,000 export certificates, the third highest in Scotland.

• Delivered new Customs Declarations Training courses to circa 50 delegates.

• Delivered Brexit support advice programme.

• Launched a member to member discount scheme with over 30 offers to save members time, money and generate new customers.

• STEM fortnight offered 400 + opportunities for young people.

• Our annual golf event proved as popular as ever hosted by Ranfurly Castle Golf Club.

• Key role in development of economic strategy for Renfrewshire 2020-2030.

Chamber chaired Q&A panel at launch event in September with CabSec Finance Derek Mackay.

• Chamber Office and Business Centre refurbished with new furniture, flooring & décor with support from members Rakkaus, Abbey Decorators and Carpertwise.

• Hosted Premier Partner Dinner at Mar Hall with CabSec Finance Derek Mackay.

• Meet the leader: hosted Iain Nicolson, leader Renfrewshire Council at UWS. • Hosted Lord Thurso, Chairman of VisitScotland showcasing Renfrewshire Tourism.

• Networking events series Pitch & Roll sponsored

by Abbey Mill Business Centre with 4 events in 2019.

Manufacturing is a key sector of our local economy – employing 9000 people in Renfrewshire with scope for further improvement. A key goal of the new Economic strategy is to improve opportunities for unemployed people furthest from the workplace to find work with new and existing companies. Many exciting opportunities are emerging, not least the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District next to Glasgow Airport where enabling work is already underway.

This world class establishment has the potential and is already attracting other quality businesses to locate alongside.

A strong, thriving and successful Airport is essential in order to maximise this opportunity both in the UK and internationally and the investment earlier this year of £8m for the new Emirates A380 service - the first in Scotland - is a great example of their vision, along with welcomed recent announcements of more flights with EasyJet and TUI among others.

We do however need our transport infrastructure to keep pace with this growth. Urgent improvement is crucial.

Our visitor economy is also growing, not least due to the success of PaisleyIs. Record numbers attended the Spree Festival, Fireworks and Halloween Festival. The award-winning Paisley Halloween Festival has scooped another top prize after it was named Best Cultural Event or Festival at the 2019/20 Scottish

Thistle Awards West Scotland regional finals. Organised by VisitScotland, the awards celebrate innovation, excellence and success in the Scottish hospitality and tourism sector.

I was also pleased to see Paisley First, the business improvement organisation for the town centre has been successful at the recent ballot where their mandate was renewed for another 5 years.

Please continue to support your Chamber; Attend our events and make best use of our products and services. If you wish to know more about how we can help your business grow and prosper please get in touch with the team.

All that remains for me to say is enjoy the break over the festive period and I hope you get the chance to relax and enjoy the company of family and friends.

Your chamber team are looking forward to helping Renfrewshire grow and prosper in 2020.

Support your Chamber and your Chamber will support you.

Tom Johnston, President Renfrewshire Chamber

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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A Warm Welcome from our Chief Executive Welcome to the Winter edition of our ever-popular magazine Business Matters.

On 15th November we witnessed Renfrewshire roar at ROCCO 2019. With 17 worthy winners on the night the Awards attracted a record 115 entries. We enjoyed fantastic entertainment from Scottish Opera and a great welcome from the young pipers & drummers of St Columba’s School, Kilmacolm.

ROCCO social media created 1.8 million impressions and #2019Rocco reached 385,000 twitter accounts emphasising the positive association with the event courtesy of Gary & Jan from NSDesign.

Thank you to all our sponsors and main sponsor Paisley.Is. Feedback has been excellent, and I would encourage all winners to use the ROCCO brand in your own marketing channels. Planning for next year is already underway and please put Friday 20th November 2020 in your diary.

Congratulations to the Paisley.Is team on winning another top prize for the Halloween Festival after it was named Best Cultural Event or Festival at the 2019/20 Scottish Thistle Awards West Scotland regional finals. Organised by VisitScotland, the awards celebrate innovation, excellence and success in the Scottish hospitality and tourism sector.

As we reflect on the success of the Chamber’s business mentoring service over the years a special note of thanks to all of you who have supported the programme. Last year you mentored over 120 companies and the support of our pool of talented volunteer mentors has been critical to that success. In fact, 17 of the shortlisted companies at ROCCO 2019 have benefited from the mentoring programme. Unfortunately, funding has now come to an end however we hope the programme can return in some form for 2020.

We return in January with our Burns lunch on Thursday 23rd January at Ingliston Country Club. Always a popular event with a Burns speaker and entertainment.

To all our members, from myself and all the team at the Chamber have an enjoyable Christmas and best wishes for a prosperous 2020.

Bob Grant Chief Exec

Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce Bute Court, St Andrews Drive, Glasgow Airport, PA3 2SW t: 0141 847 5450 / f: 0141 847 5499 e: info@renfrewshirechamber.com / w: www.renfrewshirechamber.com Next issue of Business Matters is Spring 2020 Deadline for editorial and adverts is Friday 6th March 2020 Themes are B2B / 3rd sector / property & construction / town centres

PREMIER PARTNER

Advertising & Editorial:

Business Matters Winter 2019 “ I’d like to update

Print and Design by:

Carol Griffiths 0141 847 5464 / cgriffiths@renfrewshirechamber.com The Print Brokers (Scotland) Ltd / e: contact@theprintbrokers.co.uk

my professional qualifications ”

Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce would like to acknowledge the support of our Premier Partners:

West College Scotland offers a range of professional training and development courses to help you update your skills.

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Business Matters Winter 2019

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Business Matters Winter 2019

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Planning application submitted for National Manufacturing Institute Scotland

A planning application has been submitted for the development of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) situated at the centre of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) in Renfrewshire.

NMIS is a £65 million, industry-led international centre of manufacturing expertise led by Scottish Government in partnership with its enterprise and skills agencies, University of Strathclyde and Renfrewshire Council. Operated

by Strathclyde, as a national facility for Scotland, it is where research, industry and the public sector work together to transform skills, productivity and innovation to attract investment and make Scotland a global leader in advanced manufacturing.

The new energy carbon neutral facility next to Glasgow Airport will include a skills academy, a fully digitalised factory of the future and collaboration hub for manufacturers of all sizes and from all sectors to work together with research partners and the public sector to innovate and grow their businesses.

NMIS also includes two specialist technology centres - the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre (LMC), which was opened earlier this year by the First Minister, and Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), the only High Value Manufacturing Catapult centre in Scotland.

The application will now be considered

by Renfrewshire Council.

Economy Secretary Derek Mackay said: “Manufacturing is crucial to our economy and is a sector we want to see flourish in Scotland.

“This is a notable milestone for the NMIS facility and given the importance of responding to the global climate emergency, I am particularly pleased the facility will be energy carbon neutral and it is great that the facility will lead by example and demonstrate what is possible.

“NMIS will deliver benefits for businesses across Scotland well before the building is complete including through the existing capability available at the Lightweight Manufacturing Centre which adds to the wider support available from our enterprise agencies to help companies improve their productivity.”

Strathclyde’s Principal, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, said: “It is great news that the plans for NMIS are progressing so quickly.

“Scotland has a vibrant manufacturing sector which is well placed for further innovation and growth. To achieve its fullest potential, it needs advanced facilities, resources and equipment, for use by highly qualified and skilled staff; NMIS will offer all of this.

“At Strathclyde – and across Scotland’s world-class universities - we have the drive, expertise and track record to support this highly collaborative venture and, with the NMIS partners, support

the transformation of Scottish manufacturing.”

NMIS and the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre, in which Strathclyde is lead research partner, will be the anchor institutions in the advanced manufacturing district. The district is benefitting from a £39 million investment to provide the enabling infrastructure, funded through the Glasgow City Region City Deal. It is also home to the NMIS specialist technology centres.

Glasgow-based HLM Architects is leading the NMIS design team, which also includes Waterman Civil & Structural Engineers, Davie + McCulloch Building Services Engineers and Robinson Low Francis LLP Cost Mangers. HLM will also be providing landscape architecture and interior design services, while Turner and Townsend have been appointed as Project Managers under Strathclyde’s Framework Agreement.

Ross Barrett, Associate HLM, said: The new NMIS facility is a hugely exciting project and we are really pleased to be working with all partners to respond to the ambitions for this centre. Our thoughtful design creates an innovative, flexible and collaborative environment where knowledge and creativity can be shared. Inspired by the materiality and colours of the Scottish landscape, this bold sustainable building sets out to create a unique character and identity for NMIS which will inspire and attract industry partners and academics alike.”

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Howden Howden is a global air and gas handling company, founded in 1854

by James Howden in Glasgow and currently employs approximately 6000 people in 29 countries. Staying true to our Scottish roots, our headquarters and part of our compressor division are based in Renfrew with around 500 employees based here.

Howden are a leading engineering innovator, pioneering the world’s first commercial rotary twin screw compressor in the 1930’s and today still designs, engineers and manufactures the largest most versatile range of oil injected and oil free screw compressors. Renfrew is home to the compressor division Research & Development department, who are continuing to develop new products alongside expanding our current product ranges and capabilities.

Our rotary twin screw compressors, screw compressors packages and Roots™ blowers are used in a variety of demanding applications such as process gas, refrigeration duties and wastewater treatment.

Howden are the recent recipient of the ROCCO award for Excellence in Manufacturing, demonstrating the pride we have in our products. Over the past 18 months, Howden have been undergoing its journey to Industry 4.0, this is currently ongoing but during this short time, there have been some significant changes to our factory.

Implementing our Clean Lean Initiative, Digitally Enabled Test Studio, and integrating our

Data Driven Advantage (DDA) solution into our factory.

As a global business, collaboration, teamwork and commitment to our customer is key to our culture. This was demonstrated in the recent contact win with Samsung Heavy Industries, for an offshore FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offload vessel) worth a total of £3.6m. Another landmark win for Howden was 4 oil free compressor units for ShengHong Petrochemical, for an ammonia application.

This is the first order of compressors from our new expanded range, working with our colleagues in China.

Howden compressors are used in many applications from helping cool the beer you drink on a hot day, artificial

ski slopes, helping bottle gas for BBQ’s and cleaning drinking waters all over the world. Our range of compressor products underpin modern society and are critical to day-to-day lives.

Business Matters Winter 2019

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How to find your perfect social media audience

Gary Ennis, Founder and Managing Director of NSDesign Ltd

Finding your perfect social media audience can be tricky – after all, there are billions of social media users on the planet. So, how are you going to find the group that’s interested in what your business has to offer?

Don’t worry, it’s easier than you might think. Here are our top tips on how to track down and connect with a social media audience that will engage with you online and (ultimately) convert into new customers.

