Business Scotland 19

BusinessScotland Scottish Chambers of Commerce Magazine

Scotland’s businesses innovate through unprecedented times

As a values-based employer we celebrate diversity Working to keep Scotland connected long after Covid-19 Inverness companies collaborate to make 1,000 face-shields

Scottish Chambers of Commerce

SPRING2020

COVID-19: WE ARE HERE TO HELP In these challenging times, we’re here to support serving personnel, vulnerable veterans and their families.

EMERGENCY GRANTS FOR INDIVIDUALS LEGAL AND EMPLOYMENT ADVICE HELPLINE 24/7 EMOTIONAL SUPPORT HELPLINE AND COUNSELLING ONLINE WELLBEING ZONE TELEPHONE FRIENDSHIP GROUPS AND CHECK & CHAT CALLS

FREECALL 0300 102 1919 rafbf.org/covid19

The RAF Benevolent Fund is a registered charity in England and Wales (1081009) and Scotland (SC038109).

BusinessScotland

CONTENTS

SPRING 2020

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9 24

14

48 6 7

8 12

AS A VALUES-BASED EMPLOYER WE CELEBRATE DIVERSITY

13

WE’RE WORKING TO KEEP SCOTLAND CONNECTED

14

HOW CGI IN SCOTLAND IS BLAZING A TRAIL TO ATTRACT AND TRAIN CODERS

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INNOVATIVE MOBILE TEAM HELPS KEEP FERRIES RUNNING

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DEDICATED TO QUALITY PERSONAL HOME CARE INVERNESS COMPANIES COLLABORATE TO MAKE 1,000 FACE-SHIELDS PICTURE A FUTURE WHERE YOUR OFFICE IS DESIGNED AROUND YOUR NEEDS SCOTRAIL RECOGNISED AS A TOP EMPLOYER 2020

Scottish Chambers of Commerce Business Partners

Front cover image: The Kylescu Bridge crossing Loch a’ Chàirn

48 49 50 69

AYRSHIRE CHAMBER LEAPS INTO THE NEW DECADE CAITHNESS CHAMBER TO DELIVER SINGLE-USE PILOT PROJECTS IN 2020 EXCITING E-COMMERCE OPPORTUNITY WITH ALIBABA GROUP’S TMALL PLATFORM OPENING THE DOOR TO OPPORTUNITIES

Has the Covid-19 Pandemic turned your business upside down

Harnessing Digital To Pivot Your Business During these unprecedented times, of societal change there has never been a better opportunity for Scottish Company’s to digitally transform their business.

The Digital Development Loan is a Scottish Government initiative, providing you with the support you need to digitally transform your business, evolve your services, develop resilience, increase your digital capacity, digital capability and the digital skills of your workforce.

To check your eligibility and apply

www.digitaldevelopmentloan.org Email : apply@digitaldevelopmentloan.org

0% Interest Loans from ÂŁ5k - ÂŁ100k 5 year repayment term No early repayment term

FOREWORD

Welcome to our first Digital-only edition of the Business Scotland magazine Few could have predicted the impact the coronavirus outbreak would have on our communities and our economy. It is indeed unprecedented and has turned our everyday lives upside down.

As Scotland’s largest business network, we know that even if lockdown eases, there are still some big economic challenges that we will need to address, in partnership with business and government. Throughout this crisis, the Chamber Network has mobilised to provide business support and advice to Scottish businesses, as well as raising the business issues directly with the Scottish and UK Government. Both Governments have provided unprecedented levels of financial support to companies which has helped to keep our people in jobs and has protected businesses from closure. But we know the direct financial support will have to continue even once lockdown eases as recovery will take some time. That support should be focused on preserving jobs and activity within the economy, including measures to provide no or low-interest bridging help; trade finance; working capital loans with flexible and deferred terms; tax relief; loan payment relief; rent/lease relief; grants; wage subsidies

for SMEs; skills and training; business support interventions; and fast-tracking infrastructure investment projects. We are making this case on your behalf to the Scottish and UK Government.

Since the pandemic took hold, we have been inspired by the great stories of innovation from companies across Scotland who have worked hard to respond to this crisis. In this edition, I am pleased to showcase the tenacity and ingenuity of our members, our Chambers and our Partners. Take ‘Project Corran,’ which brought together two innovative companies based in Inverness.

Combining the talents and capability of both companies they were able to rapidly engineer vital protective equipment. Then there’s Matugga Distillers which halted production of its unique range of artisan rums in favour of creating hand sanitiser as the demand from frontline workers and local healthcare providers increased. And West Lothian Chamber member, Lucerne

Tim Allan

President, Scottish Chambers of Commerce Scotland, who share their story of how they have delivered personal care through this crisis.

Yes, challenges do lie ahead. But if business and government work together in partnership, we will see light at the end of the tunnel.

Featured Stories and Contributors John Holland-Kaye

Malcolm Roughead OBE

Edinburgh BioQuarter

Angela Crolla

Andy Maxtone

Caithness Chamber of Commerce

Guillaume Chesneau

Inverclyde Chamber of Commerce

Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce

CEO of London Heathrow Airport

Director, Lucerne Scotland Ltd

Managing Director of Nespresso UK and Ireland

Chief Executive, VisitScotland

Programme Manager at Developing the Young Workforce Inverness & Central Highlands

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BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

As a valuesbased employer we celebrate diversity

By Malcolm Roughead OBE Chief Executive, VisitScotland

VisitScotland is a values-based employer and we are working to put diversity at the heart of everything we do. Whether it’s the warmth of the welcome extended to all our visitors, making better decisions as an organisation, or adding to our reputation, diversity is essential.

Tourism is everyone’s business. This is a well-used adage when describing the visitor economy, but is even more true when used in connection with people. Tourism is, after all, an industry all about people; delivering experiences, connections and long-lasting relationships.

So, by promoting diversity in VisitScotland, we can help make sure that diversity is embraced across the tourism sector and is a key element of each visitor’s experience of Scotland.

In the last 18 months VisitScotland has taken major steps forward in tapping into workplace diversity. Our 600 employees are our greatest asset, all offering a variety of different perspectives, skills and experiences, which is of great value in planning and delivering our business goals.

VisitScotland’s Leadership Group

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was expanded to include all Heads of Departments, bringing together a much wider group of individuals. The results of doing this have been clear, with increased creativity, higher levels of innovation and faster problem solving.

To accelerate this we also created a Future Leaders Group made up of younger colleagues.

The Future Leaders Group includes members from all directorates in VisitScotland and gives a voice to younger staff member, who don’t normally feed into or influence organisational initiatives and decisions.

This group is proving invaluable in looking at VisitScotland’s work through the prism of youth, bringing fresh ideas and helpful to our internal decision making. Which amongst other things includes getting our promotion strategy to younger visitors and visitors of the future right.

Ultimately it’s all about creating the conditions for better decision making.

Researchers consistently find that diverse teams making business decisions outperform individual decision-makers. This gives organisations embracing diversity a competitive advantage.

Businesses and organisations with a diverse workforce are generally more inclusive of different individual characteristics and perspectives. Last year we published our Equality Strategy. Entitled ‘Our People’, it shines a spotlight on what we have

achieved in engaging with the whole staff base. By using film, photos, case studies and animation we tell our story which puts diversity and equality at the centre of all we do.

We also recognise the value of higher rates of employee engagement in our Strategic Framework, as we work to move VisitScotland as an organisation through good to great to world-class.

The link between workplace diversity and employee engagement is straightforward; when employees feel included they are more engaged and, as well as achieving better results, this helps us retain our talent.

By committing to building and promoting diversity here at VisitScotland we are increasingly seen as a responsible organisation. Which is good for our reputation as an employer, which in turn, I believe, makes us look more interesting place to work, boosting our recruitment results amongst top talent and our diversity.

Increased diversity in our workplace will help us on our path of success. Our diverse workforce also mirrors the diversity of the millions of visitors who come to Scotland each year. They come to find and enjoy the very best destinations and experiences delivered by passionate and diverse people.

BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

We’re working to keep Scotland connected long after COVID-19, but the industry needs your help At the start of the year many businesses, ours included, showcased the work we were doing to ensure that this would be a year unlike any other. Only four months in, it’s quite clear that couldn’t have been more true, but not at all in the way any of us expected.

By John HollandKaye CEO of London Heathrow Airport

Prior to this outbreak our sector thrived.

At Heathrow, we celebrated increased passenger traffic to Scotland, boosted by Hogmanay festivities and progressed our plans for carbon neutral growth by funding a regenerative carbon offsetting project near Dundee.

Across the UK, airports reported unprecedented demand. Airlines prepared to launch new routes to untapped markets which would take British goods to more parts of the world and bring back tourists and inward investment to our beautiful isles.

This feels like a lifetime away from our present reality, but as recently as January our industry was breaking passenger traffic records, announcing investments in the passenger experience and gearing up for even more growth as consumers and businesses alike set out to make the most of global connections.

By the end of January, the narrative had already begun to shift, as the aviation industry felt the first warning ripples of the initial outbreak, working with health officials on enhanced monitoring measures, and reacting to the first travel restrictions.

These initial piecemeal restrictions suddenly turned into widespread travel bans and grounded fleets, as this infection spread to more countries, impacted more industries, and became a pandemic.

These concerns quickly impacted the UK’s own domestic connectivity when FlyBe, Europe’s largest regional carrier, collapsed overnight after a fall in bookings. The airline connected Heathrow to Aberdeen and Edinburgh, helping Scottish businesses and passengers access over 180 global destinations, with plans to boost these connections even further following our airport’s expansion.

Although load factors have decreased and the footfall in departure lounges has dropped, airports continue to have a crucial role in the fight against COVID-19 and many in aviation are working around the clock

to keep vital supply lines open, supporting the nation’s effort in the battle against this pandemic.

Airports have always been instrumental in the delivery time-critical and temperaturesensitive goods. This is why Scottish salmon is one of Heathrow’s top exports and 41% of the UK’s pharmaceutical imports arrived at our airport last year. Now, the role of air freight has become even more crucial, as key industries pull together during this difficult time to keep Britain’s supply chain moving, enabling frontline NHS workers to get the equipment they so desperately need, just as the service is scaled up to overcome the biggest challenge of our generation.

As a hub airport, we also play a crucial role in the swift and effective repatriation of British citizens. We stand ready to work hand in glove with the airlines, other UK airports and the Government to make this process as safe and efficient as possible, but this will be challenging at best, and impossible at its worst without additional assistance.

Even though our sector’s revenues have seen their steepest declines since records began, our costs have remained static and significant, threatening to cripple airports, airlines and the many businesses which make up the ordinarily prosperous aviation ecosystem.

The Edinburgh-based ground handling company Menzies Aviation has already warned of their potential collapse, unless they’re given a much-needed lifeline. This means that without additional support, a company which serves as the glue for both airports and airlines alike could cease to function, severely hindering our industry’s ability to support in the effort against Covid-19.

Scotland’s unique geography also makes the need for air connectivity even more pressing as connections to the nation’s offshore industries and island communities are more important now than ever.

During these unprecedented times, Heathrow is working to play our part, by prioritising flights with medical supplies and scaling up our cargo operations to ensure all corners of the UK are well equipped in the fight against this pandemic. We are also determined to support Scottish airports and airlines where we can as we navigate this dynamic situation.

one example of this. This week, we have welcomed the Glasgow-based carrier to our airport for the first time in its 58 year history, as the airline works to keep open lifeline air services between London and the Isle of Man even after the closure of their usual base at London City airport. Our teams have worked with the airline to ensure a smooth operation throughout this crisis, but more intervention is needed to maintain these essential routes that many depend on. Hopefully with the right measures we can guarantee that we continue to see Loganair’s tartan tailfin on the tarmac long after COVID-19 has relinquished its grip on the world.

Once the country has overcome this crisis, connectivity will be the catalyst that restarts the economy and kickstarts growth.

Holyrood has shown tremendous forethought by deferring business rates, and we implore Westminster to follow their example, as this move helps to offer our industry some support during this turbulent time. But more needs to be done to protect this sector and the many businesses that depend on it. Any alternative could prolong this pandemic’s impact on our economy, jeopardising an ordinarily successful industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people and puts Scotland’s exports on the map.

Many commentators are pointing to the early warning signs of this pandemic that were not heeded. This needs to serve as a lesson to us all, that we can’t afford to ignore the early warnings on climate change either. As we start to think about the path to recovery and how we will restart the economy, we need to consider how we can build back better. For aviation, these considerations could be how can we accelerate the development of sustainable aviation fuels, which are critical to decarbonising flight.

This is a sector in which Scotland could be a global leader, using its natural resources and low-cost energy to create a new export sector in synthetic and biofuels. With a bold, pioneering vision, we can ensure that when the now grounded fleets take to the skies again, our industry and our country will be stronger, more resilient and greener once this war is won.

Loganair’s arrival at Heathrow is just

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BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

How CGI in Scotland is blazing a trail to attract and train the next generation of coders When Lindsay McGranaghan became Business Unit Leader in Scotland for CGI last October, the global IT firm’s Scottish delivery centre was already a beacon of innovation within its operations.

Based across Glasgow and Edinburgh, the centre had been working with the company’s clients delivering major programmes and roll-outs.

However Lindsay said that, as with every project, sometimes it is best to step back and look again at the capabilities of any part of a business before taking two steps forward.

So Kirsty Ramsay, Vice President, Consulting Delivery at CGI, was tasked with examining the accounts CGI was servicing, such as councils and Scottish Government work.

And they discovered there was also one particular area filled with potential.

Lindsay said: “We had an emerging tech area focusing on coding. This area had great potential for designing and promoting Intellectual Property. We were thinking of solutions to clients’ problems and being able to solve them by the design of their own IP.” Lindsay said she had noted just how quickly the IT landscape is changing and attracting the best young talent was crucial to CGI’s own development in Scotland.

Both she and Kirsty pinpointed the need to move forward on what work CGI would be carrying out, the type of people they needed to carry out that work, and what CGI could do to stretch them.

She said: “Although we already have apprentices who are currently in their first year at university, and a few final year students who are due to present their dissertation in June, we are always trying to attract young talent.”

Lindsay could see that taking outreach services into Scottish schools to find the next generation of coders was the way forward, and that being connected to those bright young sparks recruited to CGI’s offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and the Borders was the way forward.

She said: “As I’m watching and listening to the team I’m actually learning and keeping my own skills alive.

“They also help connect all of us with the CSR activities that are going on in CGI. One of those is working with female founders and young entrepreneurs.

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“One project that has come on more recently is Digital Xtra. It’s a charity that works with children from around the age of four to 16.

There are coding clubs and other associated activities to inspire them and make sure that, no matter where they come from, these children have the same opportunities. We are one of the partners but it’s a Scottish Government initiative.”

CGI also works on a project alongside Skills Development Scotland, which involves taking industry into schools. Lindsay said: “I’ve talked to a lot of people in government here and they talk about the mass exodus at graduation time. Graduates still go to London or abroad, so we need to create opportunities where people can start their careers here. With the workforce that we have, I want to make sure that their jobs are interesting and relevant.”

However, Lindsay pointed out that CGI’s push to find the next generation of young coders was not at the expense of the development of its more mature, experienced members.

She said: “I have a developer who joined us a year ago whose career had been in chemical engineering. He put himself through his master’s degree in software development.

“We have benefited greatly from his maturity and commercial experience, while he has benefited from being part of a development team in a global IT company.”

Lindsay believes that the younger members of her team are filled with the dynamism and energy that is expected from the beginning of a career.

But she added: “The people who might be coming to the end of their careers are still demanding those fulfilling jobs that give them that intellectual stretch.

“Experience is something that cannot be overlooked. The more mature team members are some of the best testers because of their eye on detail.”

The delivery centre is now seeing an increase in enquiries. “Customers can see the quality of the people that are sitting in the unit in Scotland, and that we can really compete with the offshore and nearshoretype models now.”

Meanwhile, Kirsty and her team have set about building on the foundations of the centre with a renewed focus on IP design, supporting not only accounts in Scotland, but right across the UK. Lindsay said: “We have kept quite a similar shape. We still have the testing function, but we also have partnerships with a couple of coding tool providers. We’ve also been moving more into automation, performance and partnering with testing tool providers and looking at new coding tools. This means we’ve been carrying out quite a bit of upskilling and retraining, as well as recruiting around these posts.”

Currently the centre is looking not only to bring the Java developers up to the next grade but also to introduce different coding software such as .net and C#.

Lindsay said: “We are supporting some big accounts and on the emerging tech front, we recently launched our first piece of IP. This has been the result of working in partnership with Glasgow City Council to provide an app for teachers that allows them to be able to measure and check the progress of students.”

She says CGI also requires specialist consultants and business analysts who can work with clients to identify new opportunities in areas such as RPA Discovery.

“What we’ve done at the centre is taken a group of our business analysts and retrained them on the first part of their thinking, because the tech landscape is changing rapidly.

“But the speed of evolution that we’re experiencing is something like the Industrial Revolution. When I’m sitting having conversations with people about robots and automation, there’s nothing science fiction about it.

“Initially, that could sound quite daunting, but when you start to break it down you can see the benefits that it’s going to bring to a lot of organisations.”

Emerging talent is crucial to CGI’s plans and its multi-generational workforce is key to not only providing clients with the best possible service but also creating a team that can learn from one another.

BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

I’ve talked to a lot of people in government here and they talk about the mass exodus at graduation time.

Graduates still go to London or abroad, so we need to create opportunities where people can start their careers here.

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COVID-19

How smart cities are fighting Covid-19

As a result of Covid-19 many of us have embraced technology to keep connected to our families, friends, teachers and work colleagues. However, few of us will be aware of how emerging technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) – a key building block of smart cities - is being deployed to eradicate the virus, get us back to work safely and to kick start the global economy. This article, the first in a series, analyses the many ways in which IoT has been deployed in the fight against Covid-19 and the role of policy makers in stimulating investment in IoT. Robots at the frontline Since the start of the pandemic, the World Health Organisation has indoctrinated a clear and consistent message to clean, sanitise and disinfect regularly.

Consequently, mainstream and social media is populated with images of workers dressed in protective gear sanitising tourist landmarks, office buildings and city streets.

However, using people to sanitise buildings and streets is operationally intensive and resource expensive.

Connected autonomous robots are being deployed at the frontline to remove these operational overheads. Self-driving WiFi connected robots are using ultraviolet (UV) light to reduce the spread of infectious diseases. UV light (specifically UVC) is thought to kill vira, bacteria, and other types of harmful organic microorganisms in the environment by breaking down their DNAstructures. Now in high demand Denmark’s

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UVD Robots, for example, are being deployed in hospitals, government buildings, offices, hotels, airports and universities providing relief for overworked healthcare teams and workers.

Is tracking the solution?

Contact tracing apps are one solution being used to support governments ease lockdown restrictions. It works by using Bluetooth to perform a digital ‘handshake’ when two users come into close contact. It then alerts people if they have been in close contact with someone who later reports positive for Covid-19. While contract tracing apps are still being tested in the UK, dozens of governments around world from East to West have deployed them.

Apps are also being used to enforce quarantine measures on travellers arriving from other countries. In Hong Kong for example, you will be issued with a wrist

band and a QR code upon arrival, and be instructed to download a ‘StayHomeSafe’ mobile app. The app uses Bluetooth, cellular, WiFi and GPS to ensure you remain in place during your quarantine period.

Similar mandatory ‘quarantine apps’ have been launched in Argentina India, South Korea, Poland and Russia.

Mobile network operators (MNOs) are also using novel methods to curb the spread of Covid-19. Swiss telecoms giant Swisscom, at the request of the government, is using anonymised cellular location data to manage crowds and enforce social distancing measures. Swisscom will alert the authorities when more than 20 phones are detected in public spaces of around 10,000 square-meters (100 metres by 100 metres).

Other MNOs have also agreed to share mobile phone location data with authorities (including the European Commission) to track the spread of the virus.

COVID-19

Early warning systems

Getting people back to work

IoT systems in conjunction with clever software can used to warn of a potential second peak. Data collected from ‘connected thermometer’ provider Kinsa and plotted on HealthWeather map shows that there is a clear correlation between detecting abnormal body temperatures and Covid-19 related deaths. Detected early enough preventative action can be taken to warn of a potential second peak

While technology is being used to directly curb the spread of virus, it is also being used to kickstart the economy. Given the devastating impact of the virus upon our economies, Governments are eager to ease lock down restrictions and get people back into work as soon as possible, but safely. In response to the need for greater worker protection a number of companies such as Triax Technologies have developed connected wearable devices that can be work on hardhats or clothing provide distancing alerts. Devices worn by workers emit a progressively louder alarm, alerting workers when they are too close to each other enabling them to stay safe by adhering to social distancing measures. These devices use low power networks such as WiFi, LoRaWAN or bespoke mesh networks to communicate with each other.

or to prevent the outbreak of any future pandemics. Data from health tracking wearables such as Fitbit, Apple and Google have also been used to predict potential influenza outbreaks in the past.

Thermal imaging cameras can also be used to detect abnormal temperatures.

As part of its IoT portfolio, Vodafone in the UK for example, has introduced a heat camera to detect people’s temperature as they enter buildings with the ability to detect the temperature of 100 people per minute.

These thermal images can be streamed wirelessly in real time over a 5G network to a laptop or mobile device which can create alerts upon detecting abnormal temperatures which can then be further investigated if necessary.

The future IoT is at the heart of the global fight against Covid-19. Not only is IoT pivotal in killing and containing the virus, investment in IoT and supporting digital infrastructure can kickstart and sharpen economic recovery.

Therefore, it is more important than ever for policy makers at local, regional and national level to start planning their smart city and IoT strategies.

Iqbal Singh Bedi is a Director at Intelligens Consulting. Iqbal has been digital and telecoms advisor to public and private sector clients for 25 years and is well known to policy makers and telecoms operators.

Among many telecoms firsts, he is the only consultant to have advised Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson, and senior ministers, devolved administrations and local authorities on telecoms policy and investment.

Intelligens Consulting is a boutique telecoms advisory offering investors, local authorities, operators and policy makers with technical, strategic and commercial advice, globally on fibre, 5G, IoT and other telecoms technologies.

Contact info@IntelligensConsulting.com www.IntelligensConsulting.com Twitter @IntelligensHQ or @IqbalSBedi

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COVID-19

From gin to hand sanitiser gel You will have seen lots of Gin Distillers assisting with the demand for Hand Sanitiser. We have been extremely quiet on the social media whilst working to set up our production to assist in these difficult times.

This is to meet the demand of frontline services – NHS, Emergency Services, Schools, Care Homes, Food Producers, Care Staff etc.

There are absolutely no plans to retail this directly.

To be clear: For our safety and yours do not come to the distillery.

If you are a representative of frontline services please contact us on info@avvascottishgin.co.uk

We would also like to recognise that this was very much a team effort with the following

companies assisting to get our production up and running:

with our region we can point you to a local producer in your area.

Macleans Bakery, Forres, Walkers Shortbread, Aberlour, Moravian Printers, Elgin & Inverness, AM Detailing, Elgin and Tan International Ltd, Scotland Food & Drink, HMRC, HSE, British Distillers Association, Moray Chamber of Commerce, Gin Cooperative

In the meantime, we would like to reassure our customers that we have ample stocks of our gin made and ready to go, which we will continue to sell on our website for now.

In order to prioritise the production of the sanitiser, all deliveries will now be shipped

by Parcel Force.

We can also advise you that chemical companies have significantly increased their capacity with Ineos launching a new plant specifically to production of Hand Sanitiser and also Scotch Whisky Association implementing measures to assist with supply. This is an exceptional time where currently in some areas there is an immediate shortage of an essential PPE in the fight against Covid19. Our production is to assist in our locality. If you are out-

This has been an amazing effort by our sector in times which we need to collectively support each other. Our buddies at Pickerings perfect put ‘We are proud to stand among our peers in the distilling industry, doing what we can to support those who need it most.’

This will pass – if you’re going through hell, keep going (Winston Churchill) And when it does, please do come & visit our new Tour & Tasting Days at our Distillery.

Innovative Mobile Team helps keep ferries running West coast ferry operator CalMac has recruited a new Mobile Maintenance Team to improve the resilience of its fleet.

Although the ferry operator is currently operating to a 95% reduced capacity due to the Covid-19 crisis, it still needs to provide reliable lifeline services across 26 routes to island destinations.

The introduction of the new team is the latest innovative approach by the company to address the on-going challenges of operating an ageing fleet with an increasing number of sailings.

The seven-strong team comprises electrical and mechanical engineers, along with hydraulic specialists.

The team will be tasked with carrying out planned maintenance to vessels in-service, as well as being a flexible resource that can be deployed immediately

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to support on-board engineers with any technical issues.

Last year CalMac’s 33-strong fleet carried more than 5.3 million passengers and 1.4 million vehicles across 26 islands and remote mainland locations in some of western Europe’s most inhospitable waters – this represents more than 130,000 sailings last year.

‘We are operating with an ageing fleet which is increasingly being stretched.

We need to continue to find new ways to maximise our vessels operational resilience and have invested in a new team that will help mitigate potential problems before they escalate into something that impacts on service delivery,’ said CalMac’s

Managing Director, Robbie Drummond.

The team will carry out specialised inspections, monitoring and proactive maintenance, working closely with the on-board engineering and vessel management teams to proactively identify and resolve technical issues. The aim is to minimise service disruptions due to avoidable technical issues and reduce the routine maintenance that would normally take place during annual overhaul.

‘With our vessels setting sail around 360 times every day, this team has the mobility required to complete planned maintenance when and where it is needed on the network minimising disruption to service due to technical issues,’ added Robbie.

COVID-19

Dedicated to quality personal home care

By Angela Crolla

Director, Lucerne Scotland Ltd

Matt and I saw this coming and prepared as much as we could.

We employed 15 more staff on a temp basis in January and early February to increase our support network to try and minimise client care disruption.

To date, we have not cancelled any calls, we are at normal service levels and we have also picked up new clients through this pandemic.

We also acquired extra PPE and although it was absolutely nowhere near enough, what it did mean was that in especially the early days , we at least had gloves and aprons that other companies could not get. As the pandemic progressed and stocks were used, we then, like every other care company, had to go out with begging bowls to find adequate supplies.

I think this is the reason why, to date, we have had NO CLIENTS test positive for

Covid-19 and only one carer, who was isolated as soon as she became ill.

We have never sent carers out to do care, if they are feeling ill, they stay home, even before this pandemic and we have increased our already very high infection control measures.

We have paid over the odds for PPE but at no time have our guys delivered any care without the basic PPE, but we never have had the gowns, visors and PFF3 masks that are required by all staff within the NHS .

Matt and I have always been very proud of each and every one of Lucerne’s carers but gosh even more so now.

The team work, camaraderie, pulling extra

shifts, going the extra mile, being the main and sometimes only contact for the most vulnerable people in our community, this is what we do . Carers have honestly told me that even if they did not have PPE, they would still go out and do care. That their clients needed them, they would never let them down - these guys are true heroes.

Matt put a suggestion to the Scottish First Minister to issue every carer with a medal.

This is a war and regardless of how careful we can be and what protection we can give, these magnificent carers know they are still risking their lives to save others.

I can honestly say that Matt and I have never been so proud to be part of the care community in West Lothian.

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COVID-19

Inverness companies collaborate to make 1,000 faceshields and design for open-source manufacture Two innovative companies based in Inverness have joined forces to meet the current urgent need for PPE. 4c Engineering and Aseptium are neighbours in HIE’s Solasta House facility on the Inverness Campus who contacted the local hospital to see if their combined design and rapid manufacturing capabilities could be used to tackle a range of key challenges.

Their offer to produce face shields was take up by the ICU team at Raigmore. This started Project Corran (taken from the Gaelic for crescent, the shape of the face shield when viewed from above).

Working to a clear brief, the team designed the simplest method of providing face protection that would be robust, secure, comfortable and could be rapidly manufactured in volume.

Part way through the design process, the supply chain challenge increased due to national lockdown which severely curtailed material availability, however led by the Inverness Chamber of Commerce, the business community rallied and went to extra lengths in providing materials.

After sourcing materials and refining the design throughout the week, a meeting was held on Friday 27th March where the first prototype was presented to Raigmore ICU and Infection Control staff – they were happy with it exactly as it was, and gave the green light for 1,000 units Under the organised leadership of 4c’s Jenny Allen, the Project Corran team worked right through the weekend in shifts of staff and volunteers, and the first 200 face shields were delivered to Raigmore on Monday 30th March.

The Corran design is simple, and unlike alternatives does not require 3D printing – it is made of four commonly available

I congratulate Chamber members 4c Engineering and their partners on an outstanding and remarkable achievement. It has been great to work with them to help source materials and local suppliers.

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components. The design is being made freely available and can be found on this link https://bit.ly/33YS9Ju with full manufacture guidance. The only requests are that design credit is given, modified designs have an equally open license and that manufacture is non-profit. Wider adoption is already underway; Lochgilphead-based Midton Engineering have taken the design, had it approved by hospitals in Oban and Mid-Argyll and are now moving into manufacture.

Commenting on the project, Peter MacDonald, Director of 4c Engineering said: “The end result of this engineering, procurement and manufacturing challenge is a simple and efficient design, however this is the result of considerable applied innovation to mitigate the supply chain constraints.

Although national procurement of PPE has been progressing at pace, we were able to ensure that the ICU in Raigmore, our local hospital, was well provided with the first 1,000 Corran face-shields and as we’ve made it open-source we hope that the lessons we’ve learned can be applied by makers across the country and beyond.”

Dr Liz Cameron OBE, Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce said: “We are extremely proud of the work that the

members within our Network are doing during this crisis. It’s great to see businesses like 4C Engineering and Asepium continue to show initiative and innovation throughout these challenging times – it’s these acts of kindness and selflessness which give the business and wider community hope.”

Stewart Nicol, Chief Executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce added: “I congratulate Chamber members 4c Engineering and their partners on an outstanding and remarkable achievement.

It has been great to work with them to help source materials and local suppliers. The delivery of a substantial quantity of this vital equipment to help NHS Highland deal with the challenge of COVID-19 in such a short timescale is outstanding. To make their design ‘open source’ is a credit to everyone at 4c Engineering and it is fantastic to see innovative Highland businesses leading the way.”

Thanks to the following companies and organisations: Supplies & Materials: Dunelm Mill, James Dow, Highland Office Equipment, Porex Technologies Ltd Volunteers & Advice: HIE, SMAS, LifeScan, Glenmore Lodge, Inverness Chamber of Commerce, Varrich Engineering

COVID-19

Scottish distiller joins the battle against Covid-19 Livingston based Matugga Distillers is the latest Scottish spirits company to halt the production of its unique range of artisan rums in favour of creating hand sanitiser as the demand from front-line workers and local healthcare providers increases.

Crowdfunder campaign and are incredibly grateful for the generous support which will enable us to help the community’s most vulnerable.

Husband and wife team, Jacine and Paul Rutasikwa, have produced their first batch of hand sanitiser in line with the recommended World Health Organisation (WHO) formulation and process, with an extra added ingredient of the ‘heads’ from their rum production.

The couple are donating over 1,000 litres of liquid hand sanitiser to key front-line workers after the launch of a successful Crowdfunder campaign. St John’s Hospital in Livingston, The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, GP surgeries, community nurses, health centres and district nursing teams, nursing homes, children’s residential homes, home care services, Police Scotland front line officers, West Lothian fire stations, Royal Mail Livingston Delivery Office, the West Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership, Royal Bank of Scotland Food Bank Donation Centre - are

just some of the beneficiaries who have received the critical supply.

Matugga Distillers Co-founder, Jacine, said: “Finding a novel way to tweak our production line to support our NHS heroes on the front line is the least we can do in such uncertain times. We have been overwhelmed at the response to our

“It has been humbling to see distillers of all sizes from across Scotland come together in a bid to use their facilities and agility to help people fight against coronavirus. Our hearts go out to everyone impacted and we hope that our offering can help to make a difference. “We ask for people not to come to the distillery to collect the hand sanitiser because of social distancing reasons, but we will organise delivery to as many people as we can.”

Jacine and Paul’s six-year-old daughter, Mahya, has also got involved in the family’s efforts and has designed the rainbow-bearing packaging which will be distributed in 5 litre containers.

Business information and advice on coronavirus Visit FindBusinessSupport.gov.Scot for all the latest information on support for your business.

FindBusinessSupport.gov.scot helps Scottish businesses find the right information, advice and support at the right time. It is a partnership between Business Gateway, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland.

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RACE TO ZERO

Electric Cargo Bikes: Best for the planet – best for your business More and more businesses are opting for electric cargo bikes. But why?

The Technology Traditional cargo bikes didn’t traditionally have an electric assist. That means to get up the hills, cycling required both leg power and sweat. Not ideal if you were making deliveries all day or if you were on your way to a meeting. Thankfully, those days are gone. The electric assist is there for a reason – start pedalling and the assist gives you a helping hand (or leg) to make long or hilly journeys significantly easier. The brakes are very reliable and pretty effortless. The bikes are also easy to manoeuvre and handle round winding roads and city junctions.

The Cost In pretty much all urban areas of Scotland, parking is an issue. Whether it’s staff parking or parking vehicles when making deliveries or attending meetings, it costs a surprising amount just to have your vehicle remain stationery at the kerbside.

The Environment

Types of Electric Cargo Bikes

The current pandemic has inadvertently made us appreciate the advantages quieter roads can bring, and we all want safer and less polluted cities for ourselves, but especially for our children. Why shouldn’t your business be part of the solution and not the problem?

There are two main types of electric cargo bikes: bikes with load carrying ability at the front and bikes which can carry bigger loads on the back.

That’s all very good but is an electric cargo bike an actual alternative to a business vehicle?

It depends. If you’re in the business of delivering sofas, you can’t easily switch to an electric cargo bike – although Sustrans recently moved their entire London office using only pedal power so nothing is impossible! However, if you regularly carry loads of around 200kg (31 stone, 6 lbs) or less, switching to an electric cargo bike is definitely possible. And remember, the electric assist does give a substantial help so while you do need to keep pedalling, it’s a world away from the old sweat and tears of getting you to your destination. Plus, as no licence is required, any member of staff can ride it – an excellent way of adapting to unplanned staff absence, last minute meetings or deliveries.

And that’s only one aspect you can save on if using an e-cargo bike. Our infographic (above) gives you a cost comparison, so you can see for yourself the savings on fuel, insurance and of course the initial outlay cost too (especially when you consider the benefits of an interestfree loan from Transport Scotland which is repayable over four years).

There are other savings that might not be quite as obvious. Multiple studies have found that on average, employees who exercise regularly take fewer sick days than their non-active colleagues. Using an electric-cargo bike provides staff an easy way to exercise without having to over-exert themselves (unless they want to of course).

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If you’re not in the delivery business, electric cargo bikes can replace pool cars or even the need for employees to use their own vehicle when visiting clients. Laptop, projector, product samples? Easy with an electric cargo bike! Brand it up and you’re advertising your company wherever you ride.

Looking more like traditional cargo bikes, the Riese & Muller (above, right) range carries its load on the front (but you can add panniers on the back for even more space). This front load space can be used in multiple ways including a fixed box or a platform to which you can attach your own carriers.

The Tern GSD S00 (above, left) carries most of its cargo at the back of the bike (although there is load capacity on the front too).

It’s the same length as a regular bike and can be stored on its end or fit in a car. This makes it a very practical and versatile bike.

Come and see our range of electric cargo bikes at any of our stores. Our official Demo Hire Scheme has been paused due to the pandemic, but will be up and running again as soon as possible. Speak to us in store.

Edinburgh Bruntsfield: 8 Alvanley Terrace, EH9 1DU Edinburgh Canonmills: 30 Rodney Street, EH7 4EA Aberdeen: 458-464 George Street, AB25 3XH www.edinburghbicycle.com 0345 257 0808

RACE TO ZERO

@StagecoachWScot

stagecoachbus.com

Download our app.

@StagecoachWScot Ayr Survey Event Plan Location

• Outside Cafe Nero, Ayr High Street (See attached photo).

Date & Timings

• Sunday 23 February, from around 10:30 -- 14:30 • We will start set up at around 10:00, weather dependent.

Aims

• To collect survey responses • To spread the key messages of the #lovemybus campaign

Team & Roles • • • • •

Matt — TS — Event organiser

Rachel — TS

Steve Dickson — Ayr ATH

Scott — Lovemybus champion (will leave at 12:30)

Alexis — Stagecoach

Materials • • • • • • • • •

Flyers — Matt Badges — Matt Stickers — Matt Surveys — Matt Lovehearts — Matt Lovemybus t-shirts — Everyone that has one, Matt to bring spares Lovemybus Beach Flag — Alexis Gazebo — Alexis/Matt to pick up Table — Alexis/Matt to pick up

Business energy tariffs for SMEs with 100% renewable electricity.

A campaign from:

Supported by:

We know that the world of business energy can be hard to navigate. It can be tempting to use a broker to help cut through the noise and secure a decent deal.

#

www.peoplesenergy.co.uk 01313 701770

Many brokers are great, but there are a number of rogue salespeople who can saddle small and medium businesses with bad energy deals, taking a sizable cut for themselves.

People’s Energy want to change that by offering clear and easy to understand business tariffs, cutting out the middle man and keeping costs as low as possible.

Business Scotland

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Linda Anderson.

Café Owner.

We’ve got you.

From Housekeepers to Concierge.

From Sous Chefs and Kitchen Porters to Café Owners like Linda. Whatever you do in hospitality, isn’t it good to know that someone’s got your back if life ever takes a wrong turn?

If you need help call 0203 004 5500 or visit our website hospitalityaction.org.uk

Registered Charity No. 1101083

OPEN CRM

What can businesses take away from the recent lockdown?

With so many businesses transitioning certain parts of the workforce to (and from) remote working over the last several months, there has been a lot of discussion about the best way to manage this.

There has been all the talk of the logistical elements—which computer is appropriate to use, what should be in the background of video calls, and how will everyone’s internet connection hold up.

And then there are security considerations— how secure is your video calling platform, how do you use VPN, and where are your team storing their files.

But once we got over all the practical stuff, my team and I have spent more time reflecting on our remote working experiences. What we’ve enjoyed about working from home. What we haven’t enjoyed. And how we can bring the good bits back with us when we return back to the office.

Benefits to Remote Working Almost everyone here at OpenCRM found themselves enjoying some aspects of home working…even if it was just getting up a bit later with a shorter commute!