1) Identify your audience The first step is figuring out who you should talk to. Look at your products or services and think about who will find them the most useful.

If you’re a B2C outfit, you should ask yourself these questions: • How old is your audience?

• What gender are they?

• What’s their average income/budget?

• What common values do they share?

• If you’re a B2B operation, you’ll need to

consider: • Who’s the decision maker?

• How much budget do they have?

• What are their business priorities (e.g. speed, accuracy)?

This customer avatar worksheet is a useful resource to help focus your thinking on audience demographics, values and so on. Check it out!

Whichever area you’re targeting, it’s worth examining your current customer list to identify their key characteristics.

You could even conduct a survey to ask customers about their social media habits (e.g. preferred channels, frequency of use, who they follow). This will help you make more informed decisions down the line.

2) Pick your channels wisely Facebook is a no-brainer. A staggering 2.41 billion people log on every month, so chances are that at least some of your target audience will

use this platform.

Twitter tends to be more popular with the younger generation – 40% of US users are between 18 and 29 years old, for example. They may not have the decision-making power required for B2B operations, but for B2C organisations with a youth target market, Twitter might be a winner.

Over half of Instagram’s users are female and this figure rises even further in the case of PInterest, so if your business is mainly targeting women these platforms could be good options.

However, you also need to think about whether you can commit to regularly generating image-based content. Will you have enough interesting material to keep your audience sufficiently engaged?

LinkedIn is a great platform for businesses, so B2B organisations should ensure they focus some effort here. Try to get existing clients to recommend you in a post, for example. Activities such as this will raise your profile and provide the social proof you need to convince prospective clients that you’re the right solution for them!

3) Think small You don’t want to spend all your time and money advertising to a wide, indiscriminate range of people. Instead, you should aim for a smaller, niche audience that’s engaged. Narrow your target audience down into segments by thinking about what makes certain sections of this group unique. This could be anything from location to hobbies and interests.

One of NS Design’s favourite mantras that we find ourselves repeating time and again at our social media workshops is “niche content to niche audiences”. We firmly believe that if you follow this advice you can’t go far wrong!

4) Use tools to help Finding your ideal social media audience is easier than you might think. Social media platforms tend to have their own ways of targeting specific groups. For example, one useful option Facebook Ads offers users is to add their mailing list to the platform and create a ‘lookalike’ audience based on this data. This guarantees you’ll get a new social media audience that has similar interests and characteristics to your original list, clever right?

If you want some help connecting with your social media audience, contact the friendly team at NS Design today, or why not consider our next social media masterclass?

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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GRADUATE APPRENTICESHIP SUCCESS FOR UWS STUDENTS Seven students have successfully completed their Graduate Apprenticeships and received honours degrees from the UWS at the recent Lanarkshire graduation ceremony.

Nicole Strain, Radoslaw Lewandowski, Kieran Hamilton, Matthew Quinn, Connor Hay and Scott Bell collected their degrees in BSc Hons IT: Software Development during the special ceremony at the Hamilton Town House, with Lily Higham graduating in absentia.

By combining academic learning with real-time practical experience in the workplace, the University’s GA programmes deliver industry-relevant skills and qualifications. Graduate Apprenticeships are developed in partnership with employers to ensure that the learning is relevant to industry and that apprentices can apply their knowledge in the workplace immediately.

The students undertook their Graduate Apprenticeships at UWS from September 2017, whilst holding full-time posts at a range of leading companies, including Arnold Clark, Leidos and Edge Testing.

Graduate Apprenticeships are rolled out across the country by Skills Development Scotland, with UWS working alongside the organisation to deliver its own GA programme based on industry demand.

Fiona Kennedy, Graduate Apprenticeship Project Manager, said: “With three in four employers in Scotland reporting skill shortages affecting productivity and growth, Graduate Apprenticeship programmes like ours have never been more

L-R, Matthew Quinn, Scott Bell, Radoslaw Lewandowski, Nicole Strain, Kieran Hamilton and Connor Hay.

important. It is fantastic to see our seven student’s hard work and determination pay off as they receive their degrees - well done to all of them and we wish them every success for the future.”

Professor Craig Mahoney, Principal & Vice-Chancellor of UWS, said: “I’d like to extend a huge congratulations to all seven UWS Graduate Apprentices for their fantastic achievements.”

“Graduate Apprenticeships are a fantastic way to enable students to build on prior learning through real-time, practical experience. At UWS, it is our goal to deliver meaningful Graduate Apprenticeship programmes which give our students the industry-relevant skills they need to have a real and immediate impact in the workplace.”

“The Experience” in Hillington Park Friday 2Ist February 2020: 9.30am – 4.30pm £150 per person (+ VAT)

EMBRACE THE SPACE

NS DESIGN helps businesses do things better online.

Our next social media masterclass takes place on Friday 21st February 2020 at “The Experience” in Hillington Park. We believe every business can get what they want from Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and the rest in less than 20 minutes a day. ‘Embrace The Space’ will show you how.

More details at www.embracethespace.co.uk

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Get online to get the visitors!

Gordon Smith, VisitScotland Regional Director, talks about how important it is for tourism businesses to get online.

The only certainty about the future is that the digital landscape will move faster than ever before. It is imperative that businesses across Renfrewshire create a strong online presence so they can reach as many visitors as possible and continue to grow.

90% of travellers research their holidays online and 80% book their holidays online. From researching their trip to sharing it with their friends and family, digital channels play a huge role in the visitor experience.

However, less than 20% of attractions, tours and activities are online bookable, even on some of the most popular customer facing websites such as TripAdvisor experiences. Even in the accommodation sector, only half of businesses in Scotland are online bookable. This means so many Scottish tourism businesses are losing out as visitors can’t find them online.

While an ever-changing digital landscape can seem daunting, technology has transformed the tourism industry and with every innovation comes a new opportunity to strengthen customer relationships, drive profits and free up precious time.

At VisitScotland we understand that finding the time and confidence to understand the technology and platforms that will help you meet your visitor’s needs can be difficult and we are here to help. Supporting industry to grow is a key driver for our Industry Engagement Department. We take businesses from the local community to global community, working together to create a roadmap through the digital landscape and providing access to channels, insights and expertise.

Support and resources available

Gordon Smith, VisitScotland Regional Director

to you from VisitScotland include our Quality Assurance Scheme, advice through Industry Relationship Managers and the Customer Service team and support in accessing international markets online through our intermediary team.

We offer business surgeries where Industry Relationship Managers will hold 1-2-1 sessions with businesses.

They can offer great advice on relevant platforms and free tools that can improve how likely new customers can discover and book with your business.

We can explain the different options to being bookable online and give you all the information to make an informed decision.

Our Industry Relationship Manager for Renfrewshire is Craig Lawless. He can help you take those beginner steps into digital marketing, get you thinking about a strategy and offering you practical advice to get started. To get in touch with Craig, e-mail craig.

lawless@visitscotland.com.

While our business surgeries are perfect for taking your first steps into digital marketing, another great resource is digitaltourismscotland.com where you can get digital expertise on topics such as Search Engine Optimisation, Google Analytics and so much more.

Our calendar of industry events is another great way to keep ahead of the curve in all aspects of tourism and network with others working in the industry. You can find out more about these by visiting www.visitscotland.org.

I hope everyone in Renfrewshire has a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year, where digital tourism is at the forefront of every business person’s mind.

For further information contact: Grant Anderson Corporate Press Officer Tel: (0131) 472 2416 grant.anderson@visitscotland.com

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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IS YOUR SME SUPPLY CHAIN RIPE FOR CYBER CRIME? SMEs need to learn from the mistakes of larger organisations The Office of National Statistics estimates that 4.5 million cyber crimes were committed in the UK in the 12 months up to March 2018.

You are statistically more likely to fall victim to a cyber crime in the UK than you are to any other type of crime.

As the cyber security systems become more adept at preventing and pursuing consumer fraud, the cyber criminals have been targeting the public sector and larger Magda de Jager Cyber Security Manager organisations for their new revenue streams.

Amongst larger organisations, numerous cyber security breaches have occurred, impacting banks, police forces and even defence firms. Wipro, a major IT services business, recently reported a major attack on its IT systems, after it was targeted by a phishing campaign.

The problems being faced by large organisations should be a warning for SME’s, owner managed businesses, social enterprises and charities, many of whom are at high risk of becoming unsuspecting cyber victims. And it is their supply chains that offer some of the best opportunities for cyber theft. Why? Smaller enterprises just do not have the scale, resources or systems to protect, prevent and counter cyber fraud.

Furthermore, they tend to work with a much wider network of suppliers and intermediaries. A recent survey of IT risks amongst SMEs undertaken by Scott Moncrieff highlighted the very low level of investment in cyber security, poor understanding of the processes involved, and their high levels of vulnerability to attack.

Any point in the supply chain that creates a break in the flow of relationships, information, products, logistics and services, creates a potential for weakness in systems, and a window of opportunity for the cyber crooks. Like a house purchase, the more links in the chain of suppliers, the bigger the cyber security risk, and the greater the costs, including: • Finding an alternative supplier • Business interruption or shut down • Scrutiny and fines from regulators • Loss of productivity • Reputational cost, loss of trust and subsequent loss of clients Prevention of cyber crime is far more cost-effective rather than having to deal with the bureaucracy, cost and reputational damage of a security failure. Key cyber security strategies and solutions that should be considered include: • Adopting relevant industry guidelines and frameworks, we

recommend the National Cyber Security Centre’s Small Business Guide as an excellent starting point • Invest in and keep investing in the latest technologies and systems, and ensure that your systems are regularly patched • Risk assess your suppliers and business relationships, if they are protecting your assets – do you know what their cyber security arrangements are? Have your suppliers invested in meeting cyber security standards? We recommend only working with suppliers who have complied with the UK Government’s Cyber Essentials standard, and if you are outsourcing key processes only working with suppliers who can demonstrate compliance with ISO27001, an internationally recognised security standard.

• Employ or engage specialists that really understand the issues, and know how to implement and manage the very best cyber security systems and solutions Consider cyber insurance Cyber security risk is now a permanent feature of our lives, and increasingly so for businesses. You need to understand and manage not just the risk to your own business but also satisfy yourself that the businesses you depend on are also taking the cyber security risks seriously.

Magda de Jager is a cyber security expert within the firm’s Business Technology Consulting Team.

If you have any queries in relation to cyber security for your business and how you can best protect against cyber crimes, contact: Magda de Jager Cyber Security Manager 0131 473 3500 Magda.deJager@scott-moncrieff.com

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Learning Platforms Combine to Create New Player in Learning Technology Market Learning Management System and online training solutions provider joins forces with digital learning technology and solutions specialist

Tamlin Roberts, Bolt Learning CEO

Bolt Learning, Scottish leader in the corporate online learning and training sector, has joined forces with Sponge UK Limited (‘Sponge’), a custom digital learning solutions specialist. The businesses have been brought together by Aliter Capital, the specialist UK support services investor, to create a major new force in the learning technology market.

Bolt Learning, acquired by Aliter in June 2019, has expanded rapidly with Aliter’s guidance and extensive network and have continued to win new clients through the development of their sophisticated Learning Management System (LMS) and a range of advanced content development tools.

Sponge designs and develops bespoke

digital learning solutions, including eLearning, learning games, motion graphics, interactive video and immersive technologies (such as VR and AR) and blended learning solutions. Sponge works with some of the world’s largest brands and its solutions are used in more than 124 countries worldwide, with capability to translate into more than 200 languages.

Tamlin Roberts, Bolt Learning CEO said: “It has been a pleasure in getting acquainted with the senior team at Sponge. We have a complementary range of technologies and capabilities which will enhance the value we can provide to our customers and underpin the next phase of growth.”

Billy Allan, Managing Partner of Aliter said: “Bringing Sponge and Bolt together

creates a major new player in the digital learning market which combines powerful learning technologies with creative content development. Our strategy is to build on this foundation to create a broad-based blended learning group underpinned by market-leading learning technologies.”

Louise Pasterfield, Sponge Founder and Managing Director said: “Since the start, we have been very impressed with Aliter’s strategy and their vision for the business.

The Sponge management team is extremely excited with the opportunities this venture will bring and the additional value-add we’ll be able to deliver to our existing clients and prospects. We foresee the Group expanding rapidly under Aliter’s guidance.”

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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boston Widespread IoT networks Coverage Now Available Across Glasgow and Edinburgh The UK’s most advanced Internet of Things network, IoT Scotland, is now well established in Scotland, with Glasgow and Edinburgh at almost 100% coverage.

Coverage of 99.7% has been achieved in Glasgow and 95% in Edinburgh, offering public and private sector organisations across the Central Belt an opportunity to access smart technologies that deliver cost and time efficiencies and provide data insights, at very low cost.

Boston Networks CEO, Scott McEwan said: “We are delighted to have successfully established IoT Scotland across our two largest cities and are excited about the roll-out taking place in our local authority areas across the country.”

“Never before have businesses and public sector bodies been able to access an advanced and extensive network like this. There has been significant interest regarding how this technology could be used to gather data and make organisations more efficient and productive.”

The benefits of IoT will not be restricted to Scotland’s most populous cities – networks are already up and running in Argyll & Bute and the Western Isles, with the Scottish Borders, Stirling, Perth, Orkney, Aberdeenshire and Dundee all on track to be completed this year.

By the end of the year, over 30% of businesses, six local authorities and almost 1.4m people will have access to affordable and reliable IoT connectivity across Scotland.

In addition, advanced discussions are underway, and surveys complete to roll out to a further seven local authority areas within six months.

Scottish Government Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy, Kate Forbes praised the progress made so far.

“The Internet of Things is a transformative technology which presents an exciting opportunity for Scotland’s public services, our businesses and our people.

“Today’s announcement is another step towards Scotland becoming a leader in innovative new technologies and underlines the progress that is being

L to R: Scott McEwan - Boston Networks, Kate Forbes - Scottish Government, Linda Hanna - Scottish Enterprise

made in achieving widespread access to low-cost next-generation connectivity.”

Collaborations are ongoing with a number of organisations and local authorities keen to take advantage of the wide-ranging benefits and efficiencies IoT can offer. These include environmental monitoring for a major utilities company, water monitoring for several local authority organisations, and a smart building trial for a facilities management company.

Several major housing associations are already on board, keen to explore the cost efficiencies and health benefits that proactive monitoring of social housing offers.

Eildon Housing Association has 2500 properties across the Scottish Borders and provides housing, care, and support services to people in the region.

Eildon Chief Executive Nile Istephan said: “We are proud to be helping to make

IoT connectivity available. It will bring benefits to us as an organisation, benefits to our tenants and also benefits to the wider Scottish Borders community”.

“We’re aware of IoT enabled technologies coming on stream that could allow us to improve the efficiency of processes, the cost-effectiveness of services and help in making the lives of our tenants easier.”

“For example, automated heating and environmental control systems that constantly monitor and report any potential issues, or smart technologies monitoring the wellbeing of residents, perhaps enabling them to remain at home or be allowed home from hospital sooner than might otherwise have been the case.”

“By helping to facilitate this local network we can pave the way for not only our organisation but others across the region to make use of these smart technologies.”

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Balfour ECLIPSE Engineering DIGITAL Consultancy MARKETING Founded in 2005 by Iain Balfour, Balfour Engineering Consultancy has grown steadily over the intervening 14 years to its current 12 strong team.

Based in Paisley, the Company has grown to be one of the leading Consulting Civil and Structural engineering practices in the region thanks to maintaining a practical and economical approach to engineering. With a recent relocation to a larger office within the Abbeymill Business Centre the Company only foresees continued growth.

Balfour Engineering Consultancy is involved in a wide range of project

types including residential, commercial, health care, industrial and everything in between. We have strong links with a variety of clients located throughout Scotland including Architects, home owners and commercial companies, all of whom we aim to keep satisfied.

We are always willing to discuss any project with any client and so should you be in need of our services, please feel free to contact us.

Email – info@ balfourengineering.co.uk Phone – 0141 848 9708 Iain Balfour BEng(hons) CEng MIStructE Director

Don’t miss out on our special winter offer for YOUR business which includes a brand new optimised 2020 website and ongoing development and support. Also included in this offer is a digital marketing consulting service with pay per click advertising to position your website and business in front of the right audience at the right time!

Get ahead of your competition for only £350 per month! No contract, all performance based, you won’t want to leave!

We also offer a full range of other digital marketing services, including search engine optimisation, display advertising, remarketing (target previous customers/website users), social media and YouTube marketing. Check out our website www. eclipsedigitalmarketing.com We are a digital marketing team founded in 2009 and based in Renfrewshire with Google certification and partner status. We have been successfully driving targeted website traffic and generating high quality leads and enquiries for our clients ever since!

Contact details Greig McKean info@eclipsedigitalmarketing.com www.eclipsedigitalmarketing.com

70 VULNERABLE RENFREWSHIRE YOUNGSTERS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MENTORS Care-experienced children and young people across Renfrewshire need support from local mentors to help raise their attainment in school and their overall confidence.

Aberlour Child Care Trust and Renfrewshire Council recently joined forces to launch the Aberlour Attain Mentoring Service in Renfrewshire. The service aims to raise the attainment of Renfrewshire’s care experienced children and young people through a flexible, relationship-based mentoring support.

Recently both the charity and council held a showing of the powerful film ‘Paper Tigers’ at The Abercorn Conferencing Centre, to demonstrate the power of relationships and to showcase the values of the new Aberlour Renfrewshire service to council employees and potential future mentors.

The film follows a year at an American High School where the Principal has changed the school’s approach to discipline to help students overcome traumatic events in their lives. The teachers focus on building trusting relationships with the young people to recognise and build on their strengths, work on their goals and aspirations, and provide the support and encouragement they need to deal with the difficult and challenging situations in their lives.

Sarah-Louise Davies, Aberlour Attain Mentoring Service Manager, said: “We know that care-experienced children and young people often have lower attendance at school and higher exclusion

rates. This impacts upon their life experiences. We need to instil confidence and support our young people to succeed.”

“We have been working in the local area since the start of the year and have a number of successful mentoring matches in place, however we still have 70 children and young people waiting for their ideal mentor. Every day we receive more applications for young people who need help.”

If you would like to find out more about becoming an Aberlour mentor, please get in touch by emailing volunteering@ aberlour.org.uk or calling Aberlour Attain Mentoring Service – Renfrewshire on 0141 260 9180.

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Paisley Autocare: Serving Our Local Community for a Decade In 2009, when my son Shaun and I opened Paisley Autocare we were not thinking about what our business would look like a decade later. But now, in 2019, here we are.

Our only goal back when we opened our shop in 2009 was to serve our local community and provide it with highquality auto care. Our mission was to keep your car in tip-top shape because we know that your car is more than just a means of transportation, it is an extension of who you are. In the 10 years since then, we hopefully have done just that. In the process, we have also grown into an award-winning garage where our team has over 30 years of hands-on experience.

Our path to where we are today started in the first year. By 2010 we were an MOT station that employed 5 staff. Just two years after that, in 2012, we were able to grow to a point where we opened up a second unit in the garage and we invested in 2 new ramps.

Five years after opening Paisley Autocare, our business began to grow in leaps and bounds, in no small part thanks to the support and trust we had developed in the local community and around Scotland. We had truly built a reputation with Paisley Autocare’s honest workmanship. By 2014 we had 6 staff and 2 MOT testers.

In 2015, we not only expanded our workforce and our offerings but our reputation around Scotland as well. From a growth perspective, we launched our website and online booking system that year allowing our customers an easier, faster and more convenient way to use our services. That same year we also received our first award, winning the Invest in Renfrewshire award for progression in work for one of our young working staff.

The last two years have seen even more expansion as we have been able to combine cutting-edge technology with our passion for the automotive

industry and become an autocare leader in Scotland. In 2017, we began offering Motorcycle Mot and also invested in ADAS Diagnostics. The next year saw us open a state of the art body shop and accident repair center.

This year, we began offering large fleet services as well providing local businesses with a one stop shop for onsite & offsite fleet maintenance.

As we come to the end of our 10th year in business and look forward to the next 10 years and beyond, we are excited about what the future holds for Paisley Autocare. Our plan is to continue to grow, to add highly skilled technicians and even more services, and to make sure we always offer state of the art auto care with the latest technology available. But, most of all, our plan is to continue providing our local community with the aim of providing high quality and affordable autocare. just like we have been doing since we started in 2009.

Allan Campbell – Business Growth Enabler Royal Bank of Scotland, South West Scotland It is my responsibility to support local business with more than just finance. As your Business Growth Enabler I am passionate about helping local businesses grow and I have been supporting our business community in various ways during 2019.

I have been able to promote businesses into our free Accelerator hub programme where they can scale up their business with support from our fully trained professional team.

I have been hosting regular events on key business areas such as HR, Ways to bank , Social media and Women in business and I have up and coming events to support Cyber crime prevention and Succession Planning.