A lot of our developers and non-phone answering people said they found it much easier to “get their heads down” on a particular task. Working from home gave them a reduction in interruptions so they could keep focused on particularly tricky tasks.

Some others cited a more relaxed approach as their favourite thing about working from home. Now we don’t have a very formal uniform in the office, but apparently even jeans and t-shirts is too formal for some! So the relaxed dress code was a winner.

I have to say that I quite enjoyed being able to take our dogs for a lunchtime walk. It was a really nice way to unwind from the stress of the morning and get re-focused for the afternoon Saying that, when it came to pets and kids, the team was a bit mixed in their response.

We all have enjoyed getting to spend more time with our immediate families during this lockdown, but the interruptions could make things tricky from time to time.

Downsides to Remote Working In reality, those distractions at home were the thing our team most often mentioned as making remote working difficult. In some cases, it was kids or pets, in others it was the lure of the laundry basket or washing up bowl. When in the office, those tasks can be happily put to the back of your head, but when they’re in the next room… well, it’s a lot harder.

I will say that everyone found a way to work through these distractions, but the transition was not easy.

Add to that the isolation and worry for family and friends? And I would say you’ve hit the nail on the head with the biggest downside to remote working during a global pandemic lockdown: the mental health challenges.

This was something we as a company (as with every other business making the same transition) had to address very quickly.

Our shift to video calls instead of normal voice calling or instant messaging for scheduled meetings and impromptu chats went a long way to helping everyone feel connected. We also added a “tea and toast” session every morning before the start of the work day, just to take the place of all those little chats you have with your office mates when you first get into the building.

I won’t say that fixed everyone’s worries, but it did help to make us all feel like we were part of the same team. That we were all ‘in this together’.

Transitioning back to the office On balance, there were positives and negatives to having our team all working from home. We did what we could to address the downsides, putting a variety of mechanisms in place to keep people feeling connected and on task.

But what about all those positives? How do you make sure to bring the benefits of remote working back as we all transition into a shared office once again?

The first question is whether remote working could be made a part of your business going forward. For those job roles that CAN work from home and found a benefit from it, should it be something they do a couple of times a week? Or even just a few days a month?

If you have people who are more productive when they aren’t in the office, then you certainly don’t want to lose that!

What about all those people who most enjoyed wearing loungewear while working?

Well, you probably aren’t going to change your dress code to allow bunny slippers, but are there other things you can do to make your staff more comfortable?

You could institute casual Fridays, for example. Or relax the dress code for those people who are never customer facing?

The important thing to consider when returning to the office after lockdown is ask yourself (and your team) what elements of home working they’d like to bring back with them to the office? I am sure that an open and frank conversation about the pros and cons will tell you everything you need to know about what your team most values.

Graham Anderson, is the CEO and founder of OpenCRM, one of the UK’s leading customer relationship management systems.

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BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Expansion will put Edinburgh BioQuarter centre stage in Scotland’s thriving life sciences sector Edinburgh BioQuarter has announced a £750m planned transformation which will create a new vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood, supporting a community of more than 20,000 people.

Badged as Edinburgh’s Health Innovation District, the long-term vision for the 160-acre site on the southern edge of Scotland’s capital city now includes plans for residential housing. There will be more space for research and healthcare innovation accommodation, commercial use, hotel, gym, retail and leisure. The expansion will support an estimated 9,000 new jobs, plus additional construction jobs and will grow the pipeline of successful companies.

Over the last two decades, BioQuarter has played a pivotal role in cultivating worldleading medical research and life sciences innovation that is improving people’s lives around the world. It is currently home to 8,000 people who work and study within its boundary and includes many awardwinning life sciences businesses based at BioQuarter’s Innovation Centre, the globally renowned Edinburgh Medical School, 900bed Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, worldleading medical research which includes one of Europe’s largest clusters of stem cell scientists based at the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

BioQuarter intends to seek a joint venture partner through an OJEU competitive dialogue to be part of its ambitious vision.

With a Gross Development Value estimated at over £750m, there is an opportunity to develop in phases the remaining 67 acres of underdeveloped land, estimated at circa 4m sq ft. of development.

Edinburgh BioQuarter’s Interim Programme Director Anna Stamp said: “Our plans are to create a vibrant new neighbourhood of Edinburgh centred around a world-leading

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community of healthcare innovators. By developing at scale and at pace together with a private sector partner we will accelerate solutions to global health challenges.

“The time it takes to deliver a new medical technology or drug from concept to patient can be a long and often expensive journey; many fail due to a lack of access, investment and expertise. BioQuarter offers a truly “translational” solution to this issue thanks to the colocation of clinical scientists, researchers, patients, specialist facilities and businesses all in one place. What we have here is a once in lifetime opportunity to develop a new brand of Science Park, a ‘Health Innovation District’ that will ensure Edinburgh strengthens its position as a global leader in developing new treatments and cures.

“We now intend to seek a private sector partner to share our vision and values. We want to create a place where great things happen in the battle to tackle global health challenges, and where people want to live as well as work, study and relax.”

BioQuarter’s partners - City of Edinburgh Council, NHS Lothian, Scottish Enterprise and the University of Edinburgh - have already invested over £500m in the existing site, with a further £300m investment planned in the next five years through pipeline projects, including the new £68m University of Edinburgh Usher Institute.

Managing Director of Economic Development at Scottish Enterprise Linda Hanna said: “Edinburgh BioQuarter is one of the most significant long-term investments Scottish Enterprise has undertaken to accelerate growth of healthcare innovation and research in Scotland.

“Our work with partners and industry to build on this success means we are now in an exciting position to develop a vibrant new community around that base. I believe this will create fantastic opportunities for businesses in Scotland not least as we enter the procurement process – on the site

itself, for wider supply chains and linked industries.

“The next phase of the Bioquarter will bring real economic and social benefits for Edinburgh, as well as continuing to grow a genuine world-leading medical research and innovation base and destination for global companies and investment right here in Scotland.”

Boxed out Figures published by the Scottish Government in February 2020 show company employment in Scotland’s life sciences sector increased by 20% over seven years (2.6% year-on-year), with turnover growing by 90% to reach £6.5 billion in 2017. This news puts the sector firmly on track to exceed its strategic target of £8 billion by 2025.

From 2010 to 2017, company turnover increased by 90% and gross value added (GVA) by 48%. This represents a year-onyear growth of 9.6% for company turnover and 5.7% for GVA.​The sector employs 41,000 people across more than 770 organisations, including some 670 companies. The number of life science companies in Scotland has increased by 19% during those seven years, representing a year-on-year growth of 2.5% between 2010 and 2017.

Over the last two decades, Edinburgh BioQuarter campus has played a pivotal role in cultivating world-leading medical research and life sciences innovation that is improving people’s lives around the world. Anna Stamp added: “This level of investment at BioQuarter together with a bold vision will help to ensure Scotland’s life sciences sector continues to punch above its weight for generations to come. Our location in a beautiful city, ranked as one of the top places in the world for quality of life is, of course, a huge bonus. In addition, our proximity to the globally renowned life sciences clusters’ in Oxford and Cambridge for wider collaboration is the icing on the cake.”

BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Picture a future where your office is designed around your needs – (it’s not as far off as you think) Guillaume Chesneau

Managing Director of Nespresso UK and Ireland

Today’s workplace is in a state of flux. Whilst digital transformation has fundamentally changed how people work, most office layouts are still based on an outmoded model in which rows of desks in open-plan spaces for workers sit alongside private offices for senior staff. At Nespresso Professional, however, we are convinced that a dramatic transformation is underway.

According to the Workplace Futures report we conducted with The Future Laboratory, by 2030 we will see the creation of hyper-flexible, human-centric spaces to inspire productivity from a workforce with radically different expectations. This implies a fundamental shift not only in how offices look, but –more importantly- in the purpose they serve with a space for focused work but also areas to have coffee breaks, while it continues to be the social glue within workplaces.

The experts we spoke to for Workplace

Futures predict that future offices will adapt to their inhabitants to become Sentient Spaces which serve to optimise performance and encourage conviviality.

And, with 85% of British adults experiencing stress regularly, there can be no doubt that addressing burnout will be a key driver for companies. This is likely to result in increased integration of trends such as Biophilic Design, which mimics ‘nature’ in the workplace to reduce stress.

We can also expect to see the gradual adoption of new, holistic approaches, such as Slo-working - a deliberate deceleration of the pace of work to discourage burnout.

Trends like this will further cement the importance of social spaces and pause points in the future workplace, providing employees with areas to slow down, switch off, or catch up with colleagues over a coffee.

In a report by Nespresso/Comres in 2017, 82% of people surveyed said they felt coffee breaks at work help them to relieve stress.

Beyond addressing well-being, our findings indicate that workspaces of 2030 will become hyper-flexible hubs of collaboration, contemplation and community. Hospitalityinspired offices will satisfy workers’

expectations of convenience as well as their desire to feel part of a community, while new ‘Lo-co Workspaces’ will provide a more flexible and convenient evolution of today’s co-working spaces.

The report also predicts that workspaces will increasingly shape the community around them, stepping in to serve and support others. Redundant retail spaces will be transformed into co-working hubs to reinvigorate local communities, creating the ‘Work Mall’ - a hub offering meeting, exhibition and co-working spaces for the wider community. Meanwhile, offices will begin catering for whole communities to become what we’ve termed a Civic Hub, providing people with spaces to work, learn and come together socially.

These findings highlight a huge responsibility on the shoulders of employers - to create workspaces that are both kind and sustainable, as well as highly productive.

By embracing this responsibility, however, we have a generational opportunity to create workspaces with the power to improve society – by facilitating the needs of workers, at the same time as giving back to the communities that surround them.

We can also expect to see the gradual adoption of new, holistic approaches, such as Slo-working – a deliberate deceleration of the pace of work to discourage burnout.

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Im p ro v in g M e n ta l H e a lth a n d W e llb e in g

T h e M e n ta l H e a lth & W e llb e in g H u b h e lp s lo c a l p e o p le o n th e ir jo u rn e y o f re c o v e ry fro m m e n ta l ill h e a lth th ro u g h p e rso n a lise d su p p o rt, c re a tiv e a rts a c tiv itie s, p ro m o tin g h e a lth y liv in g , a n d d e v e lo p in g su p p o rtiv e c o n n e c tio n s in th e b ro a d e r c o m m u n ity.

C a rin g fo r C a re rs

T h ro u g h a c o m b in a tio n o f p e rso n a l a n d g ro u p su p p o rt fo r u n p a id c a re rs o f a ll a g e s, fro m 5 to 9 5 y e a rs o ld , w e se e k to in c re a se life o p p o rtu n itie s fo r c a re rs, re d u c e th e im p a c t th e c a rin g ro le h a s o n th e ir life , im p ro v e th e ir p h y sic a l a n d m e n ta l w e llb e in g , p ro v id e in v a lu a b le re sp ite o p p o rtu n itie s, a n d re d u c e so c ia l iso la tio n .

E m p o w e rin g M in o rity C o m m u n itie s

P K A V S is a la r g e lo c a l c h a r it y t h a t h a s b e e n s u p p o r t in g t h e w e llb e in g o f p e o p le a n d c o m m u n it ie s t h r o u g h o u t P e r t h & K in r o s s , a t t h e t im e s w h e n t h e y n e e d it m o s t , f o r o v e r 4 0 y e a r s .

W ith a c o m m itte d s ta ff o f 8 0 a n d th e h e lp o f m o re th a n 1 2 0 d e d ic a te d v o lu n te e rs, P K A V S im p ro v e s th e q u a lit y o f life o f o v e r 5 ,0 0 0 lo c a l p e o p le b y s u p p o r tin g u n p a id c a re rs, th o s e re c o v e rin g fro m m e n ta l ill-h e a lth , m in o rity c o m m u n itie s, o ld e r p e o p le , th e lo c a l T h ird S e c to r, a n d v o lu n te e rs.

T h e c h a rity ’s v is io n is a p la c e w h e re a ll c o m m u n itie s a re in c lu s iv e a n d c o n n e c te d , a n d lo c a l p e o p le a re h e lp e d to re a c h th e ir p o te n tia l - th ro u g h a n o rg a n is a tio n th a t is d riv e n b y fi rs t-c la s s fro n t-lin e s e r v ic e s, a n in -to u c h a n d u p -to -d a te u n d e rs ta n d in g o f th e n e e d s o f c o m m u n itie s, a n d c o m m u n ic a tio n a n d in te g ra tio n w ith lo c a l s e r v ic e s, o rg a n is a tio n s, a n d b o d ie s. w w w .p k a v s .o r g .u k

P K A V S is a re g is te re d S c o ttis h C h a rit y (S C 0 0 5 5 6 1 ) a n d a c o m p a n y L im ite d b y G u a ra n te e , R e g is te re d in S c o tla n d (8 6 0 6 5 )

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T h e M in o rity C o m m u n itie s H u b su p p o rts e th n ic m in o rity c o m m u n itie s. A c tin g a s a o n e -sto p -sh o p , th e H u b p ro v id e s ta ilo re d su p p o rt a n d in fo rm a tio n to p e o p le fro m e th n ic m in o rity b a c k g ro u n d s h e lp in g h u n d re d s o f in d iv id u a ls a c c e ss th e lo c a l se rv ic e s th e y n e e d , in c lu d in g E U S S a p p lic a tio n su p p o rt, a c c e ss to h e a lth , e d u c a tio n , e m p lo y m e n t a n d h o u sin g su p p o rt.

P a r tn e rs h ip & E n g a g e m e n t

A s th e lo c a l T h ird S e c to r In te rfa c e it su p p o rts, d e v e lo p s, a n d p ro m o te s th e T h ird S e c to r a c ro ss P e rth & K in ro ss b y p ro v id in g n e tw o rk in g su p p o rt a n d p ra c tic a l in fo rm a tio n to c h a ritie s, v o lu n ta ry o rg a n isa tio n s, c o m m u n ity g ro u p s, a n d so c ia l e n te rp rise s.

S h o p m o b ilit y

S h o p m o b ility is a P K A V S p ro je c t w h ic h le n d s w h e e lc h a irs a n d sc o o te rs to p e o p le w ith m o b ility p ro b le m s. T h e p ro je c t is a life lin e fo r h u n d re d s o f o ld e r a n d d isa b le d p e o p le a s it a llo w s th e m to re ta in th e ir in d e p e n d e n c e a n d c o n tin u e ta k in g p a rt in lo c a l c o m m u n itie s.

BEGBIES TRAYNOR

Business support for distressed clients As the COVID-19 crisis is escalating, companies are having to act fast to minimise the impact on their business. Begbies Traynor has provided guidance below that businesses can follow to survive the challenges over the coming months: Talk to your business support network Your business insurance might provide the cover you need if your business has to stop trading indefinitely. Check your policy wording as you might have Business Interruption cover in your commercial insurance policy – speak to your insurer if you are not sure.

Talk to your bank about possible emergency finance options. The British Business Bank has set up the Coronavirus Business Interruption Lending Scheme which will provide your lender with a government-backed 80% guarantee against the outstanding facility balance. And the Bank of England has set up the COVID Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) to provide short-term funding for larger corporations.

Ask your customers – particularly larger companies – to pay your outstanding invoices.

Talk to the Government through their business support helplines, some of which are dedicated to COVID-19.

They have implemented a number of support schemes, such as: • The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help retain staff when a business has been forced to stop trading.

• Companies will now be able to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) that has been paid to employees for up to two weeks.

• Grants for SMEs – Non-repayable cash grants will be made available to help those in the retail, leisure, and hospitality industry. Many smaller businesses outside of these sectors will also be entitled to a government grant Ask your landlord for some breathing space if you are experiencing a drop in

trade which is impacting on your ability to pay the rent.

Contact your local council to discuss business rates such as a temporary payment holiday.

Get free professional advice Talk to a ‘Time To Pay’ specialist who can defer your tax payments to HMRC. HMRC has already announced that they are waiving late payment penalties and interest for missed tax payments, but you should make every effort to get Time To Pay in place rather than assuming the Revenue will provide automatic breathing space.

HMRC advice – including the deferral of the upcoming quarterly VAT payment for businesses, and the deferral of Self-Assessment payments for the selfemployed. It has been confirmed that these payments, which were originally scheduled for 31 July 2020, will now not be due until January 2021.

If your business is experiencing a downturn in trade, restructuring your business operations could provide more time going forward to get back on your feet. Mitigating losses is key in times of financial distress, so take advice on which parts of your business could be streamlined or cut back.

There are also formal procedures available to companies in the form of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) which shields businesses from creditor pressure and allows them to settle unpaid debts over time.

Directors should also take extra care not to create individual financial exposure through overdrawn directors’ loan accounts and late payments that can breach personal guarantees.

Take time to understand the options available to you and your business if cash flow worsens and the business becomes insolvent, which means there are insufficient funds to pay bills as and when they fall due. Speak to one of our licensed insolvency practitioners completely free of charge and find out what options might be available to you.

Free business rescue and recovery advice from Begbies Traynor UK businesses are facing a challenge like no other; the COVID-19 pandemic presents a huge threat to livelihoods across the country.

Business distress is accelerating on an unprecedented scale and taking swift action is absolutely critical.

For further information or advice, please contact: Kenny Craig M: 07446 947567 E: kenny.craig@btguk.com Ken Pattullo M: 07786 951511 E: ken.pattullo@btguk.com Thomas Mckay M: 07980 837146 E: thomas.mckay@btguk.com Simon Watson M: 07432 559945 E: simon.watson@btguk.com

Emergency funding can help businesses navigate through troubled waters. There are many different funding options available – such as bridging loans, extended overdrafts and invoice factoring.

Business Scotland

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BUSINESS PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

ScotRail recognised as a Top Employer 2020 ScotRail has been officially recognised by the Top Employers Institute as a Top Employer 2020 in the United Kingdom.

Organisations certified as Top Employers dedicate themselves to providing the very best working environment for employees through their progressive ‘people-first’ HR practices.

Independent research from the Top Employers Institute found that ScotRail provides exceptional employee conditions, nurtures and develops talent throughout all levels of the organisation and has demonstrated its leadership status in the HR environment.

ScotRail is committed to developing a workforce as diverse as the communities it serves.

Throughout 2020, the train operator will run a number of dedicated recruitment programmes to encourage more women and people from ethnic minorities to consider a career in the railway.

Gerry Skelton, ScotRail HR Director, said: “We’re thrilled to be recognised as a Top Employer 2020 in the United Kingdom.

“As one of the largest companies in Scotland, ScotRail prides itself on supporting equality and diversity in the workforce.

“The people we employee will help connect communities, support business, boost tourism, and deliver a railway Scotland can be proud of.”

“Over the course of this year, we’re going to do even more to attract more women and ethnic minorities into our driver, engineering and technical roles across Scotland.

David Plink, Top Employers Institute Chief Executive Officer, said: “To become recognised as a Top Employer, an organisation had to prove that the

implementation of their people strategies enriches the world of work of their employees.

“ScotRail is a shining example of dedication to people practices as they continuously commit to empowering their employees for a better world of work.”

Robroyston station shortlisted for RICS Social Impact Awards Scotland The construction of the new station was made possible by joint-working and funding by ScotRail, Network Rail, Transport Scotland, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), and Glasgow City Council. The main contractor was AMCO.

Robroyston station has been shortlisted for a top social and environmental impact award, just two months after the station opened to the public.