In an era where so much of modern life is increasingly becoming an online activity, I find there is no substitute for the personal touch – especially in South West Scotland.

Based in South West Scotland, I make a point of meeting my clients face to face in my role as Business Growth Enabler, helping the small and medium sized businesses of the area reach their potential.

If you are interested in learning more about how I can help Boost your Business then please contact me through any of the following Mobile – 07711 765 096 Email – allan.campbell@rbs.co.uk Twitter - @_AllanCampbell

Business Matters Winter 2019

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GLASGOW AIRPORT FLIGHTPATH FUND DONATES ALMOST £110,000 TO 68 CHARITIES AND COMMUNITY GROUPS - Over 600 local groups and community organisations have received £1.6m in support since 2010 Glasgow Airport’s FlightPath Fund awarded more than £108,000 in 2019 to help support 68 charities and community groups in Renfrewshire, Glasgow, East and West Dunbartonshire.

Representatives from community groups and charities to benefit from FlightPath Fund support in 2019 were joined by local politicians and members of Glasgow Airport’s senior management team at a celebratory event held at the Tannahill Centre, Paisley.

Over £39,000 has been awarded to 32 Renfrewshire-based groups this year including Home Start Renfrewshire, which received £1500 to help set up a local community support group for dads and their children.

As well as marking another successful year for the FlightPath, the Fund’s Chair Archie Hunter and members of the committee were on hand to officially open the Tannahill Centre’s FlightPath Café.

The Tannahill Centre in Ferguslie Park was the recipient of the Fund’s most recent £25,000 lump sum award and the money was used to refurbish the popular community hub’s café.

Established in 2010, the FlightPath Fund was set up to provide grant assistance to local organisations working in and around the airport community.

Since its inception, the fund has given £1.6 million in donations to over 600 charities and community groups with a focus on improving education and employment, as well as the environment.

In addition this year, The FlightPath Fund donated £14,000 to the Ocean Youth Trust to support four voyages for youth groups in each of the local authority areas. The Fund also provided

FlightPath Fund committee members - Renfrewshire Cllrs Bill Binks and Iain Nicolson, East Dunbartonshire Cllr Rosie O’Neil, Fund Chair Archie Hunter, West Dunbartonshire Councillor Marie McNair, Glasgow City Cllr Malcolm Balfour, Jennifer Stewart and Glasgow Airport’s Peter Carroll

£8000 to support the Flying Fish ecolearning primary school project ran by the Clyde River Foundation.

The FlightPath Fund committee operates independently of the airport.

The committee meets every two months and includes elected council members from each of the four local authority areas under the flight path.

Archie Hunter, chairman of the FlightPath Fund, said: “Glasgow Airport’s FlightPath Fund continues to be a force for good throughout its neighbouring communities supporting hundreds of charities and groups across four local authorities.

“I’m pleased to say this year has been exceptional with the FlightPath Fund providing vital support to a diverse range of organisations including young carer groups, primary and secondary school projects, community sports and improvement groups and charities helping some of the most vulnerable people in society.

“The Tannahill Centre’s lump sum award is a fine example of the kind of projects supported by the FlightPath Fund year in, year out and we are proud to officially open this fantastic new FlightPath Café.

“Our end of year event gives committee members the opportunity to meet with representatives from the groups to benefit from the fund. It was most pleasing to speak to these people who are both passionate about the work they do and grateful for the support received from the FlightPath Fund.

“Special mention must also go to Glasgow Airport, for which none of the good work represented here today would be possible without its continued commitment. Managing director Mark Johnston and his team continue to be the FlightPath Fund’s biggest champions and we are grateful for their support.”

To apply for FlightPath Fund support visit: www.glasgowairport.com/flightpathfund

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

Loganair: Scotland’s Airline Whether you are visiting Nottingham to walk in the footsteps of Robin Hood, or looking to see some of the finest historic sites in England, such as Leicester Cathedral - East Midlands Airport is the perfect gateway to the Midlands and you can get there from Glasgow Airport with Loganair.

From the 24th February 2020, Loganair will be enhancing their schedule to allow 3 flights a day Monday – Friday and 2 flights on a Sunday, which will provide increased flexibility to business travellers.

The airline also has a standout frequent flyer programme, Clan Loganair. As simple as 1,2,3 - the more you fly the more you are rewarded and the quicker it is to redeem a Clan Loganair reward flight, where you only pay taxes.

Book now at Loganair.co.uk or via your travel agent.

17

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NEW! PULA, BARCELONA, DALAMAN

Business Matters Winter 2019

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Frasers Property UK announces its first commercial new-build development at Glasgow’s Hillington Park 1,800-square-feet ‘drive thru and drive up’ scheme pre-let to Starbucks

Frasers Property UK (“Frasers Property”) has signed a 15-year lease with Starbucks on a new, purposebuilt ‘drive thru and drive up’ coffee and food outlet at Hillington Park, Scotland’s largest business estate.

The £1.4 million development demonstrates Frasers Property’s intent to build up tenant amenities at Hillington Park since it acquired the majority ownership of the 419-acre Business Park in September 2017.

Work on the new 1,800-square-feet scheme, located close to the Park’s main entrance at Junction 26 on the busy M8 motorway began on 25 November 2019 with the development due to for completion in May 2020. The scheme will be located next to the car dealerships cluster including Taggarts Volvo and

Jaguar, Arnold Clark Renault and Dacia and the forthcoming Harry Fairburn BMW and MINI and will have parking for up to 31 vehicles.

The contract to build the new scheme has been awarded to local commercial and industrial construction company Bell Building Projects.

Grant Edmondson, Commercial Director for Hillington Park said: “We are delighted to have secured Starbucks for Hillington Park. The development will not only add to the range of food and drink options for our customers, but also will offer another space for the community to connect. We are working on a number of refurbishment and new-build projects which are likely to come forward in 2020 as part of Frasers Property’s strategy to deliver

more bespoke buildings for occupiers and speculative industrial units to meet market demand.”

Hillington Park is located just two minutes from the M8 motorway, seven miles west of Glasgow’s city centre and only three miles from Glasgow International Airport. Regular bus services operate on the Park and two mainline train stations link directly into Glasgow.

Hillington Park was purchased by Frasers Property, which owns a £1 billion portfolio of business parks in the United Kingdom, 18 months ago. Hillington Park is currently home to over 500 businesses employing around 8,000 people across multiple sectors including manufacturing, engineering, construction and building products, automotive, transport and e-commerce, technology and health.

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

Warehouse, Industrial, Trade Counter and Office space to suit your business

SPEAK TO US DIRECTLY ON

0141 883 5760

hillingtonpark.com/availability

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Business Matters Winter 2019

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Ingliston Hotel & Country Club

Conveniently located less than ten minutes west of Glasgow Airport and twenty-five minutes from Glasgow City Centre, Ingliston Hotel & Country Club offers a total of five different event spaces, all individually designed to suit every one of your business needs.

These include everything from private dinners to conferences to corporate events & product launches. From team building to strategy meetings to training events or presentations, our events team, who delightedly scooped Best Wedding & Events Team at the acclaimed 2018 Prestige Hotel Awards, and more recently at the prestigious Rocco awards won Family Business of the Year, you just know that we are able to cater for any type of business event.

So whether you’re organising a toplevel conference or an important strategy meeting, our pristine and stylish function spaces and friendly & professional staff

will welcome you like a friend, impress your clients, colleagues and delegates no end. If you’re looking to book a large scale conference or event then our bedrooms & lodges sleep up to 130 people and we offer competitive residential packages, making us the ideal location on the central belt. With free onsite parking and high speed wifi for all of your delegates, we really do offer some of the most versatile and unique business facilities in the country.

You can dine on a delicious buffet style lunch served within your function suite or you are welcome to relax in our on-site restaurant Palominos which specialises in a tempting and delicious variety of Scottish Italian cuisine where a pre-order is available to allow you to get maximum benefit from your meeting. You can also have the option to use our private VIP dining space.

We understand during meetings a

stretch of the legs is often necessary. Here at Ingliston we can offer your group a unique change of scenery, from a leisurely stroll around the picturesque estate or the opportunity to take a tour of our stable tours and even meet our resident Alpacas.

We are very aware of our carbon footprint and take steps to ensure it is reduced, from our investment in solar panels generating our energy, to the poly-tunnels which grow the plants, vegetables and flowers that are used in our kitchen and events, alongside our recent addition of our electric car charging points. We understand the importance of these initiatives to our many guests, colleagues and their families and we have made it our mission to run our business as ethically and environmentally conscious as possible.

To enquire please call: 01505 864 333 or e mail events@ingliston.com Visit our website: www.ingliston.com

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Situated in beautiful Renfrewshire countryside with views overlooking the River Clyde and Old Kilpatrick Hills yet less than 10 minutes from Glasgow Airport, Ingliston is the perfect location for all your corporate needs.

As well as offering six unique Meeting and Conference Suites that can accommodate between 12 to 500 delegates there are many other reasons to consider Ingliston as your company’s venue of choice.

Ingliston Country Club & Hotel Ingliston Estate, old Greenock Road, Bishopton, Renfrewshire PA7 5PA 01505 864 333 events@ingliston.com /inglistoncountryclub @ingliston @inglistoncountryclub

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Business Matters Winter 2019

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January

Burns Piper Samuel Riss, St Columba’s

March

February

Burns Speaker, Martin Cassidy

Michelle Ferguson, Scotlands Bravest Manufacturing Co

April Graduate Apprenticeships, UWS

Lynne O’Hare, Advanced Forming Research Centre

March Lunch, Jonathan Hinkles, MD Loganair

April Lunch, Ian Henderson, Save Coats Memorial

Charity 2019, Paisley YMCA

Charity 2019, St Vincents

Johnny Mone, UWS

May

B2B 2019

B2B, Lagoon, May 2019

May Lunch Liz Connolly, Principal & Chief Exec , West College Scotland

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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June

June Lunch with Brian Costello, Headstrong

Meet the Leader, Cllr Iain Nicolson

August

Aug Pitch & Roll, Abbeymill

Golf Champion Gary Donnelly, Team Mabbett

October

Eddie Robertson, MD Morrison Construction

Lord Thurso meets WCS Students

September Lord Thurso, VisitScotland

November

Launch of Renfrewshire Economic Strategy 2020-2030

SkyAdsmart with David Montgomery Media Monty

SkyAdsmart with Kevin Park KPC Films

Cabinet Sec Derek Mackay MSP, ROCCO 2019

Chamber Team, ROCCO 2019

November Lunch, Bob Davidson, DYW West

ROCCO 2019 winners

Business Matters Winter 2019

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RENFREWSHIRE ROARS AT ROCCO AWARDS 2019 A sell-out crowd of 500 people cheered wildly as 17 outstanding winners were crowned at ROCCO 2019 on Friday 15th November at the Normandy Hotel Renfrew. Renfrewshire’s largest black-tie business event, now in its 16th year welcomed PAISLEY.IS as returning main sponsor. Chamber President Tom Johnston outlined the chamber’s achievements in the last 12 months and the audience were greeted by St Columba’s School Pipe Band.

Sponsored by:

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

ROCCO host Fred MacAulay

25

Chamber President Tom Johnston

Cabinet Secretary for Finance Derek Mackay MSP spoke as a special guest and emphasised the economic success and future investments coming to the area, highlighting the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District with enabling works underway close to Glasgow Airport.

Renfrewshire Council Chief Executive Sandra Black gave the principal sponsor address and profiled the new Economic Strategy for Renfrewshire 2020-2030 featuring investment and opportunities in the area with increased job growth, new house building and Renfrewshire as a great place to live and work. The audience were encouraged to download the strategy on specially designed Paisley. is memory sticks given to every guest.

The ROCCO raffle raised an outstanding ÂŁ10,000 with an individual pledge of ÂŁ1500 from intu Braehead for local charities and good causes with main beneficiaries Accord Hospice and STAR Project’s “Chin-Upâ€? initiative for the young men of Shortroods.

The audience were held spell-bound by the enchanting performances of Scottish Opera’s Emerging Artists: Soprano Charlie Drummond, Scottish baritone Arthur

Cabinet Sec Derek Mckay MSP

Sandra Black, Chief Exec, Renfrewshire Council

Bruce and pianist Michael Papadopoulos.

Their talent was met with thunderous applause as the audience showed their appreciation. Rocco favourite Fred MacAulay hosted and was enthralled by

Michael Papadopoulos, Scottish Opera

all three performers. ROCCO’s twitter wall and social media generated a reach of 1.8 million impressions on twitter and reached 385,000 accounts with #2019Rocco trending on the night...

The 17 ROCCO winners were:

ROCCO Award for Excellence in Customer Service – sponsored by Scottish Leather Group

Taste Buds Paisley

ROCCO Award for Developing the Young Workforce – sponsored by DYW (West)

City Gate Construction

Making leather without costing the earth.

Scottish Leather Group Limited Locher House, Kilbarchan Road, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, PA11 3RN Scotland T: +44 (0)1505 691725 enquiries@scottishleathergroup.co.uk

www.scottishleathergroup.com

Continued overleaf...

Business Matters Winter 2019

26

The 17 ROCCO winners were:

ROCCO Award for Excellence in Manufacturing

ROCCO Award for Innovation & Technology

– sponsored by Advanced Forming Research Centre

– sponsored by Creation IP

Howden Compressors

Scotland WE PROTECT OUR CLIENTS Safer AGAINST CRIME

Ltd

USING TECHNOLOGY TO SAVE MONEY WHILE IMPROVING YOUR SECURITY.

DELIVERING IN CONSTRUCTION, RAIL AND NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

BESPOKE SECURITY SERVICES USING TECHNOLOGY, TAILORED TO OUR CLIENTS’ REQUIREMENTS.

SECURING HIGH VALUE ASSETS DEPLOYED IN REMOTE OR TEMPORARY LOCATION CURRENTLY PROTECTING OVER 1 BILLION IN ASSETS.

OUR MISSION IS TO MAKE SCOTLAND A SAFER PLACE TO LIVE, WO

0141 354 Gold Member

ROCCO Award for International Trade – sponsored by Glasgow Airport

Terumo Aortic

ROCCO Award for Most Promising New Business – sponsored by Renfrewshire Council

Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company

www.saferscotla

ROCCO Award for Invest in Renfrewshire – sponsored by Invest in Renfrewshire

Paisley Autocare Ltd

ROCCO Award for Renfrewshire’s Favourite Business – sponsored by Paisley Daily Express.

Pace Theatre Company

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

27

The 17 ROCCO winners were:

ROCCO Award for Excellence in Tourism

ROCCO Award for Family Business of the Year

– sponsored by Paisley Is

– sponsored by the Malcolm Group

Ingliston country Club & Hotel

Open Road Scotland

“ I’d like to update my professional qualifications ” West College Scotland offers a range of professional training and development courses to help you update your skills.

THE ROYAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

INSTITUTE OF SCOTLAND

First Aid

Clydebank Campus 0141 951 7555 Greenock Campus 01475 553 044 t

0300 600 6060

ROCCO Award for Young Business Person of the Year

ROCCO Award for Employer of the Year

– sponsored by Rolls-Royce

– sponsored by West College Scotland

WE PROTECT OUR CLIENTS AGAINST CRIME

Ryan Clark – Safer Scotland

Paisley Campus 0141 581 2121

w www.westcollegescotland.ac.uk

Rolls-Royce

USING TECHNOLOGY TO SAVE MONEY WHILE IMPROVING YOUR SECURITY.

RYAN CLARK DELIVERING IN CONSTRUCTION, RAIL AND NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE.

MANAGING DIRECTOR

BESPOKE SECURITY SERVICES USING TECHNOLOGY, TAILORED TO OUR CLIENTS’ REQUIREMENTS. SECURING HIGH VALUE ASSETS DEPLOYED IN REMOTE OR TEMPORARY LOCATIONS, CURRENTLY PROTECTING OVER 1 BILLION IN ASSETS.

OUR MISSION IS TO MAKE SCOTLAND A SAFER PLACE TO LIVE, WORK AND INVEST.

0141 354 1570 Gold Member

www.saferscotland.co.uk

ROCCO Award for Community Champion – sponsored by Engage Renfrewshire & Royal Bank of Scotland

Rays of Hope

ROCCO Award for Outstanding Performing Business with 5 or fewer employees – sponsored by intu Braehead

Aillum Ltd

Business Matters Winter 2019

28

The 17 ROCCO winners were:

ROCCO Award for Outstanding Performing Business 5-25 employees

ROCCO Award for Outstanding Performing Business >25 employees

– sponsored by University of the West of Scotland

– Sponsored by Terumo Aortic

Lochlie Construction Group

Commenting on the Awards, Chamber chief executive Bob Grant said “What a night! ROCCO 2019 was a record breaker with over 115 entries for this year’s awards. Raising £10,000 for our two chamber charities is tremendous and thank you to all who donated a raffle prize.

A huge thank you to all our sponsors with a heartfelt congratulations to all our shortlisted companies and 17 worthy winners.

Special thanks to our Main Sponsor Paisley.is retuning for a second year. Driving the renewed vigour in our visitor economy and attracting global interest in Paisley & Renfrewshire. The profile of The ROCCO’s continues to grow with a reach of 1.8 million impressions on twitter and reaching 385,000 accounts with #2019Rocco. It reflects the outstanding companies we have in Renfrewshire.

You can view all images on our Facebook page and comments on #2019Rocco. I encourage all Rocco winners to utilise their win across their PR channels. Thank you to the entire Chamber team for all their work before and on the night to ensure our 500 guests had a great time. Special thanks to principle sponsor Paisley.is, Diageo who supplied our drinks reception, Cameron Presentations & Gap TV for all the AV, Mark from Flash Bang Booth, The Printbrokers for the program, Gary from NS Design for the excellent social media coverage and the Normandy Hotel for the superb meal and service. Thanks also to St Columba’s School Pipe Band who welcomed guests in such style.

Finally, thank you to Scottish Opera. It was a privilege to watch performances from three 2019/20 Emerging Artists: Soprano Charlie Drummond, Scottish baritone Arthur Bruce and repetiteur Michael Papadopoulos. Planning for Rocco 2020 is already underway, and we hope to see you enter and attend next year.”

St Columba’s School Pipe Band

Diageo Drinks Reception Team

Wholesale Domestic Equipment Company Ltd

ROCCO Award for Business Leader of the Year – sponsored by Diageo Plc

Andrew Colquhoun – CEO, Doosan Babcock

Scottish Opera Charlie Drummond & Arthur Bruce

George Adam MSP, Liz Cameron CE SCC, Bob Grant CE RCC & Tom Arthur MSP

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

29

Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for a Healthy and Prosperous 2020 From all the staff and Board at Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce

www.renfrewshirechamber.com an 1st Ne d ne w co tw m nt or em en ki b t i ng ers n ou lun ge r m ch t ag fre az e in e

Get your business off to a great start in 2020…

Join Renfrewshire Chamber before the end of January and save 25% Access discounted products & services including:

• networking events • marketing channels • business mentor • lobbying • HR & legal • health • export documentation • merchant services • meeting rooms

www.renfrewshirechamber.com Jill Carino, Deputy CEO on 0141 847 5450 or JCarrino@renfrewshirechamber.com

Renfrewshire Chamber “Helping Renfrewshire grow & prosper since 1964”

Business Matters Winter 2019

30

New Members On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Chamber staff, we would like to welcome onboard the following new members.

Aberlour Child Care Trust

Finding Your Feet

Iain Hill Ltd

Childrens Mentoring Charity George Bryce 0141 260 9180 george.bryce@aberlour.org.uk

Charity Support Amputees Fiona Conway 0141 258 4868 fiona@findingyourfeet.net

All In Business Solutions Ltd

Epic Wellbeing Services Ltd

Confectionery, Soft Drinks Wholesale Supplier Iain Hill 01505 684499 enquiries@iainhill.co.uk

Business Consultancy Sandra McGreechan sandra@all-inbusinesssolutions.co.uk

Mental Health & Wellbeing Angela McCafferty 07483 859072 info@epicwellbeing.co.uk

Curves Paisley Fitness Siobhan Kavanagh 0141 889 6867 curvespaisley@icloud.com

Elite Contract Furniture

Forward Asset Finance Ltd Business & Person Finance David Howat 0141 885 4288 david@forwardassetfinance.co.uk

Lux Contract Flooring Limited Contract Flooring Linda Roche 07961550497 linda@luxcontractflooring.co.uk

NK2 Business Consultancy Kay Anderson / Namiki Ikeshima hello@nk2consultancy.co.uk

Contract Furniture Manufacturer Greg Winston 0141 429 1124 greg@elitecontractfurniture.co.uk

ChamberCustoms delivers a customs declaration service for UK importers and exporters • A high level of compliance and assurance for customers • Confidence on tariff and data entry to remove fiscal risk; backed by the technical expertise of the market leader in this sector • A wealth of international trade experience and expertise from across the trusted Chamber of Commerce network UK. Contact Laura Connor lconnor@renfrewshirechamber.com or Carol Griffiths cgriffiths@renfrewshirechamber.com

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Business Matters Winter 2019

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Rays of Hope As a direct response to the growing specific needs of people living within the local community, Rays of Hope was established in August 2015 as a community outreach project run

by East Gate church in Elderslie, Renfrewshire.