The new £14 million station has been shortlisted in the RICS Social Impact Awards Scotland on Thursday, 23 April 2020 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh. The UK Grand Final takes place in London on Thursday, 24 September 2020.

The awards showcase world class examples of how infrastructure can have a direct positive social and environmental impact on society.

Since its opening on 15 December 2019, Robroyston has seen more than 30,000 passenger journeys to and from the station – around 3,500 journeys ahead of forecast.

Robroyston station forms part of

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ScotRail’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions, offering a free park-and-ride facility to take cars off the road and ease congestion in Glasgow city centre.

Kirsty Devlin, ScotRail Head of Projects, said: “We’re thrilled to see Robroyston shortlisted for an RICS Social Impact Award. The station is already proving to be a great success, with passenger journeys in the first two months of operation exceeding expectation.

ScotRail believe the new station will unlock further economic development in the area, with a proposal for a new 1,600 strong housing development, connecting Robroyston and Millerston residents to Scotland’s two largest cities.

“Robroyston station is central to attracting more investment in the local area and creating new lowcarbon travel opportunities. It proves the power of the railway as a key driver of the economy.”

WRIGHT, JOHNSTON & MACKENZIE LLP

Recover, resume trade and remain resilient John Clarke, partner specialising in small and medium size business and corporate recovery at Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP, discusses ways businesses can recover, resume trade and remain resilient in a post-lockdown world.

Has there been an increase in businesses getting in touch in recent weeks because they are struggling or worried and in need of advice?

There has been an increase in businesses seeking help as a result of COVID-19.

However, perhaps not surprisingly, businesses can initially be reluctant to reach out, as doing so is an admission that their company is in difficulty. It’s not an easy admission to make. But our experience during lockdown has shown us the sooner businesses seek advice, the greater the chance that their problems can be fixed.

This is an extraordinary situation and a lot of companies are facing similar struggles right now. So don’t be embarrassed to admit that your business is facing difficulties and that you need help if that’s the case.

What steps can businesses take to assess whether or not a restart or continuance of trade is financially viable?

First, start by asking the simple question – can your entire business survive the impact of lockdown and if not, can part of it survive?

That’s where advice from accountants and solicitors will come in especially helpful.

Now is a good time to take forward the parts of your business that are working and cut out aspects that aren’t profitable. When doing this, you need to consider a number of things – are the changes you are making viable? Do

you have the resources to run this service going forward? Will a change of course cause issues with employees? Are your customers going to follow you? Be brutally honest – what is the minimum your business can survive on? It’s a difficult process, but you must consider the most cost-effective options.

If survival is possible, how can companies plan for resumption of trade in a postlockdown society?

Lockdown will ease, but social distancing measures are set to remain in place for some time. Therefore, businesses will have to equip themselves to be functional within the ‘new normal’. Looking to the future, the number one thing is to be realistic.

For example, if you run a bar which could previously hold sixty people, but with social distancing in place can only hold twelve, it raises questions around financial viability. It will be a long time before we’ll see ‘business as usual’ so a rule of thumb is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Work out what personnel you need going forward and have a survival plan in place which doesn’t leave you vulnerable to employment claims.

The nature of the current situation – many workers on furlough and companies facing great financial uncertainty – could lead to an increase in claims in the future so if in doubt seek legal advice. Be prepared by having a

robust redundancy process in place which will protect you and your business..

Moving forward, how can businesses ensure that their brand remains resilient?

There are lessons from this unprecedented time which can be taken forward and used to strengthen your business. Owners can be very emotionally attached to their company, so it’s vital to have the right team in place to advise you from an objective viewpoint.

At WJM, we are fortunate to have experts across a range of sectors and can quickly assemble a team who are able to advise on a diverse range of matters – whether it be employment, contracts or family business. WJM recently unveiled a refreshed brand identity and values that underline our commitment to delivering a quality service for clients in the face of the current pandemic. We want to remind businesses across the country that, as they prepare their recovery strategies, our experts are here for them. www.wjm.co.uk

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HOME OF INVENTION

The home of invention Many visitors to Scotland are often somewhat astounded to learn that inventors from our country have created some of the most important developments to improve our life in the modern age... the telephone, television, pedal bicycle, refrigerator, penicillin and MRI scanner to name just a few.

Steven Heddle

Chair of the Business Gateway Board

Those who do know about Scotland’s ingenuity however will not be surprised to learn that our country is continuing to innovate and, as a result, businesses are continuing to successfully carve out leading positions for themselves as national and globally competitive players.

Despite the economic and political challenges, Scotland’s entrepreneurial spirit is shining through as is evidenced from the latest figures from the Scottish Government’s annual Business in Scotland report which provides information on the number of businesses operating in Scotland.

The report showed that as at March 2019, there were an estimated 356,550 private sector businesses operating in Scotland – the highest level since 2000. In addition, the estimated number of businesses rose by 2.8% between March 2018 and March 2019 while SMEs accounted for 99.3% of all private sector businesses, 55.4% of private sector employment and 41.5% of private sector turnover as at March 2019.

Both the Scottish Government and Business Gateway reports paint an encouraging picture of Scotland’s business scene with a diverse mix of new starts and businesses scaling up across the length and breadth of the country. In the face of political and economic unrest, innovation and entrepreneurship is riding the wave of uncertainty and it’s happening throughout a number of key sectors from food and drink, energy, and technology – creating exciting new manufacturing, employment and export opportunities.

Kelso-based thermal image analysis software firm, ThermaFY, is just one company flying the business flag for Scotland. Within four years of being established, the specialist company has not only expanded across Europe but its founder, Amanda Pickford, has received wide industry acclaim including being selected to join one of the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) programmes of its kind run by Microsoft.

It is a strong indication of Scotland’s resilience. Perhaps one of the most telling findings was that a considerable 4.3% rise in the number of unregistered businesses – those not registered for VAT and/or PAYE – was the major driver of the overall increase in businesses. The number of unregistered businesses increased from 170,500 in March 2018, to 177,770 in March this year.

It’s a far cry from when Amanda first set up the business in a kitchen cupboard at her home. Through Business Gateway, Amanda refined her business offering and completed a strategy workshop through Scottish Development International. She was also successful in being awarded a Make It To Market grant which allowed her to recruit while, through Scottish Enterprise, Amanda managed to get an innovation grant of £96,000.

The latest figures are reflected in Business Gateway’s most recent Quarterly Report for October to December 2019 during which the number of new start-ups increased by 13% compared with the same period the previous year. The figure rose from 1,998 to 2,252. The number of firms growing their business also increased year on year by 9.2% from 87 to 95 while the number of visitors to Business Gateway’s website rose by 12% from 107,005 to 119,413.

Perthshire chef Praveen Kuma boosted production of his Authentic Indian Cuisine ready meal range by 400% and expanded into two new premises following the launch of his business less than 12 months ago.

After carrying out a review of his business plan, Business Gateway advised Praveen on funding and provided access to intellectual property and marketing specialists. The significant growth of his firm has resulted in up to 50 jobs being created in Perth.

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Of the more than 2,500 firms that Business Gateway helped to start up in this quarter, 52% were female led. There also continued to be a healthy proportion of new businesses being established by young people with an increase of over 16% from 280 to 327.

Praveen’s ready meal range, which boasts complete traceability, is freshly cooked with locally sourced ingredients, grown in Praveen’s Perthshire market garden, or imported from the family’s farm in India.

Each authentic dish is prepared by hand then blast frozen to seal in flavour and sold online to customers or via high-end retailers.

The nimbleness and foresight of growing Scottish businesses as well as new starts is underlined by the common themes of support being sought from Business Gateway - access to funding , understanding investment opportunities, strategic planning, people development and building effective teams, as well as new markets, digital strategies and skills development, and the implementation of management systems.

Growth companies tend to have further, much more defined and bespoke needs such as advice on cash flow and maintaining a competitive edge, staff retention and development, business premises, regulations for expanding into new markets, and IT and marketing.

Central to helping businesses succeed has been Business Gateway’s ability to listen to what businesses need and then deliver the right support and connections for them.

This is underpinned by regular research and surveys to ensure we continue to listen to our clients, be responsive and deliver added value.

In many ways, we are at the forefront of the evolving business scene across Scotland and experiencing first-hand the new trends, disruptors and opportunities that are emerging.

As Scotland continues to work to ensure its future prosperity, emerging pioneers and talent are performing a key role in helping to tackle key issues like the ageing workforce and the drive to increase productivity by identifying and capitalising on gaps in the marketplace.

Providing support is crucial to helping them stand on their own feet, grow and realise their full potential – while assuring that entrepreneurial spirit continues to be the globally-renowned backbone of Scotland.

HOME OF INVENTION

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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Mearns & company celebrates 25 years Edinburgh based Financial Advice firm, Mearns & Company, is celebrating 25 years of excellence with a clear vision for the future.

Established by Margaret Mearns in 1994 on the principles of fairness, integrity and empathy, this family-owned company continues to have a positive impact on people’s lives through sound advice for individuals and employers.

The Mearns values have not only provided wealth, prosperity and guidance to hundreds of clients, they have also led to the business being recognised by the Industry. Mearns & Company has been

We are immensely proud to have achieved this milestone and to have made such a positive impact for so many people, and there’s much more that we want to achieve.

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a positive impact for so many people, and there’s much more that we want to achieve. We have some exciting plans in progress, which will see us enhance our use of technology so that we can continue to innovate. Service excellence is what we strive for, and we are continually working to improve in everything that we do, for the benefit of our clients and our team.”

Catherine said. awarded The Gold Standard for Independent Financial Advice ten times since 2009, won the Herald Scottish Family Business Award for Customer Service Excellence in 2018 and achieved Investors in People Platinum status. In addition, Managing Director, Catherine Bell, was recently recognised with the Vistage Scotland Executive Impact Award.

The Mearns & Company team comprises 29 dynamic people who have passed a total of 173 Chartered Insurance Institute qualifications and have 379 years of combined financial services experience.

With this kind of expertise on hand it is not surprising that the company is now enjoying its silver anniversary. Although achieving 25 successful years is an accomplishment worth celebrating, according to Managing Director Catherine Bell, the future is also exciting for Mearns & Company.

“We are immensely proud to have achieved this milestone and to have made such

The company timeline is a story of growth.

The first office was established in Albany Street Edinburgh in 1994 but the thriving business soon outgrew this space and moved to Forth Street Edinburgh in 1996. The next move was in 2001 to East London Street followed by expansion into Baird House, Edinburgh Quay in 2012. The final move was in 2016 when they moved to their Leith office, Anchor House in Commercial Street.

Since the day 25 years ago when Founder and Chairman Margaret Mearns launched the business in Albany Street Edinburgh, the company has built a sound reputation as a team of multi-award-winning wealth management and employee benefits experts.

On celebrating the 25th anniversary with the team, Margaret said, “I am so proud of what we have achieved as a team over the years, helping the lives of so many people. The feedback that we receive from our clients and seeing the difference that our help and support has made for them is what makes it so rewarding. Here’s to the next 25!”

DACOLL GROUP

Making the unusual, “business as usual” The impact of COVID-19 on UK business On 23 March 2020, our world changed. The UK government announced that the nation was entering lockdown – measures so wide ranging that perhaps nothing like it had been seen since the Second World War. Britain’s workforce was essentially sent home overnight, with companies nationwide scrambling to get their people back online, and quickly. Laptops were rapidly purchased or re-deployed, offices and call centres emptied. We acclimatised to working from home the hard way – now juggling not only our career, but also childcare and homeschooling – less than 24 hours after Boris Johnson made his TV address. The impact has been huge across all sectors. Hospitality businesses have been forced to think on their feet and repurpose. Retailers have watched turnover plummet as they struggle to ramp up their online offer. Smaller businesses have fared worse – those lacking financial or digital resource struggle to make ends meet, while high street traders board up their windows. As some homeworking staff grappled with unfamiliar systems, well-intentioned others repurposed their own equipment for work, while many shared their workspace with family. It’s no surprise then that security and confidentiality are at greatest risk right now. Effective homeworking is a much more serious business than mastering Zoom and making sure your backdrop looks bookish.

An agile response in remarkable times Though our customers include a broad swathe of organisations across public sector, security and retail, their immediate needs as we entered lockdown were the same: to get all of their people working from home, with no compromise on security. For one major utilities company, for example, we delivered just that: transforming their call-centre operation into a home-working model, more or less overnight. The customer experience was uninterrupted, and, though the open plan, city centre HQ had been replaced by the staff’s spare rooms and kitchen tables, the end-user interface was the same as at work. Business as usual. This provider’s customer base is particularly demanding, so it was a major achievement for everyone that customer confidence remained high throughout, which in turn kept staff upbeat and fully engaged.

Solutions for any new normal Now that we’ve delivered a first response to lockdown for all of our customers, we’re planning for the next phase. But what will the future bring? The easing of lockdown looks markedly different north and south of the border, bringing considerable challenges. It’s also possible that we will endure several periods of further lockdown – a gruelling ‘in-out’ working model in which only the most adaptable businesses

will thrive. Further, the UK’s employees themselves have changed. Experiencing the personal and environmental benefits of home-working, it’s likely that many will demand more flexible arrangements. In turn, senior management now question the sense in renting expensive inner-city office space. But whatever our future brings, two features are key to success: agility and security. It’s our job to ensure readiness for any new normal, even one that changes daily. Throughout the weeks to come, we’re working closely with our customers to guarantee that they have all the appropriate devices and systems they need to work – whether at home, in the office, or a hybrid of both, without compromise on security.

As an ISO27001 accredited company, security is embedded into every one of our processes, services and hardware – so that your business may operate with confidence, whether from the boardroom, or the garden shed. www.dacollgroup.co.uk

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DIGITAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Because the sky isn’t our limit Launch are a creative family business, with branches in Glasgow and Ayrshire, headed up by Directors, David and Richard.

With a proven track record in full-service creative design and digital marketing services for all business types, Launch understand every brand and project has different values and different audiences which our team work accordingly to ensure maximum attention to each and every client.

During these challenging times, the team at Launch are continuing to work from home and support businesses through digital and e-commerce solutions to help keep businesses running using new ideas and techniques.

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Launch take pride in their ability to quickly identify client needs and rapidly approach their markets with winning solutions. Their core services below, when combined, cover the entire marketing mix and have been proven to increase brand awareness, sales and customer retention amongst existing clients.

Marketing Strategy.

Brand Strategy Social Media Management Website Design

Launch use their digital design and development teams to create stunning, eye catching material designed to increase call to actions, enquiries and set goals. They use their experience to ensure good user impression that engages and captivates the target audience giving a great return on investment and ultimately increased exposure for all clients. Launch keep up to date with the latest industry technologies in web design ensuring that all projects have the newest functionality, application and features.

Graphic Design

As a long established business, Launch offer comprehensive on-going support and back up ensuring quality and customer satisfaction are at the top of the agenda at all times. They measure themselves against their competition at all times and constantly talk to their clients to ensure quality and satisfaction goals are met.

Photography

App & Software Development Video and Motion Graphics Digital Marketing Direct Marketing Sales Promotion PR SEO Google Re-marketing Print Handling Advertising Launch take social responsibilities seriously by using energy saving equipment, recycling and reusing. They have a company EV which they use for business trips, reducing their carbon footprint.

Launch work closely with the local community and charities including Launch Foods, Unity Grill, Three Sixty Mental Health Charity, Whiteley’s Retreat and Action Against Stalking, ensuring they give back where they can. The team at Launch are currently participating in the Kilt to Work Challenge, to raise awareness and funds to battle child food poverty in Glasgow and Ayrshire. They work closely with and support local teams through sponsorship and marketing, including Ayr Rugby Club/ Ayrshire Bulls.

David is also a Director and Board Member of Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, working closely with ‘Developing the Young Workforce’ advising and mentoring start-up businesses. Richard is a mentor for Glasgow Caledonian University providing advice and expertise for the next generation of designers and Darren and Lauren continue to upskill and drive the business forward. They believe in equal opportunity and as an all-inclusive, diverse and equal employer striving to make Launch a great company to work for making sure all employees are included in all decisions.

For more details on Launch or any marketing advice, the team at Launch would be happy to help!

Please call David or Richard on 0141 286 1844

DIGITAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Top 3 data security risks while working from home Lockdown in the UK has seen a sharp increase in employees working from home. This has opened the floodgates to numerous forms of data transmission back and forth between remote employees and their office. The result is that data security risks have risen significantly.

Not only is this down to human error (although that is the most common form of data breach), but also includes fraudsters looking to exploit the vulnerability of businesses. The fallout from coronavirus-related breaches may not become clear for weeks, months or even longer. So, what are the most common risks?

Borrowing company equipment Most employees will have been loaned computers and other devices to use while working remotely. Companies need to carefully consider potential risks and understand how they can be mitigated.

If employees are not using a virtual private network (VPN) to access shared company assets, then maybe now is the time to do so.

Home WiFi networks are not likely to be as secure as a work network. Using a VPN will help to protect the connection, otherwise this could leave services exposed to hacking and allow unauthorised access to data.

Another common risk is the standard of PC security software. Employees may find their home PC is faster than the work laptop they’ve been given to use. Maybe they have used a USB stick to transfer large files back and forth between the PCs to speed things up. Clear protocols must be in place to prevent such practices.

Whether it is web security gateways, cloud security defences, encryption, or antimalware applications, the reality is that significantly fewer of these are likely to be available at home or, if they are available, they could be poorly configured. The use of one-time codes sent to trusted phones or using a one-time PIN generation app, can help.

Using online video calls and video software Zoom is just one of several popular online conference tools that employees have been using to stay connected. But all screensharing apps have vulnerabilities if not used correctly and the right security protocols are not adhered to.

Meeting calls that are not secured by a password can be easily attacked by hackers.

Businesses must ensure their teams only send meeting invitations with an associated password – especially if it contains sensitive information. This includes financial spreadsheets, HR files and CRM databases.

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This will also limit the risk of a data breach.

The use of a strong password, created by a random password generator will help to provide a link which cannot easily be hacked.

Human error With over 90% of cyber data breaches down to human error, you can reduce the risk of breaches with effective training. In turn this will avoid fines from the Information Commissioner’s Office and the potential reputational damage that follows.

Ninety percent of the 2376 cyberbreaches reported to the ICO last year were caused by end-user mistakes. With the rise in homeworking, this figure is likely to rise dramatically over the coming months.

Sending emails to the wrong recipients, downloading a malware-infected attachment or failing to use a strong password are all ways that human error could ultimately lead to a data breach. Many of these lapses in judgement happen due to lack of knowledge, because the employee is tired, distracted or not paying attention.

Minimising risk There is no better time than the present to raise the security awareness of employees

through training. Such training will remind people about good remote security practices. iCaaS is The Trusted Standard in Data Protection and, in addition to its data security platform, provides highly cost effective training for all staff. This training is comprehensive, low cost and provided online. In conjunction with the iCaaS cloudbased, data compliance solution the training supports companies to become and remain GDPR compliant. The iCaaS software does all the hard work of achieving compliance and ultimately minimises the risk of data breaches – especially those posed by home working. By securing your business the iCaaS platform will save you time and money. More importantly it will secure your staff and help to build confidence and trust within your customer base.

For further information, go to: www.myicaas.com/home-working

DIGITAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Communication is key Many of the calls Glasgowbased IT company Buttered Host is now receiving are for the type of help none of us envisaged would be needed just a few short weeks ago.