Aimed at anyone with a cancer diagnosis, we offer a safe confidential environment where people can openly discuss their cancer experience with others sharing a similar journey. We provide a variety of services geared at improving the quality of life. These include: exercise sessions, a walking group, social activities, craft and art classes, cookery classes, a community choir, holistic therapy, counselling.

Having been the recipient of the Community Champion Award at the recent ROCCO Awards event, Rays of Hope is not only delighted and somewhat humbled by this recognition by our peers, but it also gives us encouragement beyond measure to go forward with exciting plans for the future.

Beginning with a small group of 6

meeting at the church, our membership quickly grew necessitating a move into our own premises in March 2018. Since then we have continued to rapidly grow and have now outgrown our premises.

Planning permission is currently being sought to build an extension on the additional grounds that we have been given. If successful this will provide extra space for all of our activities as well as our own car park.

Obviously such exciting plans require money as well as assistance in the build.

To help meet our needs we have created ambitious fundraising events in 2020, all of which would benefit greatly by corporate sponsorship.

In the past we have enjoyed success through organising events such as the Rainbow Bridge Walk, Vintage Afternoon Tea Parties, and, the most successful, annual Ladies Lunch. In all these instances, we have been fortunate to attract excellent media coverage which obviously not only raises our awareness but also provides good Public Relations for our sponsors.

By far our biggest fundraising activity in 2020 will be our first Rays of Hope Ball scheduled to take place on October 24th at the Doubletree by Hilton in Glasgow. We are anticipating an exciting evening with music provided by the sensational Anchormen Jazz Orchestra, as well as a glittering raffle. Sponsorship opportunities for the Ball are many and varied from as little as £400 up to £10,000!

For details of these sponsorship package opportunities please contact Linda O’Malley on 07941044934; or, if you would like to book a company table please email: raysofhope2015@outlook.com

Up & Coming Events

SATURDAY

24TH OCTOBER

See our events section on our website: www.renfrewshirechamber.com • 0141 847 5450 events@renfrewshirechamber.com AGM and Christmas Lunch, Glynhill Thurs 19th December 11.30am -2.15pm AGM – 11.30am-12pm – free members only.

Christmas Lunch 12pm-2.15pm Members £35+vat Non members £45+vat Entertainment & Raffle for Accord

Doubletree Hilton Glasgow

3 Course Dinner

The sensational Anchormen Jazz Band Glittering Raffle Auction & much more

£750 Table of 10 Sponsorship Packages Available

Janurary Burns Networking Lunch Thurs 23rd January 12pm-2.15pm Ingliston Hotel & Country Club Members £30+vat Non-Members £40+ Includes Burns Speaker & Burns Singer To book contact Laura lconnor@renfrewshirechamber.com ROCCO 2020 Friday 20th November, 6.30pm to late Normandy Hotel with Host Fred MacAulay facebook.com/renfrewshirechamberofcommerce Follow the chamber:

twitter.com/renfrewshirecoc

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

33

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Business Matters Winter 2019

34

Renfrewshire Council Updates:

Paisley Autocare is investing in Renfrewshire

Family-owned auto repair specialists Paisley Autocare scooped the Invest in Renfrewshire award at this year’s ROCCO awards.

The firm – under the ownership of the Convery family for the past 10 years signed up to the Invest in Renfrewshire programme in December 2015 and has since worked tirelessly to offer opportunities to those looking to get into employment.

Offering at least five work experience placements each year, Paisley Autocare has given enthusiastic and motivated people with a passion for the automotive industry the opportunity to learn new skills and grow their confidence in a working environment.

Working with the Invest in Renfrewswhire employability team, the business has also job opportunities for unemployed young people. Trainee car valeter and administrator positions have been filled, and modern apprenticeships provided for a mechanic and spray painter, all supporting young people into a new career.

At the same time, Paisley Autocare has grown from a small mechanical repair shop to a state-of-the-art garage and bodyshop boasting some of the most advanced auto repair technology in today’s market.

Do you remember when someone gave you a chance in employment that got you where you are today? We all do! Join businesses such as Paisley Autocare in creating better futures. Call the Invest in Renfrewshire team on 0300 300 1180 to find out more.

Here’s how Arts Centre will look after £2.8m transformation

Images showing how Paisley’s iconic arts centre will look after a £2.8m transformation have been revealed including a new extension and public space at the heart of Paisley’s nightlife district.

The Paisley Arts Centre stage has hosted some of Scotland’s biggest names in the three decades since the 250-year-old former church building was converted into one of the country’s most vibrant small entertainment venues.

The building is being upgraded as part of a wider investment in Paisley’s venues and outdoor spaces aimed at using the town’s internationally-significant cultural and heritage story to change its future.

Here’s what’s being built: • a redesigned public space around the arts centre, removing railings and bringing the street to the building creating a new outdoor area for events and for people to dwell; • how the building’s location at the junction of New Street and Shuttle Street means it is perfectly placed to add new vibrancy to the surrounding already-busy nightlife area; • a new-build extension to the existing entrance - creating more room to expand facilities inside - including an improved café-bar; • improved auditorium with retractable seating offering a capacity of 150

(seated) and 200 (standing) and creating the flexibility to offer more events, bringing more footfall to the town; • better audience and performance facilities - retaining the intimate atmosphere the building is known for but adding more comfortable seating with better legroom, improved sightlines, better sound and lighting, upgraded toilets, and better disabled access and facilities; There will also be new back-of-house facilities expanding what the building can do and making it more attractive to performers - including a new kitchen, improved dressing rooms, and workshop space for rehearsals and other events.

When’s the work being done?

The arts centre is due to close in summer 2020 to allow the transformation to take place, and is expected to reopen in summer 2021.

While the arts centre had a number of improvements to the outside of the building in 2012 the facilities inside had become outdated and needed more than a makeover to change that - but the planned work will create 21st-century facilities inside the historic building.

The project is being taken forward by Renfrewshire Council and the venue will continue to be operated by Renfrewshire Leisure Ltd.

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Renfrewshire Council Updates:

Green light for £42m Paisley Museum project as planning permission granted

Plans to turn Paisley Museum into a world-class destination expected to bring huge volumes of new life and footfall to the town centre have taken a step forward.

Planning permission is now granted for the transformation of the Category A-listed Victorian building into a leading European museum telling the unique stories of a town known around the world for the Pattern which carries its name.

Building work will now start in 2020 on the reimagined museum, expected to draw audiences of 125,000 people a year - almost four times current numbers from Scotland, the UK and abroad when it reopens in 2022.

What’s being built?

• a fully-accessible entrance courtyard and dramatic red glazed entrance

hall, creating a dynamic and inviting presence on the High Street and a contemporary face for the museum; • a new wing to the west of the existing building providing step-free access through the museum to the Coats Observatory (the oldest public observatory in Scotland); • an attractive outdoor garden, creating a new public space for the town, and opening up previously-hidden views of the observatory while reconnecting it and the museum to the town’s High Street; • internal renovations to improve accessibility and circulation and extend the museum into the space formerly occupied by Paisley Central Library, allowing the museum to more than double the number of objects on display to 1,200; • an interactive weaving studio keeping

alive the town’s traditional textile skills; The Paisley Museum Reimagined scheme is the flagship project within Renfrewshire Council’s £100m investment in cultural venues and outdoor spaces - designed to use the town’s internationally-significant cultural and heritage story to change its future.

The project is expected to create a £79m boost for the local economy over 30 years, with 138 jobs supported during construction, and 48.5 jobs per year through revenue and visitor spending.

It already includes Round One funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with funding confirmed from the Scottish Government, and their Regeneration Capital Grant Fund.

Paisley Museum Reimagined Ltd has been set up as a new fundraising company to oversee the project’s fundraising strategy and capital appeal.

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Renfrewshire Council Updates:

Paisley Halloween Festival scoops gold at top tourism awards

The award-winning Paisley Halloween Festival has scooped another top prize after it was named Best Cultural Event or Festival at the 2019/20 Scottish Thistle Awards West Scotland regional finals.

Organised by VisitScotland, the awards celebrate innovation, excellence and success in the Scottish hospitality and tourism sector.

The popular event in Renfrewshire Council’s annual calendar picked up the award for its 2018 festival, which saw crowds of over 34,000 people flock to the town across two days to enjoy an action-packed programme of spectacular aerial performances, thrilling live acts and a Mardi-Gras style parade with more than 500 costumed performers.

Inspired by the town’s dark and deathly 17th century witch history, the enhanced theme of ‘Something Wicked this Way Comes’ thrilled visitors from all over Scotland.

The festival was also one of the major events as part of VisitScotland’s Year of Young People 2018 celebrations, with young people at the heart of the festival’s development and delivery.

A 20-strong Youth Panel worked alongside Renfrewshire

Council’s Events Team to design and deliver the programme, while more than 500 young people took part in a new creative learning programme. This provided young people with the opportunity to participate in all aspects of festival from performance to live event management and technical production.

Paisley Halloween Festival was among 15 winners in the Regional Finals for the West last week - including businesses and individuals from Greater Glasgow & The Clyde Valley, Ayrshire & Arran, Dumfries & Galloway and Argyll & Bute - and will now go on to the prestigious National Final on March 5, 2020.

Gordon Smith, VisitScotland Regional Director, said: “Congratulations to Renfrewshire Council on winning Best Cultural Event or Festival for Paisley Halloween Festival at the Scottish Thistle Awards regional finals. Taking over the streets of Paisley every Halloween, the Festival has become one of the most hotly-anticipated events in the region’s calendar, which this year welcomed record crowds and was supported

by EventScotland’s National Events Fund. I wish the team the very best for the national finals in March.

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Renfrewshire Council Updates:

On target to deliver 1000 affordable homes

New affordable housing developments right across Renfrewshire are providing properties “of all shapes and sizes for families to grow and people to prosper.”

That’s according to Renfrewshire Council’s Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Board Convener Councillor Marie McGurk as she welcomed news the Council is on target to deliver more than 1000 affordable homes by 2021.

The newly approved Strategic Housing Investment Plan sets out plans in partnership with local housing associations to increase the supply and range of properties in Renfrewshire for social rent and low-cost ownership.