Founder Gill Wilson is busy putting her two-decades worth of experience in the IT industry to good use, not only by offering her usual services of website maintenance

For all of my clients, it is about helping them identify new opportunities and potentially a new way of doing business that they can build on.

and redesign, but also helping all manner of businesses overcome the unique challenges posed by these straitened times.

Take three of her clients, for example – a journalist, a fitness instructor and a counselling service – their modus operandi are as different as they come, but there is one thing they all need to do.

“Communicating and continuing to engage with their clients is key,” said Gill. “It is not the time for businesses to be distracted, to turn their attention to something else.

“To the contrary, it is time for businesses to invest in their online presence, to ramp up their level of communication and to maximise the efficiency of what they do.”

Buttered Host is helping the first leverage the data generated by his local news hub, interpreting how to engage with his readers to best effect. is guiding the second through the process of digitising her business – online workouts have come of age! has helped the third by prompting the counsellors to record training videos specifically for those who would like to follow in their footsteps.

Founder Gill Wilson

Gill said: “For all of my clients, it is about helping them identify new opportunities and potentially a new way of doing business that they can build on.

“It can be tough for businesses that have suddenly lost direct contact with customers, but there are also opportunities to create new platforms that will provide new sources of income in the future.” www.butteredhost.com

Now IS the time to get more efficient We know many businesses are struggling in these current challenging times, so we want to help make things easier for you. E-Max ERP takes away operational uncertainty so your engineering or manufacturing business can: Improve operational efficiency Reduce waste Save money Increase delivery in full on time (DIFOT) rate Minimise downtime of machines & workforce Manage business growth Whilst it may not seem like the right time to be considering a new ERP system, investing in E-Max ERP now will give your business the tools to navigate these, and any future difficult times, profitably.

emax-systems.co.uk

Contact us now to discuss or arrange an online demo.

Call us on 0141 644 4424 or Email us at jason@emax-systems.co.uk

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DIGITAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

A question of balance “The digital revolution is far more significant than the invention of writing or even of printing.”

That was the opinion of Doug Engelbart – inventor of the mouse and pioneer of the internet and modern GUIs. A grand claim, perhaps, but there’s no denying the pervasive influence of digital technologies on our world in the last century. We have seen phenomenal advances in our ability to manufacture more accurately and efficiently, communicate instantaneously and share knowledge across the globe. AI is making inroads into healthcare, transport, education and other sectors, reducing the effort required from the humble human in day to day life.

Mobile technology in particular has changed the way we interact with the world and all of these new digital assets. Having been fortunate enough to work in digital technologies since the late 80s from the early days of Hypertext (HTML to most of the world), DVD and Digital TV and into early mobile technologies, experiencing the pace of change has been astonishing.

The biggest change however has been in how we interact. In the 10 years since we started emobix as a software development business, we have seen the smart mobile device go from an enterprise tool to the indispensable appendage it is today – providing effortless access to communications, entertainment, banking, news and pretty much anything else you can think of. It’s the portal to our digital world. The mobile is now an extension of our existence, for better or worse. The nature of the interaction with devices, systems and individuals across the globe

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using this mobile communicator is a true feat of collaborative design and engineering.

It’s all good

These advances in digital technologies have brought us great benefits, especially in terms of reshaping our ability to work remotely – a capability brought sharply into focus in our strategy for coping with the COVID-19 situation. We can take an MIT university course remotely, interacting with top lecturers and doing video-conference workshops, monitor our homes remotely when we’re away using networked video cameras, or order a new TV and have it delivered next day, tracking it all the way on our phones using live map updates. We’ve never had it so good… or have we?

The inexorable drive for more, faster, cheaper and the continual focus on revenue growth is unsustainable and out of kilter with the increasingly pressing goals of sustainability and social responsibility. The increasing demand on our limited resources is concerning. Looking at global population graphs and wealth distribution it’s clear that simply focussing on revenue may not be the most important metric for business in the coming decades.

Digital Futures

Technological innovations aimed at better performance, efficiency or new capability are all laudable. Bill Gates once said “Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time”. I would agree wholeheartedly with that perspective, but with a focus on maintaining and enriching the fabric of our society rather than just facilitating greater consumerism.

Balancing the need for revenue generation with a socially and environmentally

responsible approach to business may seem like a difficult task, but we have some great technologies and tools at our disposal to help enable that. Our public sectors such as education and healthcare continually struggle for funding, and are heavily dependent on physical resources; people, buildings and other assets. Managing access to and effective utilisation of these assets is an ongoing problem, and funding issues will continue to grow due to increased demand on the services they provide. Finding ways to maintain quality of service while reducing overheads is an inevitable part of that process

No Problems, Just Opportunities

We have an opportunity to help ease these headaches by collaborating closely with experts from each sector, taking a more holistic approach to service delivery and processes. SMEs have a key role to play, but we need to see a shift in focus within our business community and governing bodies from rapid revenue growth to sustainability and stability in order to ride out the hard times.

It has been an exciting and successful initial decade for emobix developing mobile digital solutions in various sectors an we’re looking forward to some exciting collaborations in the next 10 years.

The future’s bright. The future’s digital.

Pete McLaughlin MD at emobix limited, Glasgow www.emobix.co.uk

DIGITAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Working from home internet challenges There are many aspects of working from home that will prove challenging over the months ahead.

One challenge, which may be overlooked in the disarray, is Internet performance degradation. This will be so significant that working from home will be very difficult.

Broadband, superfast broadband and all variants, ill-sold as “fibre”, are contended services.

What does that mean?

Internet Providers enable your local Exchange with an Internet service. That Internet service is then shared across the local catchment that the Exchange serves.

The more subscribers the service has, the more degraded the service is to its users.

People’s homes add further contention to the service. WiFi is shared with the family for online entertainment; surfing, accessing the cloud, downloading music, gaming, streaming TV and video. Schools are engaging in remote classroom sessions and kids need to be online to stay in touch with their friends.

All this activity is going to choke your homes, choke the local Exchanges and grind the Internet to a halt. For some, it will be impossible to work from home.

Many home-workers will also have their business extensions translated to a VoIP

extension so regular office call-handling can continue without interruption when their offices are closed. VoIP has zero tolerance when it comes to congestion and users will experience broken, crackly voice and call drops – all bad for business!

You can combat this by limiting non-critical Internet traffic during business hours to minimise congestion. Our kids live online so this is a real challenge. Downloading videos and family entertainment through the night will help. Don’t stream radio from the Internet, use a regular radio and the traditional airwaves. Everything you do to free your Internet connection from unnecessary traffic will help you.

Uncontended Services

They are dedicated connections with speed guarantees and business-grade service levels.

Isolation in a sparsely populated workplace may well be more practical for many organisations trying to ensure their operations continue to function.

Wishing you all good luck and good health.

Steve Redhead Managing Director of Mother Technologies www.mother.uk.net

Businesses pay a much higher price for their Internet connections. They buy Ethernet circuits. Ethernet circuits are full-fibre Internet connections that aren’t shared.

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DIGITAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Is Your Business’ Information on the Dark Web? When we think of the Dark Web, we immediately think of sites intertwined with criminal activity. While having some legitimate purposes, the majority of the dark web contains things that cannot be sourced on the surface web.

The dark web is made up from a collection of sites with hidden IP server addresses.

In other words, anyone can look at sites on the dark web, but not many can find out who or even where these are hosted.

Therefore, it serves as a prime platform for trading and selling sensitive company information, such as stolen credit card data, banking information and account credentials.

Once your data has been compromised, this can be extremely damaging for your business. The hackers have the potential to gain access to your systems, access

We go into the Dark Web so you don’t have to. personal information and make fraudulent transactions. A large percentage of companies don’t even know that they have been breached and continue with business unknowingly.

To help our customers remain secure, ITWORX have expanded our cyber security portfolio and now offer a Dark Web Monitoring Service.

Jill Ross, Director of ITWORX “Data breaches occur daily in large corporations and unsuspecting small businesses. We recommend taking a proactive approach and not waiting until your information is already compromised and out there. We can give you the opportunity to take action and prevent or stop attacks, before it is too late, by proactively scanning the dark web for you, making you aware if your data becomes compromised.”

ELECTRONIC

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT

AUTOMATED

•

Enable quick and easy document storage and retrieval for staff

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Automate invoice processing and reduce overheads

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Ensure GDPR compliance with robust encryption and audit trails

•

Set role-based access control (RBAC) to manage document access and ensure data security & confidentiality

•

Automate workflows to improve business processes and route documents with defined time limits for tasks

•

Reduce paper usage, deliver carbon reductions & meet environmental goals

INVOICING

• Automatically digitise and read incoming invoices and match them to PO’s • Approve workflows to accelerate the process based on your needs • Maintain a secure, organised and searchable invoice archive for audits and budget planning

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03333 003 250

 www.workflo-solutions.co.uk

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SCANNING

& DIGITISATION

• Digitise all your documents, files, large format drawings, fragile documents and even Microfilm, to fully searchable PDF files.

• All scans can be imported in to an existing Electronic Document Management System.

• We adhere to full quality and security ISO standards.

• Scan on Demand or full box retrieval is available 24/7, to ensure immediate access to your documents when you need it the most.

DIGITAL INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Glasgow becomes a second home for award-winning Teesside based digital agency UK based specialist Pay Per Click management agency Mabo have expanded once again and crossed borders into Scotland, making Glasgow their second home.

The move has been a long time coming for the Teesside based company whose staff numbers have grown to 50+ over the last 6 months.

Multi-award winning PPC agency Mabo was set up in 2013 by Lee Mableson, who has been managing PPC accounts since 2007. The company was set up due to hearing about the many horror stories SME businesses were telling about their experience with PPC agencies. From this point, Lee has continued to invest in Mabo to fuel the agency’s growth plans.

At the top of their game, Mabo are Google Premier Partners and Microsoft Ads Advertising select partners and have won a plethora of awards across the UK and Europe over past 3 years recognising their achievements in the ever-changing digital sector. Recent wins include Search Agency Of The Year at the Northern Digital Awards 2020 and Client Service 2019 from The Drum Recommends Digital Awards.

Mabo’s award and growth success brought the company the opportunity to open up a second office Lee Mabelson, Managing Director of Mabo explains why Glasgow was their city of choice; “Glasgow has similar aspirations as Mabo in the digital world; It wants to become a powerhouse and with those visions matching we see ourselves fitting in nicely.

We offer an award-winning PPC service as well as other forms of digital marketing which has seen us grow progressively since we began nearly 7 years ago.

“Glasgow has great infrastructure and some great businesses we’re looking to engage and provide a tailored localised service to.

This is our first office outside of our HQ and we’re excited to see it succeed with existing, key staff in place.”

Phoebe Holford, PPC Team Manager and Jonathan Lott, PPC Account Manager in Mabo’s Glasgow office (Spaces)

PPC Team Manager Phoebe Holford, has taken up residency in Glasgow to head up their new office; “I’m very excited to be here and take the lead in Mabo’s new chapter. Glasgow has a lot to offer and the Spaces offices have a vibrant working atmosphere, so we are settling in very well.”

Mabo who work with leading brands such as Boomf, Totes and New Era to name a few, are looking to build a 100+ strong

Glasgow has similar aspirations as Mabo in the digital world; It wants to become a powerhouse and with those visions matching we see ourselves fitting in nicely. We offer an award-winning PPC service as well as other forms of digital marketing which has seen us grow progressively since we began nearly 7 years ago.

specialist PPC team across both offices over the next few years.

Rob Jackson, Operations Director at Mabo adds; “The second office gives us access to a whole new talent pool so we can continue to add the best people to our fantastic team.

It also gives an extra option for clients to visit us if travel to Middlesbrough is inconvenient.

And of course, it lets us grow our business further through the UK.” To become the BEST and biggest PPC agency in the UK is a company aim that Mabo are certainly on the right track for.

Find out more about Mabo’s PPC service and book in for a free account review, visit: www.mabo.co.uk See how working with one of the best PPC management agencies in Europe could help improve your businesses PPC performance, read some of Mabo client success stories here: www.mabo.co.uk/case-studies/

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Your Digital Transformation Journey Transform the way you do business today to build your business for tomorrow.

Technology has revolutionised the way we work for ever and shows no signs of stopping or slowing down, therefore, anyone in business needs to be aware and taking action to ensure their business isn’t just ready for technology today but is future proofed for what is still to come.

The advancements we are seeing in technology should be recognised as a fantastic opportunity for growth, development and to maintain a competitive advantage.

There are three key technology drivers that have transformed the way businesses operate. Cloud migration and mobile apps have been successful for businesses for some time now and we are just starting to recognise and apply the business benefits of artificial intelligence.

Cloud Migration The cloud migration journey continues to dominate and is driven in a lot of cases by cost : “We’ve had companies we work with tell us that their costs of hosting their own fully reliant systems are eye-wateringly expensive. The equivalent cost of a cloud solution is significantly less.”

But the decision to move to the cloud is not solely driven by cost: “One of the main benefits of going completely serverless is you don’t have to worry about hardware, operating systems or back-up servers. All of those things are built-in and are the responsibility of the cloud provider. Agility is also improved for organisations as off the shelf cloud services can be combined to deliver new capabilities more quickly.”

Mobile Apps “The smartphone and subsequent rise in mobile apps have changed the way organisations operate and communicate with their customer base.”

The ‘always on’ mentality has seen a shift towards 24/7 accessibility for all companies and customers expecting to be able to ask questions at a time that’s convenient for them. Companies who don’t offer that service find themselves lagging behind their competitors. Mobile application technology has facilitated that flexibility.

Artificial Intelligence The main topic that is now dominating any discussion on technology is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the impact this will have on businesses.

When we talk about AI, we mean things like machine learning which is really just a statistical modelling type application that learns from data.

“We’ve worked with clients who have a need to extract information from documents and that extraction cannot be coded using traditional software development techniques but machine learning algorithms can be trained to identify and pull out the necessary information. Another practical example for us is in chatbots – where you can use AI to get an understanding of what someone is asking and offer automated responses based on that.”

Digital Transformation The technology drivers we’ve discussed here all contribute to the digital transformation of business. It has come to a point where business need to embrace the change or they will die. As brutal as that may sound – it is a harsh reality proven again and again with disruptive technologies.

Digital transformation is about future-proofing your business.

“The technology advancements we have discussed facilitate anyone on the digital transformation journey. That makes this a really exciting time to be working in the technology sector and here at Pulsion we are passionate about continuing to learn and stay at the forefront of these technologies.”

+44 (0)141 352 2280

info@pulsion.co.uk

www.pulsion.co.uk

ACCESS2FUNDING

R&D Tax Relief means sustainability for SMEs during COVID-19 Research and Development Tax Specialists Access2Funding have successfully returned hundreds of thousands of pounds to SMEs across Scotland since coronavirus lockdown began.

Suzy Carter

Supporting businesses to boost their cashflow in this difficult economic time, Access2Funding is also expanding their business in the country. With a presence in Scotland since the start of 2020, Access2Funding has made such an impact they are set to double across the country in the coming months. The current team headed up by Suzy Carter is based in Edinburgh, with technical R&D claim writer Taylor Franchetti, and R&D specialist Lorraine Politi. Recruiting in this difficult economic time is a testament to the valuable support on offer, with more posts following in a new Glasgow office later in the year.

Suzy has extensive experience in the

financial sector spanning over 25 years, working with mainstream funders and helping a premier customer base. Suzy now advises SMEs and delves into their business activities to uncover any hidden funds.

Many business owners tell Suzy they have investigated R&D Tax Credits in the past, but don’t think they are eligible as they aren’t doing anything ‘ground-breaking’. Many also haven’t heard of the scheme at all, which could be why statistics show that R&D is still massively underclaimed, particularly among businesses in Scotland.

making, or even if their project failed, they can still be eligible. Unlike the coronavirus government support loans, R&D tax credits have no interest, and are available right now.

Suzy Carter explains why this is the perfect time to talk to a tax specialist:

Edinburgh based software company Sibbald Digital Ltd, reinforce this point as they only recently learned about the government initiative: “We first became aware of Access2Funding via a friend’s social media post. Flash forward one short week and our claim was submitted and we were awaiting payment. Just think about that. Imagine not knowing a thing about Access2Funding or R&D Tax credits a week ago and then having a refund imminent? Add to that the current climate and it cannot be understated how grateful we are for this boost to cash flow”.

Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic and UK lockdown, Access2Funding have successfully returned £118,000 to a bespoke joinery firm, and more than £38,000 to Architects in Edinburgh. Sandy Anderson, Director of Block9 Architects explains: “Suzy and the team provided us with a fantastic service, they were outstanding and were on hand for all our questions throughout the claim.

We received way more than expected, which was a huge help to the business during the pandemic’.

Research and Development tax relief takes place when a project seeks to achieve an advance in overall knowledge or capability.

As long as the business is liable to pay corporation tax, whether they are loss

“Many of our clients have furloughed staff, lost contracts and lessened productivity, meaning the effect on cashflow makes it difficult to plan for the future. R&D tax credits can be the lifeline to assist small and medium sized businesses in Scotland come back fighting, ready to grow.”

On average, businesses claim £34,000 per year with Access2Funding. Get in touch with Suzy Carter on 0333 990 0125, 07851 246 372 or visit www.access2funding.co.uk to make sure your company isn’t missing out on vital cashflow support.

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51ST INFANTRY BRIGADE AND ARMY IN SCOTLAND

Skills for the 4th industrial revolution What are the skills that your dream employee would have? Would they be trained to apply concepts to a variety of situations and apply professional judgement under stressful conditions? Or maybe you would like them to be able to follow procedures and take responsibility for equipment worth thousands of pounds. Or do you see them being encouraged to use their creativity to resolve problems on their own. If you have not already guessed, I’m describing a trained soldier in the British Army.

What are skills for the 4th Industrial Revolution?

Also known as ‘skills for the future’. These are skills which underpin other skills, they are the higher orders skills which allow other skills to be learnt. Skills Development Scotland call these ‘meta skills’ and I believe that people who have served in our Armed Forces demonstrate these skills in abundance!

What exactly are meta skills?

Skills Development Scotland, in their recent publication on Skills 4.0, identify meta skills as: Focusing (sorting, attention, filtering) Communicating (receiving information, listening, giving information, storytelling) Curiosity (observation, questioning, information sourcing, problem recognition), Integrity (self-awareness, ethics, selfcontrol) Feeling (empathy, social conscience) Creativity (imagination, idea generation, visualising, maker mentality) Adapting (openness, critical reflection, adaptability, self-learning, resilience) Collaborating (relationship building, teamworking and collaboration, social perceptiveness, global and cross-cultural competence) Sense making (pattern recognition, holistic thinking, synthesis, opportunity recognition, analysis) Initiative (courage, independent thinking, risk taking, decision making, self belief, self motivation, responsibility, enterprise) Leading (inspiring others, influencing, motivating others, developing others, change catalyst) Critical thinking (deconstructive, logical, applying judgement, computational thinking)

What is the problem?

At first glance it is difficult to equate the role of a soldier to civilian employment. Yet, when we look deeper into the basic skills of a soldier, there are a significant number of meta skills being used that are highly desirable to the civilian employment market (See Vignettes 1, 2 & 3).

For example, all training in the Army is

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focused on the team completing a task. The success of the team is always put above the success of the individual. This fosters a selfless mindset. From the very start of service life this mindset in embedded into the individual. Whilst this focus on team tasks produces highly effective teams, it can also result in service leavers struggling to switch mindset and failing to understand how to capture and present their skills when they are transitioning out of service life and seeking employment. Combined with the fact that promotion in the Services is done via a paper boarding process, this means that many people leaving the Services will have no experience of interviews, no experience of the job application process, few personal career management skills and no experience of salary negotiation. This does not mean that they do not have significant knowledge, skills and experience; what it means is they might not even make it to interview depending on your HR processes.

As well as team focused training, another cultural trait of service life is what is often affectionately called the ‘bubble of Service life’ which alludes to the nature of life in the Armed Forces. This is a way of describing that we live and work in a ‘total institution’ environment. A total institution is one that provides an all-encompassing service to the people within it, such as housing, feeding, clothing, medical and welfare services.

We need to provide this all-encompassing service to our people because we need them to be able to deploy at very short notice and we need them to be mobile. This is

necessary in order to meet the main aims of defence (Which are currently: Protect the UK, Protect the UK’s global influence and Promote UK prosperity1).

Secondly, I believe that there is a lack of awareness within civilian society about the huge variety of roles, technical expertise and skills that service life inculcates. These misconceptions are often fuelled by negative newspaper headlines or sensationalised and often unrealistic TV shows but are also enhanced by the real need for discretion about the activities of the Armed Forces community to ensure personal security is maintained. Civilian awareness about the skills gained in Service is likely to further decrease as the number of Veterans reduce over the next 10 years. Data from the MOD projects Veteran numbers to decrease from 2.5 million to 1.6 million by 20282.

There is an improved level of awareness, within the military community and policymakers, that measures must be in place to enable military personnel to adapt better to the challenges that occur at the end of their service and transition to a secondary career. One such initiative is the Future Accommodation Model in which serving people and their families are given support from the MOD to buy or rent in the community rather than living in service provided accommodation3. Another initiative enables more flexible working practices and (for some roles) the option to continue serving in the regular Army on part time hours4 this gives our people more

51ST INFANTRY BRIGADE AND ARMY IN SCOTLAND

Vignette 1

Vignette 2

Vignette 3

4 years service (Likely to be operating at level 5-8 on the SCQF6): A Service person with 4 years’ service is likely to have the following skills; uses own judgement and able to interpret the rules of armed conflict, applying them to rapidly evolving situations; significant self-discipline especially during arduous and stressful situations; follows a maintenance regime to ensure equipment is fully serviceable; takes responsibility for and uses equipment from £10,000 to potentially £500,000; able to work autonomously; loyal to the team and organisation; supports the team leader in their task; communicates with many team members to complete a task; skilled in how to negotiate with others; likely to have experience of working within a multinational environment; manage self and own time; aware of own physical abilities and how to manage physical resources following health and safety guidelines.

A person who has served 12 years (Likely to be operating at level 8-11 on the SCQF). The skillset is significantly developed and is likely to include the following skills: responsibility for a large team (anything from 5 up to 180 personnel); able to make decisions under pressure; responsible for safe practices and procedures; often a budget holder or responsible for equipment worth £10,000 up to potentially £2,000,000; holds a key leadership role and is responsible for setting the culture and team ethos of a small team of 5 up to larger groups of 200 personnel; responsible for allocating resources; plans and delivers projects; plans and delivers training; significant line management responsibilities, including developing personnel; accountability for performance and/ or quality; negotiates with internal and external customers.

Someone who has served 20+ years will be operating at a very high skill level (likely level 10-12 on the SCQF).

They are likely to have the following skills: responsibility for a team or unit from 10 to potentially 10,000 personnel; able to make strategic decisions under pressure; delegates to subordinates; ultimately responsible for safe practices and procedures within the unit; often a budget holder or responsible for equipment worth £10,000 to potentially £10,000,000; holds a key strategic leadership role and is responsible for setting the culture and team ethos of a large group of people (anything from a small team up to 10,000 personnel); responsible for allocating resources; plans and delivers projects using project management tools; plans and delivers training using a systematic approach; significant line management responsibilities which includes regular feedback to subordinates.

opportunities to dip in and out of military service. These policies will help to counteract the ‘bubble of Service life’ although there will be a time-delay before the benefits are felt.

We are doing our bit. We are getting better at explaining what it is that we do but there is still more work to be done. Employers can also assist and should for two reasons.

Firstly, as part of their commitment to the AF Covenant, and secondly, simply to recruit talented people into their organisations. The publication Capitalising on Military Talent5, produced by the Scottish Government, Business in the Community and Salute My Job, lists a number of ways that employers can ensure that their recruitment processes are not filtering out those who have served.

These are;

Employers can find out more information via a variety of organisations and methods: Contact the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) - www.ctp.org.uk Forces Families Jobs www.forcesfamiliesjobs.co.uk The Armed Forces Covenant www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk/ support-and-advice/businesses SaluteMyJob - www.salutemyjob.com British Forces Resettlement Services (BFRS) - www.bfrss.org.uk/Information/ About-BFRS.aspx

The Officers Association www.officersassociation.org.uk/foremployers Officer Association Scotland www.oascotland.org.uk Regular Forces Recruitment Agency www.rfea.org.uk The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership (SCQF-P) https://scqf.org.uk/support/support-forlearners-parents/support-for-veterans/

Designate a person at senior level to champion and lead the program.

Create clear, transparent job descriptions and advertisements.

Train recruiters to interpret military experience.

Advertise jobs through the MOD’S Career Transition Partnership, Forces Families Jobs, and other Armed Forces support organisations (see above right).

Encourage your supply chain to adopt Armed Forces friendly recruitment processes.

Create a bespoke online portal or military hub which is visible both internally and externally.

Offer insight events.

Offer work experience opportunities.

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-ofdefence/about 2 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/ uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/775151/20190107_Enclosure_1_Population_ Projections_-_UK_Armed_Forces_Veterans_residing_in_ Great_Britain_-_2016_to_2028.pdf 3 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/futureaccommodation-model-what-you-need-to-know/what-youneed-to-know-about-fam 4 https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-employment-model 5 https://www.salutemyjob.com/veteran-employment-blog/ toolkit-capitalise-on-military-talent

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COLLEGE SIGNS ARMED FORCES COVENANT South Lanarkshire College has become the latest organisation to show its support for UK Defence by signing the Armed Forces Covenant.

Responding to demand from students, the College has introduced tailored guidance and support for Reservists and Veterans, and created an online presence for part-time service and ex-service personnel which provides information on applying for courses and links to the student handbook.

SLC Principal Stewart McKillop said: “We acknowledge the importance and value of the training and experience that is accrued during military service and want to recognise those skills during our recruitment processes.”

Hugh Devlin from Lowland RFCA – the organisation which manages relationships between employers and Defence in Scotland – commented:

“The pledges the College set out are some of the best that I have ever seen. I am very impressed with their desire to become a Defence-friendly employer, their enthusiasm and their determination to get maximum benefit.”

4,500 employers, including more than 400 Scottish organisations, have already signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

Show your support and sign the Covenant today at:

armedforcescovenant.gov.uk

PROUDLY SUPPORTING THOSE WHO SERVE.

JOINT FORCE ALBA

Why the business community should join forces with ex-Armed Forces to forge the “new normal” Over recent weeks, we have seen how UK Armed Forces have supported the national response to Coronavirus. Initially, military planners and intelligence operatives helped the NHS develop strategies for local health boards to deal with COVID-19. Military engineers and logisticians helped to supply PPE and develop new treatment and testing infrastructure. Now, military personnel are enabling and running the roll-out of mobile COVID-19 testing units.

These are not activities that you might have expected the UK’s “fighting” Forces to be doing. But it demonstrates the agility and quick reaction that our modern Armed Forces have, to do whatever is needed.

The ability to adapt, innovate and problem solve is ingrained into all Forces personnel from day one of their military career.

These soft skills, including excellent communication, cultural appreciation, and team leadership, could hugely benefit organisations across sectors and industries when figuring out what their “new normal” is.

Service leavers and Veterans receive extensive and high-quality training in their chosen trade, from engineering to telecoms, logistics to operations management. Many of these are skills shortage areas for Scotland.

Most service leavers enter the civilian workforce with many qualifications in project management, health and safety and IT/Cyber security on top of degrees. Their experience is accredited by relevant professional bodies including the Institute of Leadership and Management, Chartered Institute of IT professionals, Institute of Engineering and Technology and Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

So why is it that less than a third of organisations consider recruiting ex-Forces according to Veterans Work?i Is there a concern about the impact of Veterans mental health? Quite rightly there has been a concerted effort to increase the support to the military in areas of mental health. However, proportionately, UK Veterans are less likely to suffer mental health issues than the wider population. One in five Veterans compared to one in four in the general population suffer with mental ill-health at any one timeii.

Do you think Veterans lack commercial experience? Many ex-Forces have worked in circumstances with limited resources, trying to reduce costs and increase efficiencies.

This is particularly true of senior leaders.

MOD budget constraints are well documented and military personnel have had to play their part. Moreover, within some roles, Veterans will have had responsibility for budgets and projects valued into the £millions. These can range from leading single projects to managing multiple, concurrent projects running into the $100mn

Emma Davies

mark. Almost all will have worked with civilian agencies and contractors and been responsible for the day to day management of those business relationships.

Do you think that ex-military can only follow orders or that they can only bark orders at people? Modern military leadership is intent based. Military leaders will adapt their leadership style to suit the situation and the people involved. It revolves around empathy and emotional intelligence and is collaborative, based on trust and respectful.

Quite often the person in charge is not the technical specialist. They are a generalist and must build trusting relationships with their teams to engage the specialists whilst being humble enough to admit to not having all the answers. In many respects, it is a hard form of leadership. They cannot allow “knowledge is power” to be applied. If you employ an ex-military leader, you will find that they do demand high performance. But they are hugely supportive of their team and will put immense efforts into enabling their team members to perform to their full potential. They will engage their team and lead them with a clear purpose and performance standards.

plan for 2020 and beyond given the dramatic changes and continued uncertainty, look to the ex-Armed Forces community for your next hire and let Joint Force Alba show you how.

Emma Davies is a Director at Joint Force Alba, the only Scottish ex-military recruitment consultancy. She had a 13year career in the British Army, including operational deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. She combines that with 15 years working in HR and recruitment to provide unique recruitment solutions to businesses across Scotland. www.jointforcealba.co.uk i https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/about-deloitte-uk/ articles/veterans-work.html# ii https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/veteransmental-health-key-facts

So if you’re looking at your headcount and growth plans and trying to figure out your

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Highland Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association Who are we? Highland Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (Highland RFCA) supports members of the Reserve Forces and the Service Cadet organisations throughout the Highlands and Islands.

We have a large number of volunteer members across the North of Scotland and a small permanent staff based at our Dundee HQ, as well as offices in Aberdeen, Dumbarton and Inverness.

Our job is to help promote and maintain Britain’s Reserve Forces as well as the Service Cadets, youth organisations that help young people to fulfil their potential in a safe, professional and fun environment.

What do we do? Together with Lowland RFCA and the eleven other RFCAs covering the whole of the UK, we: l Build and maintain the Reserve Centres, Service Cadet buildings and the other facilities needed for accommodation and training. l Provide financial grants for Reservists and Cadets to compete in sporting competitions, take part in adventurous training and enjoy social and welfare activities. l Help the Maritime Reserve, Army Reserve and Royal Auxiliary Air Force to achieve their recruiting targets. l And, by engaging with groups and individuals through events, marketing, PR and communications, raise awareness of – and support for – the UK’s Armed Forces and Service Cadets in Scotland.

What can we do for you? If you are thinking about joining the Reserve Forces or volunteering as a Cadet Force Adult Volunteer, Highland RFCA can advise you on local units, signpost you to information on age, fitness and qualification requirements, and arrange visits to units.

For young people thinking about joining the Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Force or Air Training Corps, we can help with finding the right one for you, provide details of local Cadet detachments and put you in touch with the right people to help you decide.

www

hrfca.co.uk

Facebook.com/hrfca

@HRFCA

Instagram.com/highlandrfca

BUSINESS LOANS SCOTLAND

Established Scottish businesses thrown a lifeline A new business loan fund has been launched in Scotland to help SMEs carry on trading despite the pandemic.

Business Loans Scotland (BLS) is one of two government-backed agencies making the new COVID Working Capital Loans available to eligible enterprises the length and breadth of the country.

While the start-up loans BLS has been providing for the past three years are still available, this new type of loan is targeted specifically at those who can demonstrate they were trading viably at the end of December 2019, that Covid has had an adverse impact and that they have a sound recovery plan going forwards.

BLS fund manager Andrew Dickson said: “When we were hit by the pandemic back in March, we recognised that businesses were going to be struggling with working capital and cash-flow.

Some have managed to continue to trade through this, but others have simply had to batten down the hatches. We are inviting all those that need a bit of help to take advantage of the support on offer.

“Some have managed to continue to trade through this, but others have simply had to batten down the hatches.

Secondly, applicants do not need to seek match funding – it is recognised that option might well have been exhausted by now.

“Now we are inviting all those that need a bit of help to take advantage of the support on offer.”

And thirdly, there is always help at hand, courtesy of the organisation’s loan officers, who guide applicants throughout the entire application process.

Being rolled out in addition to the other grant and loan funding provided by the UK and Scottish governments, the COVID Working Capital Loans will be available to Scotland’s small to medium size enterprises until December 31 this year.

Loans of between £25,000 and £100,000 are available, although up to £250,000 can be borrowed in exceptional circumstances.

There is also an initial three-month capital and interest holiday too, giving an added boost to those trying to get back on their feet.

BLS manages a £7m loan fund on behalf of the Scottish Growth Scheme - Business Loans Scotland Debt Finance Fund and is financed jointly by the Scottish Growth Scheme and the European Regional Development Fund.

A consortium of Scotland’s 32 local authorities and a close sister organisation of Business Gateway and Scottish Enterprise, its raison d’être is to ensure good, commercially viable proposals do not fail because of a lack of access to finance.

“There are two messages we want to get across,” said Andrew. “Yes, we are still here to support people who want to start up a business, but now, through this new loan scheme, we can help also help those trying to sustain and, indeed, grow their businesses in this challenging economic climate.​ “We need to restart the economy, but a lot of businesses out there are going to need working capital/cash to do that.

“Our remit is to try to support as many businesses as we can throughout Scotland to access the finance they need – to bring down the barriers that might be blocking their path.

“Our aim? To make sure the support is there to give businesses the best possible chance to get through this.”

The criteria for eligibility and the application form can be found on Business Loans Scotland’s website at www.bls.scot

There are many advantages to borrowing funds through Business Loans Scotland.

Firstly, its loans have a fixed rate of interest, meaning borrowers know exactly what their repayments will be.

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CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Boost for local businesses as Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber is awarded licence to support international trade Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has become the first Chamber in more than 20 years to be awarded a licence to issue ATA Carnets and the first in Scotland to deliver the service digitally.

An international customs document which allows goods to travel duty and tax free across countries for up to one year, a Carnet provides an alternative to the timeconsuming task of completing customs documents for each country goods are passing through. It provides a guarantee to overseas officials that if temporarily

admitted items are not re-exported, duties will be paid.

The Chamber helped North-east firms export goods worth in excess of $873m (USD) to more than 115 countries around the world last year. With customs arrangements coming to the fore for many organisations in 2020, the Chamber took the decision to undertake the rigorous licence application to further increase its support services for local business.

Used for non-perishable goods, the documentation eliminates the need for a customs declaration at border points and the deposit of a guarantee, bond, or cash deposit in the country of temporary importation. It can also be used for trips covering more than one country and include numerous exits and re-entries in the country of origin during the period of validity of the document.

The North-east is a strong, internationally-focused region thanks in part to our energy and agriculture industries but also the growing digital, tourism and life sciences sectors and having the right customs documentation is vital to ensure goods get to where they are going with minimal fuss and cost.

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There are currently 76 countries which have signed the appropriate convention and are able to operate the scheme.

Lorraine Neish, export documentation leader at the Chamber, said: “The North-east is a strong, internationally-focused region thanks in part to our energy and agriculture industries but also the growing digital, tourism and life sciences sectors and having the right customs documentation is vital to ensure goods get to where they are going with minimal fuss and cost. “In becoming the first Chamber in 23 years to be awarded the licence to issue them, we will be able to help reduce costs and red tape; and increase efficiency for the many, many businesses across the North-east who are trading internationally.�

The licence allows the Chamber to deliver the service online, adding additional benefits for local firms and was granted by London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the national guaranteeing organisation for ATA carnets in the UK. It represents the UK at the World ATA Carnet Council and is ultimately responsible for all Carnets issued from the UK.

CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Ayrshire Chamber Platinum Partner AVQ Management advocates diversity in the workplace The campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2020 is #EachforEqual – a theme which aims to highlight the following:

training we deliver is the perfect way for employers to boost their gender diversity in supervisory and management positions.

We detail below an example case study of a young female engineer who has gone through an SVQ with ourselves:

An equal world is an enabled world.

Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions - all day, every day.

We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women’s achievements.

Collectively, each one of us can help create a gender equal world.

Gender Diversity is the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work, projects or programmes.

AVQ Management are advocates of diversity in the workplace and gender diversity is an integral part of what we believe in and how we operate.

As a training provider specialising in management level qualifications, our training is open equally to both women and men.

We have provided training and qualifications to woman working in industries that are traditionally perceived as being male dominated - from trainee engineers to senior managers. However, the women are very much outnumbered by male candidates.

Many sectors such as construction and engineering are traditionally viewed as male biased industries. In the construction industry, for example, it is believed only around 12% of employees are female – and many of those are in administration and other support roles as opposed to management and professional positions.

The construction industry has identified that there is a skills shortage at all levels.

This situation is not being helped by the fact that a huge percentage of the potential workforce (female workers) do not see it as a viable career option.

Study after study shows that gender diversity has benefits to business performance. According to McKinsey & Company, the most gender diverse businesses are 21% more likely to experience above average profitability.

Their ‘Women Matter’ study suggests companies perform best when women are strongly represented at senior levels.

“I am currently a trainee engineer with my employer. I joined them as a school leaver and have worked on a variety of different projects where I have gained experience and expanded my knowledge of the construction process. In addition, I am currently undertaking a degree on a part time basis at university.

I recently completed an SVQ with AVQ Management through the Modern Apprenticeship programme funded by Skills Development Scotland. This process required me to apply the experience I have gained on site and the knowledge I have gained at university. As a result, I have gained a valuable and well recognised Vocational Qualification – which qualifies me for the Gold Supervisor’s CSCS Card.

Whilst there are still higher numbers of men than women in the construction industry, I would highly recommend it as a career for women. No two days are the same – it is challenging, exciting and rewarding - Claire McGhie, Engineer, I&H Brown Ltd”

We are currently undertaking a marketing drive to encourage employers to put more female employees forward for qualifications. We believe that the

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CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Ayrshire Chamber leaps into the new decade Annual Dinner and Business Excellence Award 2020 On 6th March 2020 over 430 guests attended a stunning Gala evening at Trump Turnberry Hotel to celebrate a great year of Ayrshire business.

Hosted by Jennifer Reoch, guests were entertained throughout the night and were treated to excellent musical performances

by Andrew Merry and Allon Beauvoisin.

Mike Stevenson of Thinktastic also told his remarkable story.