The report highlights more than 300 affordable homes have been built since 2016 at developments in Linwood, Paisley and Renfrew. A further 370 properties are scheduled for completion by March 2020 followed by 400 new homes by March 2021.

Most recently, Sanctuary Scotland completed a £6.2million development

transforming the site of the former Co-Op supermarket in Paisley’s West End into popular energy-efficient properties for social rent.

Natasha-Ann Mccalman moved into her 3-bedroom house at the development in February with her 7-year-old daughter Islay and 4-year-old son Tee-Jay. “It’s a dream house for us,” said Natasha-Ann. “We like the spaciousness, it has state-ofthe-art facilities and the kids really love the garden. My son has autism and with everything on the one floor it gives him the freedom he needs. Sanctuary have been brilliant with me if I’ve ever any questions and being in the west end of Paisley is a good location too, close to the bus links and right next to the town centre.”

Council-led developments well under way include at Johnstone Castle and Dargavel Village, Bishopton. Next year sees several developments led by local housing associations, with Sanctuary Scotland and Paisley Housing Association working jointly on 131 homes for social rent and low-cost ownership in Glenburn,

while Williamsburgh Housing Association are building 18 one and two-bedroom homes for social rent in Kilbarchan.

Major housing-led regeneration projects are also progressing well in Paisley’s West End and the Tannahill area of Ferguslie Park.

Councillor McGurk said: “The fantastic new development in the west end of Paisley is just one example of our collective commitment together with our housing association partners to provide high quality affordable homes of all shapes and sizes for families to grow and people to prosper.

“I’m delighted that we’re on track to build 1000 affordable homes by 2021 and it’s particularly pleasing to see these homes designed to meet both current local needs and those of future generations.

“As well as newbuild developments we are investing in our existing housing stock to ensure all council tenants have well-maintained energy efficient homes to be proud of as we make Renfrewshire an attractive place to live and work.”

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Renfrewshire Council Updates: Residents urged to support traders by Spending Local Residents are being urged to support local traders – by Spending Local in Renfrewshire.

Research shows around 65p from every pound spent in the local area stays in the local area - supporting local jobs and services.

So Renfrewshire Council launched a Spend Local campaign to encourage residents and staff to do just that – and members of the Johnstone Business Consortium became the latest to sign up, joining Paisley First, who are already backing the campaign.

The area has lots of independent businesses of all types and sizes - so the council is working with local business groups to promote what they offer and take some practical measures to encourage local trade. Spend Local posters and window stickers are available to any Renfrewshire businesses for display.

Here’s some reasons to Spend Local: Stacey Thomson, owner of the Pet Shop in Houston Court and a member of the Johnstone Business Consortium, said: “Johnstone has got a variety of different businesses. Because we are local to you we know what you are looking for you can come in and chat to us. So it’s like shopping with friends - we get to know your names and what you want.

“It’s important to Spend Local because if you don’t use the shops you will lose them. You can chat to people and get the knowledge and experience they have rather than buying online where you are faceless.

“Money spent in your local community stays in the local community rather than going abroad to some multinational

company instead. It helps everything work the way it should - it keeps money here, it keeps jobs here, and it supports the services you need.”

Stacey was joined by the owners of two long-standing familyowned Johnstone businesses - Allan Henderson of Henderson’s Flowers and Carole McLellan of R Brown’s Shoe Repairs and Key Cutting.

If you own a business and would some Spend Local posters or window stickers to display in your own premises, please email hello@Paisley.is

Invest in…

Creative Industries

Business & ICT

Childcare, Social Care and Health Care

Construction, Manufacturing, Security and Logistics

Customer Service

Jobs | Training | Skills | Recruitment

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

www.paisley.is � ��

39

Business Matters Winter 2019

40

Manage your Business Risks I have worked in heavily regulated industries for many years and seen, first-hand, the unhealthy tension between managing operational and regulatory requirements whilst working hard to deliver sales and service to customers.

Balancing your business risks and complying with regulations such as GDPR can be a heavy burden for any business, but the cost of not managing those risks could be far higher. For your business, its reputation and more importantly, your customers.

At All In Business Solutions Ltd, we can deliver GDPR, Operations and Project support without adding the cost of a full time salary to your budget. From one off projects to full GDPR implementation, we can offer packages that work for you.

Our GDPR Health Checks are a great start to getting fully compliant. Why not book a free initial consultation today?

Contact Sandra McGreechan on 07809166442 / Sandra@ all-inbusinesssolutons.co.uk www.all-inbusinesssolutions.co.uk

THE GLYNHILL HOTEL A stalwart of the local community, The Glynhill Hotel turns 50 in 2020.

The Glynhill is a multi-functional business hub that can accommodate anything from two, up to four hundred delegates. The Hotel’s fully integrated conference and banqueting suites have been meticulously designed to provide the perfect location for all events, offering AV equipment, free on-site car parking and free unlimited superfast Wi-Fi. Ideally located with excellent motorway links just 200 yards away, and with public transport on its doorstep, The Glynhill is easily accessible no matter your mode of transport.

A full service hotel with 147 contemporary bedrooms, two restaurants and bars, and full leisure facilities – included in any overnight stay at The Glynhill!

Over the past 49 years The Glynhill has been the preferred conference venue for many of Renfrewshire’s finest companies; to find out what the hotel can do for you contact 0141 886 5555.

Acorn Carpet Cleaning Acorn Carpet Cleaning is a family owned business based in Paisley and were shortlisted for the ROCCO’s Family Business of the Year 2019. We specialise in delivering professional cleaning solutions for carpets, rugs, hard flooring and upholstery.

Since 2015, we have been leaving businesses and households across Renfrewshire looking and smelling refreshed. Liam Hardy and Scott Rankin are trained cleaning technicians and members of the NCCA (National Carpet Cleaning Association). Our technicians use a process known as Hot Water Extraction with the latest technology in the industry to guarantee a high-quality clean and effective stain removal.

Please contact 0141 212 0212 or email info@ acorncarpetcleaning.co.uk for a free, no-obligation quote.

Visit our website www.acorncarpetcleaning.co.uk for more information and to view examples of our work.

For all your Conference & Corporate Events

Great central location: Glasgow Airport under 5 minutes, and within 10 to Glasgow City.

• Facilities for up to 400 • 11 fully integrated conference suites • 147 modern rooms • Full leisure facilities • Choice of restaurants & bars

Bespoke deals and packages tailored to meet individual needs. www.glynhill.com tel: 0141 886 5555 • email: annette@glynhill.com Glynhill Hotel & Leisure Club, 169 Paisley Road, Renfrew, Glasgow, PA4 8XB. 200 yards from M8 Junction 27.

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Gift the Gift of Everything with an intu Brahead Gift Card 114680 - BH Gift Card Ad 130x180 v3 RM.indd 1

Planning gifts for employees, customers or clients? An intu Braehead Shopping Centre Gift Card is the perfect gift as it gives them the gift of choice. With their intu Braehead gift card they can choose to go to their favourite shop and spend, spend, spend, or take the family to a big day out at Soar. With a choice of activities such as the cinema, skiing, snowboarding, bowling as well as plenty of delicious restaurants – there’s no limit to what you can do!

By providing them with the choice, they’re more likely to remember the positive experience you’ve given them.

We know that not everyone is the same. An intu Braehead gift card as a gift means you appreciate everyone has different tastes - you’re not limiting it to gender or age. There’s something for everyone at intu Braehead. Don’t allow yourself to rely on guess work for you or your team. You can simply issue gift cards knowing that whoever the recipient is, they’ll have something to spend it on.

114680 - BH Gift Card Ad 130x180 v3 RM.indd 1

27/03/2018 12:11

The Benefits: • No need to send staff out to collect gift cards from shops • Free delivery for ordering blank gift cards online • No more loaded gift cards sitting in cupboards you simply load up as and when you need them - which means there is no risk associated with storing loaded gift cards in your office • The Hub can be accessed from any device at any time • Easy to view and download reports To find out more search intu Brahead gift cards online or pop into centre and speak to customer service at their kiosk on level 2.

27/03/2018 12:

27/03/2018 12:11

Business Matters Winter 2019

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MacRoberts’ Corporate Finance Team Highly Commended at the British Legal Awards One of Scotland’s leading law firms, MacRoberts, has been recognised at the British Legal Awards for the third year running.

The Corporate Finance team was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the M&A Team of the Year category at the prestigious ceremony in London.

The British Legal Awards are the leading awards for the UK’s business law community, acting as a platform for the achievements of the best lawyers in the UK. Hosted by Legal Week in association with The City of London Law Society, the ceremony was attended by over 700 top lawyers from the UK’s legal community.

All the winners are decided by an independent judging panel, chaired

by Edward Sparrow, Chair of the City of London Law Society.

MacRoberts, the only independent Scottish firm recognised at the awards, enjoyed this success on the back of a very positive year for the firm. The fast growing Corporate Finance team has had a record year acting in over 123 deals worth in excess of £600m.

These deals spanned a large number of sectors and a wide range of deal values, involving both ends of the spectrum, from large PLCs to some of Scotland’s most ambitious start-ups, including BAM Properties, Black & Lizars, Breedon Aggregates, Equitix, Renaissance Care, Renewi Group and Together Energy.

It is not only the Corporate Team that is going from strength to strength. Despite an unstable political landscape, MacRoberts enjoyed a

Alan Kelly, Head of Corporate Finance

12% rise in profits and a 4% rise in turnover for the year 2018/19. This was against a backdrop of continued investment in people, best available technology, flexible working practices and fairer remuneration structures.

This is not the first time MacRoberts has been recognised at these awards. The Real Estate team won Property Team of the Year (2018) and the Commercial Team was highly commended in 2017.

Neil Kennedy, Managing Partner said, “Being recognised at a national level amongst magic circle firms each year for the last three years is an amazing achievement for us.

The Corporate Team continues to impress with their achievements and I am really proud of them. Our recent tender wins and pleasing financial performance is testament to the hard work by everyone at the firm.”

Alan Kelly, Head of Corporate Finance, said, “We were delighted to be ‘Highly Commended’ at the British Legal Awards. We have worked extremely hard over the last 12 months and enjoyed considerable success and growth. This is a great end to a great year and we are really looking forward to seeing what 2020 will bring.”

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Doosan Babcock With almost 130 years of history in Renfrewshire, Doosan Babcock is part of the fabric of the local community and takes great pride in making a positive impact on the area from supporting local good causes to fostering close relationships with schools.

Located at Westway in Renfrew, the company provides specialist engineering services to critical infrastructure around the world in the power generation, oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and industrial sectors. The decades of history and innovation have been made possible by the thousands of local people who have trained, developed and contributed to the success of this industrial success story.