During the evening, Urquhart Opticians were revealed as the winners of the Ayrshire Business Excellence Award 2020.

The winners impressed the judging panel with their commitment to continuous improvement and striving for excellence.

Lisa Stewart, Project Executive, Business Excellence Ayrshire said “I would like to congratulate the team at Urquharts Opticians on winning this prestigious award”.

“The judging panel were impressed with the very high standard of all of this year’s finalists. However, the 2020 Award produced

an outstanding winner who demonstrated an exceptional level of excellence.”

Ayrshire based McCulloch Rail were pleased to be the Principal sponsors of the Annual Dinner this year, Billy and Danny McCulloch said: “McCulloch Rail were delighted to be supporting the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner this year. After attending the Dinner for the last 3 years it was an absolute pleasure to be the main sponsor of this prestigious event held at Trump Turnberry.”

Chamber Chief Executive Val Russell said: “Our Annual Dinner turned into the perfect occasion to engage with members and forge new alliance. A great night of networking and celebration was had by all. Thanks again to McCulloch Rail, Stagecoach and all our sponsors who help make a good night great!

Also, thanks go to the Chamber team for all their hard work behind the scenes, the Air Training Corp Cadets, Ayrshire College staff and to the staff at Trump Turnberry for all their efforts on the night.”

Dementia Friendly Chamber training update Staff at Ayrshire Chamber recently received dementia awareness training from Jim Baird of Alzheimer Scotland. Jim’s session, developed in association with Dementia Friendly Prestwick & Troon, explained about the condition, the risk factors that could be managed to prevent its development, but more importantly, how businesses locally could play a vital role in ensuring that staff became more understanding and empathetic. Another theme was that of what

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businesses needed to be aware of if and when a member of their workforce became diagnosed with the disease and how crucial it was for their wellbeing that they carried on working.

CEO Val Russell, commented; ‘There are so many benefits for businesses to get up to speed with this disease – firstly, we cannot create truly dementia-friendly communities if the high street and local employers do not properly understand how to engage with people living with dementia and play their safeguarding role. Secondly, there’s a commercial advantage in being trained

Burns Supper for Breakfast Ayrshire Chamber held a Burns Supper with a difference this year, linking with their sister Chamber in NewnanCoweta, Georgia, USA via a video link.

With a unique take on the tradition because of the time difference it was Haggis, Neeps & Tatties for Breakfast in Georgia and for Afternoon Tea in Ayrshire.

Ayrshire College students provided the refreshments and traditional Scottish Fayre while students from Belmont Academy provided the entertainment with traditional music, Bagpipes, the Address to a Haggis and Selkirk Grace.

The Westerly Restaurant at Ayr College proved to be an excellent setting with the media department on hand to create a link to the Burns Breakfast taking place in Newnan-Coweta.

The event was the first opportunity to introduce local businesses from both countries to each other with a visit to the area currently being planned for 2020. As part of the Scottish Governments International Trade programme, Ayrshire Chamber, in partnership with Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Forth Valley Chamber and Scottish Development International are finalising a Trade Mission to the USA, visiting Florida and Atlanta. Please note your interest to Yvonne@ayrshirechamber.org as applications will be opening soon.

– those with the disease, their family and carers are more likely to use businesses that understand what they should and should not do/say when interacting. And thirdly, the business community needs to understand that, with an ageing workforce and later retirement, accommodating people with dementia is a very live issue.’

Jim and his small team at Alzheimer Scotland are happy to deliver this training and accreditation to chamber members and beyond – please contact him directly at jbaird@alzscot.org for details.

CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Caithness Chamber to deliver singleuse pilot projects in 2020 Caithness Chamber of Commerce is delighted to be working with Zero Waste Scotland to deliver three pilot projects in Caithness throughout 2020.

The Chamber, working in partnership with Thurso Community Development Trust, joins more than a dozen other organisations throughout Scotland in delivering these pilots as part of the “Ditching Disposables” project and will be the only delivery partner in the Highlands & Islands.

Focusing on reducing consumption of singleuse items, the pilot projects will consist of: A deposit return scheme for reusable cups in Thurso and Wick town centre Working with two major events to reduce use of disposable items Single-use reduction at a large employer in the area In addition to the pilot projects, the Chamber will also be seeking to work with its members to assist them in delivering their own projects. It will also be undertaking a programme of community engagement to help raise awareness of the concerns surrounding disposable items, recycling, and the wider issues of sustainability.

The programme is supported by the Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Trudy Morris, Chief Executive of Caithness Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is a real

win for both the Chamber and the North Highlands. As the only delivery partner in the Highlands & Islands, we have a unique opportunity to help demonstrate the unique challenges and opportunities that this region faces.

“Sustainability is a key policy priority for Scottish Government and it is clear that reducing consumption of single-use items is likely to be enforced through legislation in the years to come. By providing an evidence base for how these sorts of projects work in a remote and rural area, we can help ensure that any future policies take the needs of communities like the North Highlands into account.

“As a Chamber and as a business, we also recognise that we have a responsibility to look at how we and our members can build a more sustainable future for the region. This will involve looking not just at how we move to more environmentally friendly products, but at changing our attitude away from disposability and focusing more strongly on reduction and reuse.”

Catherine Macleod, Chair of Venture North (organisers of the Taste North festival) said: “Taste North is the flagship food and drink event in the North Highlands, and the event has always had a focus on local production and responsible consumption. Looking at how we can work to reduce our consumption of single-use items is a great fit with our

overall mission and we look forward to working with the Chamber on this exciting project.”

Bev Durrand, of Caffé Cardosi in Thurso, said: “We are very pleased to be involved with this exciting project. Consumption of single-use items is a real problem facing our society and we look forward to working with the Chamber, the Trust and other businesses in Wick and Thurso to try and address this.”

Zero Waste Scotland Chief Executive, Iain Gulland, said: “We know single-use items are blighting communities across Scotland and it is something we are determined to tackle. Some of these are only used for a matter of minutes yet can hang around our environment for years.

“Four fifths of our carbon footprint as a nation comes from the products and materials we consume. That’s a huge proportion, and single-use items are an entirely unnecessary part of that. Curbing our consumption habit is vital if we want to have a real impact on the climate emergency.”

Ditching Disposables is part of Zero Waste Scotland’s Resource Efficient Circular Economy Accelerator Programme, which will invest £73m in circular economy and resource efficiency projects, thanks to support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).”

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CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Exciting E-Commerce opportunity with Alibaba Group’s TMall Platform On 13th February 2020, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce held an introductory session with our Chinese partner, Xiang Li, for luxury Scottish brands who are interested in selling online in China via TMall, Alibaba Group’s e-commerce platform.

Alibaba Group’s headquarters are based in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, which is situated south of the Yangtze River Delta and only a couple of hours drive from Shanghai. Although Hangzhou is not a Tier 1 city, it is the e-commerce capital of China and has a population of approximately nine million people. TMall.com is the largest businessto-consumer retail platform in Asia and enables businesses to sell directly to millions of consumers throughout China.

This opportunity, developing as a result of our recent and successful trade visit to Shanghai/Hangzhou in November 2019, has attracted around 12 notes of interest from luxury Scottish brands who are interested in the huge potential and growth opportunities that the China market offers.

Sectors in which interested companies operate include jewellery and fashion, food and drink, and textiles/lotions, however all luxury products are welcome.

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In the first instance, Glasgow Chamber aims to create a ‘Scotland Shop’ on TMall, allowing Scottish brands to come together and work under a collaborative group in order to communicate the ‘Scottish’ story and create an ‘experience’ for Chinese customers. Glasgow Chamber of Commerce will act as a legal body for these firms and will have a representative in Hangzhou who will lead the negotiations and discussions with TMall. This opportunity offers exciting new prospects for Scottish firms and we are eager to see them develop, achieve growth and fulfil their productivity potential.

If Glasgow Chamber can take away one key learning from the visit in November 2019, it is that a single visit is insufficient.

Follow up and a continued dialogue with those whom we met is essential. With this in mind, we hope to visit again as soon as is practical in line with FCO guidance, to not only build upon and strengthen our existing relationships, but to develop new

friendships, new support networks and new growth opportunities for our Scottish companies.

If you are a luxury Scottish brand and would like to understand more about this opportunity, please contact internationaltrade@

glasgowchamberofcommerce.com.

CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation meets with Inverclyde Businesses Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation was Inverclyde Chamber’s guest speaker at its recent breakfast roundtable event at the Beacon Arts Centre on Wednesday 26 February 2020.

An intimate event, Ivan McKee gave his opening address to the room and outlined his portfolio of Trade, Investment and Innovation providing a focus on engagement, trade missions and attracting investors to Scotland.

Ivan continued to describe his work with overseas investors to attract them to Scotland and to influence export plans for the future for local businesses to grow.

Reflecting on the visit, Mr McKee said: “I welcomed this chance to speak to Inverclyde businesses about their experiences and ambitions to trade internationally. We discussed a number of key challenges and potential solutions.

“There was also an opportunity to talk about how we can all work together to help deliver the ambitious targets in our export growth plan – for exports as a percentage of Scotland’s GDP to reach 25% by 2029. I would like to thank everyone for taking part.”

Andrew Bowman, Junior Vice-President of Inverclyde Chamber of Commerce, facilitated a productive discussion between Mr McKee and multiple Inverclyde-based businesses with Government investment into transport, infrastructure, exporting and importing, skills and the Glasgow City Deal, plus the future economic development of Inverclyde.

Andrew said: “On behalf of the attendees and Inverclyde Chamber of Commerce, I’d like to thank Ivan for taking the time to visit with the Inverclyde business community and listen to the local views on where we can improve as an area and need support.

“This was a very positive and engaging event, which further helps the Minister to better understand the local market and opportunities for the Scottish Government to support growth within Inverclyde, and how that further supports the national ambition.

Mr McKee closed this productive and insightful discussion by presenting the call to action that the Scottish Government is committed to working with businesses to build a more prosperous country.

Thank you to all of the businesses that joined the event including White House Products, PG Paper Company, Drac Logistics, Diodes, Ardgowan Distillery, West College Scotland and SDI.

“Inverclyde has some great opportunities as well as challenges, and it is important that Inverclyde Chamber continues to highlight and lobby these at a national level to further enable our development.”

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DISCOVER DIVERSITY IN DUNDEE

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Study at Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education Discover Dundee

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Dundee is situated one hour north of Edinburgh and was named the ‘Best Place to live in Scotland’ by the Sunday Times 2019. The £80 million V&A Museum of Design, part of a billion pound waterfront development, has become a major attraction, drawing national and international attention.

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Referred to as Scotland’s sunniest city, it is the fourth largest city in the country and is home to around 147,000 people. As we all Al-Maktoum College, there are two universities- Dundee & Abertay- making the city a heavily student populated area, with as many as 45,000 students during term time.

The College campus provides everything you need to make your time as a student as enjoyable and stress- free as possible. Ideally located within walking distance of Dundee student accommodation, shopping centres, supermarkets, public transport and much more, the College is very much at the heart of the City.

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Business Scotland

International Enterprising Leading Local Strathclyde The final word in business education

Strathclyde Business School is a top business school within a leading international technological University, recently named UK University of the Year in the prestigious Times Higher Awards 2019.

As a long-established, pioneering business school, we understand the business needs of organisations, from SMEs and start ups to global players.

With seven international centres, we know first hand the importance of global thinking and we continue to introduce innovative business programmes and bespoke executive education to suit the demands of an evolving business world.

Our acclaimed MBA programme can be studied on a full time, part time or flexible learning basis which means you don’t have to give up the day job – or travel far – to get a world class MBA.

www.strath.ac.uk/business

World’s first treatment for a devastating eye condition UWS discovery will protect 125 million contact lens users globally GLOBAL REACH

University of the West of Scotland has discovered the world’s first treatment for a life-altering eye condition, Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK). The breakthrough follows 13 years of research within the University’s School of Health and Life Sciences. The UWS team has developed and patented a novel compound which can break down the previously untreatable disease in its most resistant form.

LOCAL IMPACT

The research, which has truly global reach, has also benefited the local community. It has created jobs, generated funding, forged industry partnerships with local and national businesses, and has created undergraduate, postgraduate, Masters and PhD projects for students.

UWS is working on the commercialisation of this research, to roll out the safe new additive for contact lens and eye care solutions, and this has already attracted attention from industry leaders and contact lens providers. The project has revolutionised the eye care industry and supports UWS commitment to changing lives and transforming communities, with research that has a tangible and positive impact.

“The research conducted at UWS will have an immediate effect on the millions of sufferers who contract the disease annually. It has been a career highlight to help deliver this revolutionary research which will transform the eye care market worldwide.”

Sathish Srinivasan - Visiting Professor and NHS Ayrshire & Arran corneal surgeon Find out more about the opportunities around this exciting UWS development - contact Professor Fiona Henriquez, AK Research Lead, School of Health & Life Sciences at Fiona.Henriquez@uws.ac.uk

For advice on UWS’s intellectual property and innovation work contact Johnny Mone, Head of Enterprise Services, at Johnny.Mone@uws.ac.uk

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT - UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

Business School offers 2020 vision Taking the time out to do a Master of Business Administration programme can open new horizons and support a change in direction. HELEN COMPSON talks to a former University of Glasgow student who is glad she made the leap of faith.

She was already a business woman to her very core, but for Sharon Morrow, University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School’s MBA gave her opportunities she’d never even considered.

Working at the Department for International Development for a week on a live challenge was just one of them.

After the 30 or so students in her class had been divided into teams, Sharon’s group of four found themselves tasked with helping to improve an Aid Management Platform.

“We were very lucky, because for a full week we worked in the department’s headquarters near Glasgow – a rare opportunity,” she said.

“They didn’t think the Aid Management Platform was being well used and they asked us to come up with solutions.”

Part and parcel of a competition that was sponsored by Bell’s Whisky, the crux was a presentation marked by representatives of the public sector organisation they had been working with, as well as their tutors.

Sharon and her team were delighted to win.

They were presented with their prize by the whisky company’s managing director, Prof.

Raymond Miguel, during a special luncheon.

“Doing the presentation was like being on Dragon’s Den,” she laughed. “It was nervewracking, but very worthwhile!

“There was such a sense of satisfaction at having worked on a real-life situation, and the consultancy aspect was something I really enjoyed doing.”

A state-registered nurse originally, Sharon changed direction in the early noughties when she moved abroad, to Portugal, and became a nursery teacher at one of the international schools there.

She had several strong reasons for choosing University of Glasgow. The relatively small class sizes appealed, as did the international mix of the student intake.

By the time the couple sold it last year, the business had three branches and 45 staff.

“A big part of it for me was the opportunity to learn from others,” she said. “My time in Portugal had taught me just how much I enjoyed working with different people from all over the world and the breadth of vision that gave me.”

“I worked hard on that business, driving change and expanding it, while being a mum to three,” she said. “It was tough, but I have always been driven - whatever I’m doing, I want to do it the best I can.

“I even did my dental nurse training, so I would understand the language and the very basis of the business.

“It was a complete change, but I had always had a huge interest in education and training and young people,” she said.

“But I always felt that I’d fallen into that particular role and there was a yearning to do something for myself, something of my own choosing.”

“I loved it, but I was homesick so I came back and started work in a public health role, dealing with young people, and did that for a number of years.”

Her interest in education had never waned and for her, when she thought about the different strands of her life to date, an MBA was the answer to the question, what next?

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Marriage to a dentist proved her next turning point. She subsequently went in to manage his dental practice at the point it had 10 members of staff.

There were 17 nationalities represented in her class, so she certainly got that. “When you have all these different people at different stages of their career from different corners of the world coming together to learn, well, to me it was invaluable.

“There weren’t many people from the healthcare sector, but it allowed me to learn so much more about other industries and sectors besides my own.”

Most of all, she liked the look of the Glasgow MBA itself, because that too offered breadth of vision – and choice.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT - UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

The fact she was allowed to investigate and write on a particularly niche subject matter for her dissertation earned the university brownie points in her eyes.

Sharon said: “One of the professors really inspired me, because he had a background in healthcare and patient safety, so I chose to do my dissertation on patient safety, which I always championed in our dental practice.

“I chose to do it on the lack of a reporting system within dental practices, which are yet part of the Primary Care system.

“I didn’t expect when I started the MBA that I’d be able to do something in that area, but it allowed for a breadth of choice far wider than just marketing and human resources and that was really important to me.”

The MBA is a 12-month long, full-time course that, while participants do get the Christmas and Easter holidays, is more intensive than the academic year for undergraduates. They work straight on through the summer, for one thing.

As for Sharon, she is putting what she learned on the Glasgow MBA to good use.

She enjoyed that taste of consultancy work she got with the Department for International Development so much that she has taken on a couple of consultancy roles of her own.

One is with a large Scottish dental group, focusing on quality improvement, learning and development, and the other is with a printing company, helping to roll a new product out to international markets.

Oh, and she’s also launched her own training company too, producing dental nurses proficient in the art of sedation, a boon to dental practices and dental hospitals requiring the skill.

Furthermore, as a volunteer, she has been instrumental in setting up a local mental health project, called ‘The Living Room’. She is now part of its management team and the volunteer co-ordinator, ensuring the drop-in centre is manned appropriately.

Sharon Morrow

Sharon feels that she has gone full circle in her career, that she is hands-on once again, working at ground level – and she couldn’t be more pleased.

“I loved the MBA, not least because it allowed me the time to reflect on what I wanted and didn’t want to do in both my career and personal life.

“When I sold the dental practice, it gave me the freedom to do other things,” she said.

“I’m as busy as ever, but in a different way.

“It not only gave me the time to decide if I should sell our business, but also the courage to do so.

“The MBA provided me with new experiences and ideas and, ultimately, the confidence to take advantage of new opportunities.

“It is hard work, yes, but I’m so glad I did it.” www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/ businessadministration/

I loved the MBA because it allowed me the time to reflect on what I wanted and didn’t want to do in both my career and personal life. It provided me with new experiences, ideas and ultimately the confidence to take advantage of new opportunities.

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Maximise Your Potential

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DESTINY SCOTLAND

A home from home experience for your stay in central Edinburgh and Glasgow

Destiny Scotland, established in 2005 now operate over 160 serviced apartments across Edinburgh and Glasgow; providing a stylish home from home experience and a smooth self-check in process. Ideal for your leisure or corporate stay, stay 1 night or 1 year, offering competitive rates to suit everyone.

We are ASAP accredited for compliance and quality so you can be confident that we do things right and National winners of the 2020 Scottish Hotel Awards for ‘Best Serviced Apartments’.

Destiny Scotland manage unique building conversions full of character, charm and comfort. Ranging from studios to 3 bed apartments; each apartment offers a spacious layout giving you more value of for your money than any hotel room. We also manage car parking spaces in Edinburgh so if you are driving ask about availability.

Our fully equipped self-catering apartments have everything you could need for your stay, from free Wifi, Flat screen TV, high quality linen, towels, luxury toiletries from Noble Isle, fully fitted kitchens with cookware & utensils. Weekly housekeeping is included.

Our housekeeping team Daybreak Scotland bring you an excellent cleaning service and above all; assurance of disinfecting and sanitising all touch points.

Our self-check in process with unique coded entry gives you control of your arrival and departure. The current social distancing requirements are easy to manage with our self check in as there is no unnecessary interaction with anyone.

Our guests’ safety is paramount and we can

provide you a hassle & worry free stay for you, your family or employees.