The promotion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects to help attract a pipeline of young people to the engineering industry is something the company invests significant time and effort in.

To this end Doosan Babcock recently hosted a group of S3 pupils from Renfrew High for 2 day visit as they conducted a business partnership challenge project.

The group of 30 students were split into two teams and worked with STEM ambassadors drawn from a range of departments to design a guide for Doosan Babcock STEM visits for future school visits to the company.

The opportunity to raise awareness of engineering and the huge variety of employment opportunities available in the industry can start even younger and one of Doosan Babcock’s young engineers and STEM ambassadors, Neil Brackenridge, has been supporting an award winning and internationally recognised STEM partnership project at Brediland Primary in Paisley. He recently took his CEO and former Brediland pupil Andy Colquhoun back to the school to help the school celebrate its 60th birthday and to congratulate the school on the project.

The company has even extended its STEM outreach work to the toddlers at the Cherry Centre nursery in Renfrew with the donation of a STEM Wonderlab.

You just never know, the next great Scottish inventor could be inspired by learning from their new toy.

Beyond the work to inspire the next generation to consider a career in engineering, Doosan Babcock is also very active supporters of local charitable causes. For over 3 years they have provided accommodation for the main base for the Renfrewshire Food Bank on

the company premises at Westway. They also regularly carry out food collections among colleagues and volunteer to support food bank collections at local supermarkets.

For 5 years now the company has arranged a day of volunteering for staff known as the Doosan Day of Community Service. The event sees thousands of Doosan staff around the world donate a day to support local good causes. In and around Renfrewshire, the people have supported a variety of good causes

including the women’s aid refuge, nurseries and nursing homes.

Andy Colquhoun, CEO of Doosan Babcock commented: “Growing up locally and working for the company for over 30 years I am very aware of the strong ties we have with the local community in and around Renfrewshire. I’m very proud of the contribution we make through our STEM and CSR activities and look forward to maintaining and developing these in the years ahead.”

Business Matters Winter 2019

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SCHOOL UPDATES: EMPLOYABILITY NEWS AT SAINT BENEDICT’S HIGH SCHOOL S1 Teambuilding Event

In September, all S1 pupils took part in a teambuilding event at the On-X Leisure Centre. This was delivered by the Royal Navy and Marines and pupils worked in groups to solve problems. The pupils had a great experience and lots of fun while also developing their teambuilding, communication and decision making skills. A great day for all involved (the teacher’s “smashed” the teamwork challenge!) Many thanks to the Navy and Marines for their continued support.

Twitter Are you aware that we have an Employability Twitter page? This is used to tweet employability visits and opportunities such as Modern Apprenticeship vacancies, career opportunities and work experience placements. Follow us at #StBensCareers

Ralston Primary

5 Star DWF Programme

Construction Opportunities

Twelve S4 pupils have recently attended the DWF offices in Glasgow for 3 sessions working with staff and mentors. The aim of the sessions is to allow aspirational pupils to unlock their potential and develop their confidence and employability skills to become more work ready. The pupils are were also given advice on their CVs and feedback following a mock interview. We are very grateful to have this opportunity for the young people and feedback has been very positive. Many thanks to DWF for all their support.

Two senior pupils have been attending West College Scotland one morning each week to take part in “taster” courses. These have included Painting & Decorating, Bricklaying and Joinery to date. They also attended an on-site visit to a demolition company and had the opportunity to use VR equipment to “demolish” a building. This allowed the pupils to find out more about the different roles within the Construction Industry and speak to staff about their careers, pathways and employment opportunities.

SECC Careers Event – Skills Scotland

30 senior pupils attended the Skills Scotland Careers Event at the SECC. More than 30 employers, colleges and universities were in attendance and pupils had the opportunity to find out more about possible career pathways. Pupil feedback was very positive and this was a very worthwhile visit for the young people.

We have recently had an event in October, (Developing the Young Workforce Week) where we had a number of workshops and visitors to speak to the children.

We also had a trip to a farm to learn about careers in agriculture as well as a careers fayre where children had to speed network to interview employees to guess their job. The children also enjoyed ‘Dress as Your Career Day’ where they dressed for work for a career that they were interested in.

Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper

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Bishopton Primary

St Fillan’s Primary School - Renfrewshire Foodbank

Through developing skills for learning, life and work the P1, P2/3 and P7 pupils of St Fillan’s Primary school in Houston have raised a fantastic £50 for Renfrewshire foodbank.

P1 decorated and filled plant pots, whilst learning all about what plants need to grow and the parts and functions of a plant. P2 made beautiful festive snow globes thinking about what designs they think would be most popular and Primary 7 created tie dye t-shirts learning all about profit and loss. After selling our products at the school Christmas Fayre and paying back our original investments Primary 7 agreed to donate the profits to Renfrewshire Foodbank to help those less fortunate than themselves enjoy a happy Christmas.

St Fergus’ Pupils Light Up Christmas with their Pop-up Shop SAINT

FERGUS

A group of Primary 5 pupils at Bishopton Primary have been engaging with a sustainability initiative, self-named Project 31, hosting a ‘fast fashion’ awareness event for primaries 4 – 7.

Pupils planned a variety of activities to educate their peers on the topic – including an interactive quiz, a Top Trumps creation game, and a map to plot the origin and travel journey of clothing.

Pupils also learned how to upcycle old t-shirts into scarves and scrunchies before teaching peers.

Watch this space to see how pupils continue to tackle the global issue of ‘fast fashion’ next term!

Dear Partner, We would like to invite your company/organisation to exhibit at the Johnstone High Careers Event on Thursday 16th January 2020. Your presence at this event will open our pupils’ eyes to the many career options available to them, not only within the local community, but nationally. It is our intention to showcase varied career pathways to our young people through participation of businesses and organisations from different sectors and disciplines. We have many talented pupils at Johnstone High School and are passionate about providing them with as many opportunities to secure positive destinations in the future.

We hope you will be able to support our young people in their journey.

Please find information about the event below. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the following member of staff.

Amanda Carlin, Principal Teacher of Employability (gw13carlinamanda@glow.sch.uk) Johnstone High School Beith Road Johnstone PA5 0JN 01505322173

Pupils from St Fergus’ Primary have been busy putting Science in to action to raise money for charity. Primary 6 and 7 pupils used their knowledge of electricity to create Light Up Christmas Cards, alongside a host of other craft items, to sell at their charity pop-up shop.

The creative pupils were keen to devise a charity enterprise and as they worked on circuit building during Science lessons the idea simply popped into their heads.

“It was tricky and we had to work at problem solving, but they look amazing”, commented Brooke Muir.

Event timings: 8.50am

Access to assembly hall to set up

9.40am

S5/6 pupils visit event

General Information: Tea, coffee and water will be provided.

10.45am

S4 pupils visit event

11.35am

S3 pupils visit event

Please indicate how many people from your organisation will be attending.

12.25pm

S2 pupils visit event

1.15pm

Event finishes

Ample free parking is available.

For those travelling by train, Milliken Park is the closest station and is within walking distance of the school.

Your Exhibit: Please bring along display materials that will encourage pupils to visit your stall and ask questions about your industry. If appropriate, please bring along prospectuses, leaflets, photographs, banners, interesting equipment that you make use of etc.

If you require us to provide anything for this please let us know. E.g. power for electronic equipment, additional display space etc.

Acting Director of Children’s Services: Steven Quinn Council Headquarters, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley PA1 1TZ Website: www.renfrewshire.gov.uk

Business Matters Winter 2019

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Young Enterprise update The Young Enterprise Company Programme Xmas Trade Fair took place at intu Braehead 4th December.

16 teams from across Renfrewshire, East Ren & Inverclyde took part displaying the products the senior phase school teams have designed and brought to market with support from their teacher and business adviser.

Prizes that were awarded were: Banter Awards: • Roisin Deighan from Tie Revive / St Andrew's Academy • Matthew McGinn from Put a Cork in it / Inverclyde Academy • Laweeza Khan from Collapsible / Mearns Castle HS Best display stand: • Runners up: Finesse from Belmont House & Renco from Renfrew High • Winner was Resail Sounds from Notre Dame HS Bob Davidson, chair of YE Renfrewshire commented “Thank you to intu Braehead for hosting and judging

Resail Sounds from Notre Dame HS in Inverclyde with Paul Lucas, intu Braehead Operations Manager

again this year and well done everyone involved, once again a high standard of products on display. The area finals are next, 12th March at The Normandy in Renfrew. Thank you to all the judges,

teachers, business advisers, pupils and my fellow volunteer Board members for all their support with YE in 2019. Best wishes to everyone for a great Christmas and a healthy and happy 2020”.

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47

DYW West update

Bob Davidson, DYW West Programme Director, our Foundation Apprenticeship work placement pupil Ruari Brierton from Williamwood High School and Bob Grant RCC CEO.

DYW West recently held its largest event of the year, “STEM West” at West College Scotland, with 40 hands on employer led STEM activities for 500+ S3 year pupils from across our region.

Thank you to all the employers that supported the event and we were delighted to welcome the Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, Jamie Hepburn MSP along who commented “STEM is an integral part of our future

Pictured left to right: Minister Jamie Hepburn MSP, Andrew Bowman DYW West Chair, Bob Davidson DYW West Director, Liz Connolly West College Scotland Principal & Philip Briscoe, Director with Dunbartonshire Chamber

economic and social development, and it is vital that we nurture strong relationships between employers and educational establishments through the DYW programme. This event is a wonderful opportunity to do that and for young people to explore the opportunities STEM subjects offer.”

Bob Davidson DYW West Director was the speaker at the Chamber’s November Networking lunch. During his talk Bob

covered a number of topics including: Workforce planning / Apprenticeships / Greenpower / Growth sectors & future skills / Millennials / Marketplace & Founders4Schools. We were delighted a good number of organisations offered to get involved on the day.

Please remember to follow us on all social media channels and to get involved with what we do please email info@dywwest.co.uk

Can you

support DYW in 2020?

DYW West (covers Renfrewshire, East Ren, Inverclyde & West Dunbartonshire) are seeking employers of all sectors and sizes to help young people get more prepared for the world of work.

This could be yourself or a development opportunity for staff.

Examples include:

• Give a class talk • Mentor a small group of young people • Support a careers event

• Host a talk & tour at your workplace • Offer a work experience / placement • Offer an apprenticeship

• Sign up to Founders4Schools • Put an opportunity on Marketplace • Run a competition

Help bring the curriculum to life and get involved with DYW West in 2020.

Together we can make a real difference.

Contact us at info@dywwest.co.uk

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