Edinburgh has a stunning historical charm like nowhere else with its mix of architecture, medieval tenements, cobbled streets & impressive Georgian buildings of New Town make is all very pleasing to the eye. It’s a compact city making is so easy to travel on foot and discover many hidden gems the city has to offer.

You are spoilt for choice as all apartments are dotted around central Edinburgh, Old Town, New Town, West End, all on the door step of major attractions such as Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Princes Street Gardens, Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh Playhouse and the exclusive shopping experience of George Street and Multrees Walk. Arthurs Seat, Murrayfield Stadium and the Royal Yacht Britannia & Royal Botanic Gardens are all within easy reach.

In Glasgow we have 2 buildings in fantastic locations - The Glassford Residence on Glassford Street, the perfect base for shopping and nightlife as on the cusp of Merchant City. Merchant City has been built up in recent years as a residential, shopping and leisure area, mirroring Covent Garden in the West End of London. To this end, many new bars and restaurants have

been established, complemented with the redevelopment and restoration of many Victorian buildings.

Then we have Nelson Mandela Place Apartments, just off Buchanan Street, 200 yards from Queen Street Station. Nelson Mandela Place was originally St George’s Place. Glasgow City Council renamed the street in honour of the political prisoner in 1986.

We are extremely popular with our corporate guests and have many repeat guests due to the location and great value. Car parking discounts are available in Glasgow with NCP and a unique code to book online is provided prior to your stay.

Book Direct for best rates, guaranteed!

Enquiries: 0131 629 3888 Email: enquiries@destinyscotland.com We operate a 24 hour in house contact service so always there when you need us!

For information on all our apartments in the Destiny Scotland portfolio, go to… www.destinyscotland.com

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CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Diversity at Morton Fraser Within West Lothian Chamber of Commerce, we are lucky to have a diverse range of businesses and our Premier Partner, Morton Fraser LLP is a prime example of a business who strives to include diversity in all areas of their company while encouraging others to do the same.

By Martin Glover HR Director for Morton Fraser LLP

In a recent (2019) study undertaken by Page Executive, a leading recruitment and HR consultancy, only 34% of top executives knew what their Diversity and Inclusion Strategy was. Yet 81% of the same population understood the strategic importance of having a well-defined strategy and approach.

This presents a significant challenge for HR practitioners and organisations looking to ensure their workforce better reflects their client base and the communities in which they operate.

At Morton Fraser LLP our approach is to ensure that Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is a thread which we weave throughout all of our people policies and practices so that our approach is deeply embedded and firmly part of our values and culture. What this means in practice is that all of our people policies are written through a D&I lens. We are clear up front what we want to achieve in things like the composition of our workforce, our approach to the gender pay gap, opportunities for all people to progress their careers, how we accommodate people with disabilities, how we attract people into our Firm from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and so on.

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As our beliefs around diversity are so strong, we do not generally set targets around each of diversity, believing that our values and belief drive our actions and we measure our progress from an earlier starting point so we can see how we are doing and turn our attention to areas where we believe we should do better.

We believe that talent resides everywhere, and we aim to be blind to difference believing what matters is how people show up and how they work together to deliver the very best outcomes for our clients. We believe our people should be bring their whole self to work and when this happens there are no barriers to success.

So what things can we point to that show how we are doing? There are many because as I have said already D&I is pervasive but a few things I’d point to are as follows: More than 60% of our female workforce occupy the most senior grades and our Managing Board is 50/50 female/male.

We are working hard to appeal to socially disadvantaged groups in our graduate recruitment and use a tool which helps us select people from disadvantaged backgrounds where previously they could be missed. This year we shortlisted 3 people from 24 from disadvantaged backgrounds for our trainee lawyer scheme and 1 of 8 was successfully appointed.

We have appointed our first Asian Partner.

We introduced agile working across the entire workforce 2 years ago to help people balance work and personal commitments.

We provide work experience programmes for people with disabilities to help them into the world of work.

The list goes on and on. The acid test of all of this though is what our people feel about us as an employer, as a place to work and whether they genuinely believe what we think and do makes a difference. We regularly test staff opinion on these matters through the Sunday times Top 100 employer survey and last year we were placed 84th in the UK and in the Top 40 in Scotland.

However we have more to do and we will be busy this year continuing to appeal to all sectors of society to join our Firm and help us be the best independent law form in Scotland. The law is all about justice so it is part of who we are at Morton Fraser that we continue to lead by example and in doing so ensure talented people everywhere can join together and do their very best work here every day.

CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Investing in our people for a sustainable future The Glenmorangie Company is home to the award-winning Glenmorangie and Ardbeg Single Scotch Malt Whisky, regarded as two of the world’s most respected and inspiring single malt brands.

The company was founded in 1843 and is today owned by MoĂŤt Hennessy-Louis Vuitton (LVMH). Our headquarters are in central Edinburgh, with offices and a state-of the-art bottling facility in nearby Livingston, West Lothian. Employing 230 people across 5 separate locations in Scotland, including our beautiful awardwinning distilleries in Tain & Islay.

Glenmorangie is a business founded on patience and painstaking attention to detail. Tradition is our lifeblood, yet innovation courses just as strongly through our veins. While we’ll never hurry our whiskies, The Glenmorangie Company is often first to try new ideas in the development, production and marketing of our brands. We place people at the heart of everything we do and use principles of innovation and sustainability to drive continuous improvement across all aspects of our business to help us achieve Business Excellence at every stage of the process.

Last November we were delighted to launch our Glenmorangie Apprentice Academy with the recruitment of 6 of the 12 apprentices we require to be the next generation of production associates who will help us achieve our ambitious

growth plans at our bottling production site in Livingston. Our internal Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) have created interactive learning sessions which will give our employees a solid understanding of our entire business. A comprehensive 6-week induction programme gives our apprentices a learning journey to give them an understanding of what it means to be a luxury brand whilst at the same time respecting the history of Glenmorangie and the future of whisky industry, from cask to glass. Because our work-based learning modules have been created by our internal experts, it enables them to coach and develop our apprentices to have a full understanding of our amazing product creation and processes; our efficient manufacturing techniques and how we control production to ensure a consistent, high quality product for our customers whilst always striving to improve and

underpinned by our strong company values. This two-year development programme will result in a professional Scottish Vocational Qualification in Spirits & Operations that will give our new generation of production associates a solid platform for success within our industry and enable them to harness lifelong career opportunities.

Most recently our state of the art production site at Alba has successfully been awarded three prestige business awards, two from West Lothian Chamber - Best Business and Best Environmental - and for the second year in a row, the Centre Engineering Excellence and Design Best Practice Sharing Award. We believe these fantastic achievements give excellent recognition to our teams who have benefitted from opportunities through our continued investment in our people development programs by embracing digitalisation and Industry 4.0 and giving us opportunities to keep us at the forefront of our industry. By continually developing our people to be the very best they can be, we can ensure our business has the mindset to evolve through this industrial evolution and ensure a sustainable business for the future.

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

East Ayrshire is ready for business Invest in East Ayrshire and be part of something bigger….This is the message from businesses and local support agencies to anyone thinking of investing in Scotland.

In the heart of South West Scotland’s landscape, East Ayrshire is a great place to live, work and invest.

We have an excellent quality of life with a growing economy, a strong sense of community, good educational opportunities and a choice of modern and traditional homes to meet all needs and budgets. Our proximity to ports, airports and the UK’s motorway network; our easy accessibility to both the central belt in Scotland being only 30 minutes’ drive from Glasgow and to the Northern Powerhouse in England; our highly skilled labour pool and the quality of our property portfolio all combine to make East Ayrshire an attractive proposition for investors.

Perhaps less well known is our industrial heritage and diversity of the business base that calls East Ayrshire home – we have strengths in key sectors and a number of internationally renowned companies keen to welcome new investors and to support the economy to grow.

East Ayrshire Council has a number of support mechanisms to help you to relocate and invest - our website Invest East Ayrshire (www.investeastayrshire.com) is a one stop shop for companies to tap into a wide network of assistance, giving them access to a wealth of advice and support to help them succeed.

Business support ranges from start-up advice, helping to find commercial property and recruiting, developing and training staff, to accessing funding to embark on new projects.

Most successfully, our ‘beReady’ business support programme supports growth by targeting a range of key business concerns, including digital marketing, HR, and financial

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management. Using a team of experienced specialists in these and other areas, East Ayrshire Council has ensured all businesses are able to get the practical, hands-on support that will make a realistic difference at key moments. beReady is also the route to financial assistance from East Ayrshire Council’s Business Grants Programme.

The council will also support businesses to formulate and implement plans that will carry their longer-term ambitions. The ‘Go Strategy’ programme places specialists alongside companies with real growth aspirations and over a period of 10-12 months will help them shape their actions in line with the objectives.

We can also offer a range of commercial property solutions, including industrial units, offices, retail premises and land available for new developments.

Moorfield Park The recent completion and subsequent occupation of four new speculative industrial units at Moorfield Park, Kilmarnock highlights the demand for good quality modern industrial space within the area.

Construction is currently underway for two further speculative units.

Building on the success of the units at Moorfield Park and in response to demand for modern industrial space within East Ayrshire, the Ayrshire Growth Deal has announced funding to support the development of an Ayrshire Engineering Park at Moorfield as well as the Ayrshire Manufacturing Investment Corridor (AMIC) in Kilmarnock.

Ingram Enterprise Centre Extensive refurbishment work has been completed on the Ingram Enterprise Centre

in the heart of Kilmarnock, which offers tenants flexible serviced office units for small and start-up businesses with allinclusive rental packages available.

Retail Development Cumnock In Cumnock, the multimillion pound regeneration of the town centre has seen the restoration of many of the town’s beautiful historic buildings, providing renewed business, retail and residential accommodation.

The first phase provides seven new retail units which are fully let to a mix of local and national retailers whilst the recently completed phase two comprises a Farmfoods store and a further 6,000 sq.ft. of space. This space has been constructed to provide flexible accommodation, allowing it to be subdivided for separate occupation by a number of businesses if required.

So whatever your business, there is a network of sectors and companies in East Ayrshire who will welcome you and help you understand that this is a thriving, exciting place to do business. This is a special part of the country, proud of its past and ambitious for the future.

To speak to us and to find out more about how we can help you and to learn more about support available please contact 01563 578304 or info@investeastayrshire.co.uk Further information is available www.investeastayrshire.com

FROM JAPAN TO DAN VIA TEESPORT Dan is busy growing his business, which means regular trips to London. He relies on Hitachi Rail’s intercity express trains to get him there on time. But before Dan buys his ticket, long before the wheels touch the tracks, even before 900 people have worked on building the trains at Newton Aycliffe; Teesport made sure the body shell for that train got where it needed to be.

From the North East, Teesport handles high value project cargoes for customers across the UK.

Our longstanding expertise and engineering capabilities enable us to constantly improve the supply chain.

That’s what we did for Hitachi Rail and that’s what we can do for you.

If you import it, Teesport it.

To see how we can help you call +44 (0) 1642 877 000 or visit www.pdports.co.uk

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

SACT Electric Car Club SACT Electric Car Club which is operated by SA Community Transport is now in its eighth month of operation.

Thanks to funding from SP Energy Network’s Green Economy Fund, Paths for All and Switched on Vehicles funding, the Car Club has been enabling people in Ayr and in Girvan to get out and about to medical appointments, job interviews, shopping, befriending visits and just to have a good day out at extremely low cost without damaging the environment. Car hire starts from £2.50 per hour or £20.00 per day. It is a

The service it provides to the local community should be well received as it is both affordable and easily accessible.

membership organisation, but membership is not restricted to individuals – if your community organisation or charity would like to join, it can! For a small joining fee, your organisation can have up to 10 drivers registered to drive and we cover the insurance.

The cars are a delight to drive and everyone who has hired the cars has had a really positive experience as the quotes below show: “I would just like to thank you for the fantastic service provided by you when hiring the electric car through SACT.” “The car was of a very high standard and being electric it supports my aim of helping to protect the environment.”

“The service it provides to the local

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community should be well received as it is both affordable and easily accessible… I had a great experience and will recommend electric cars and this service to my friends and workmates.”

“Our day out cost £29.85 in total. It would have cost a lot more in fuel driving my own car to Edinburgh and it’s also much less than the train or bus fares.”

We are also proud to be helping local cancer care charities with transport during this time of national crisis.

Try it for yourself when the Corona Virus lets you! www.sact-carclub.co.uk or 01292 270865

CONNECTING SCOTLAND TO THE WORLD VIA TEESPORT FREQUENCY AND RELIABILITY POSITION TEESPORT AS A GLOBAL GATEWAY TO SCOTLAND Teesport offers more direct daily rail connections to and from Scotland than any other port in the north of England, running two daily services to Grangemouth and Mossend.

With 26 vessel calls a week, Teesport allows shippers to move cargo with ease, complemented by intermodal rail connections.

For more information and to start realising the benefits of rail freight, please contact our commercial team.

T: +44 (0) 1642 877000 E: enquiries@pdports.co.uk W: www.pdports.co.uk

PROGENY

Progeny extends into Scottish private legal sector Progeny – the independent financial planning, investment management, tax and legal advice firm – has extended into the Scottish private legal sector with the arrival of solicitor, Stuart Easton, into the business.

Having run his own specialist law practice for many years, Stuart brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in Wills, Powers of Attorney, Trusts, Executries and estate planning and will help to extend Progeny’s offering in these areas in Scotland. While based in Glasgow, Stuart will also work closely with Progeny’s financial planning and wealth management team in Edinburgh in providing a joined-up professional advisory service for Scottish clients.

Martin Hasyn, Managing Director of Progeny’s legal team, Progeny Law and Tax, said: “Stuart’s knowledge and experience of Scottish law and his specialisation in Wills, Powers of Attorney, Trusts, Executries and estate planning will help us in meeting the needs of our Scottish legal clients and in firmly establishing Progeny’s multidisciplinary offering in Scotland.”

us that we can continue to communicate effectively and meaningfully in a virtual way.

Videoconferencing eliminates the need to travel to and from meetings, guarantees end-to-end security and simplifies the logistics of juggling multiple diaries.

A positive approach

“This is particularly useful for us and our clients at Progeny as we are the only firm in the UK to bring together independent financial planning, asset management, tax, HR and private and corporate legal services. Videoconferencing helps us gather all a client’s advisers together easily in one ‘virtual’ room at the same time.

“Traditionally, many of my clients have been referrals from third parties so I’m well experienced in working with financial advisers and their clients in ensuring they have the correct legal foundations in place to manage their estates and preserve their wealth.

While many businesses have gone to ground during the Coronavirus pandemic, Progeny have been doing the opposite. They have been taking positive action across the business, aiming to emerge with a firm that can better service clients, continue to create jobs and support their staff, communities and charitable causes more effectively.

“Being more connected will improve client experience, enabling us to communicate with them in a more personalised way and allowing them to make informed decisions quickly and efficiently. These new ways of working are likely to become permanent features of our relationships with our clients going forward.”

“In addition, many of my legal clients will have a need for financial planning and investment management support alongside the legal advice. Working with Progeny will give them effective and efficient access to this wealth of expertise.”

By recruiting or advertising for a total of 18 new team members since lockdown began, they have accelerated plans to grow the business and to increase capacity so they are available for clients whenever and on whatever platforms they require.

Progeny is the first and only firm in the UK to bring together independent financial planning, asset management, tax, HR and private and corporate legal services.

Ian McKenzie, Associate Director in Progeny’s Edinburgh office, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Stuart to the team. His legal expertise will perfectly complement

Speaking about how the business has responded to the unprecedented circumstances, Progeny CEO, Neil Moles, said: “The last few months have shown

Stuart said: “I am delighted to be joining the team and I’m looking forward to helping to build Progeny’s unique proposition in Scotland.

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our financial planning services, enabling Progeny to further roll-out our unique proposition to Scottish clients.

www.theprogenygroup.com

CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

Opening the door to opportunities

By Andy Maxtone

Programme Manager at Developing the Young Workforce Inverness & Central Highlands

For young people in the Highlands there has traditionally been a feeling that to succeed it is necessary to move away even, for those who love living here. Encouraging young people to consider sectors that are set to grow locally helps them see career opportunities at home that will help them reach their potential while supporting a vibrant local economy.

To equip young people with the tools to succeed we have forged links between schools, colleges and employers. Bringing these groups together to support young people and offer real experience helps to better prepare young people and offer them a practical way into the world of work.

In the next decade a number of key sectors are set for significant growth in the Highlands. Sectors from hospitality, tourism and energy to health and social care will offer some 44,000 jobs by 2029.

The food and drink industry provides a huge variety of careers here in the Highlands.

From craft brewing, distilleries and highquality farming to sourcing and food technology this thriving sector is set to keep booming but needs new talent and skills to

sustain it. Despite the plentiful opportunities in the sector, relatively few young people have chosen it as a career path in recent years.

To showcase career opportunities in the sector, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Inverness & Central Highland and Food and Drink Federation Scotland got together with several local businesses to launch the Street Food Burger Challenge.

Working with more than 200 Millburn Academy pupils the project built on the growing popularity of street food to engage pupils with all the elements of the local food industry.

The project feeds into the curriculum and embeds learnings by bringing them to life in real business scenarios, from designing the burger box in art class to developing a sales strategy in business studies. The result was a roaring success with pupils successfully designing, branding and marketing a burger in just five weeks.

Projects like this allow young people to see what it is like to work in an industry and showcases a diversity of opportunities they might not have considered. Incorporating practical experience can help bridge the gap between education and work ensuring a smoother transition for both young people and local business.

looking to build a future in the region and will provide over 7,000 jobs in next ten years.

The three week Journey into Construction led by DYW and a number of industry bodies gives local young people a chance to get a taste of the industry, all while gaining recognised training and qualifications.

The scheme sees budding young builders complete qualifications in Health & Safety and First Aid as well as receiving an employability skills session to help them in whatever career they might pursue. In addition to training, participants are given two-weeks of work on site with industry giant Robertson and CSCS cards as proof they have the required training and qualifications for the type of work they carry out.

Whether it is traditional sectors like these or emerging ones like IT and the creative industries we plan to carry on delivering projects like these. Practical collaboration can help employers shape their future workforce and show our talented young people that the opportunities to fulfil their potential are right here on their doorstep.

Construction is another booming sector that offers lots of opportunity to young people

Fast growing tech company Fibre 1 Ltd are proud to look back on their early achievements A member of Inverness Chamber of Commerce, Fibre 1 have built up a successful client base delivering first class fibre connectivity & VOIP telephony solutions to businesses of varying size & location.

Since trading began, they have successfully installed services to a number of well-known companies in the area including Calman Trust, Compass Group, Essence of Harris & Inverness Ice Centre. Fibre 1 are delighted to support local businesses for their connectivity & telephony needs.

In October 2019 the team celebrated their first year in the Horizon Scotland offices at Forres Enterprise Park where they have recently taken on the lease of an extra unit bringing their occupancy to 4 units due to their continued growth.

Over the past 4 years Fibre 1 have expanded from 2 staff based in a modest office in Lossiemouth to a team of 7 full-time members of staff based at their Forres HQ. Fibre 1 continually look to update their product portfolio allowing them to provide

their customers with the latest connectivity solutions in this ever-changing industry.

The firm heads in to 2020 excited to see what a new decade of technology brings for the business and will be actively looking to add to their team as they continue to grow.

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BIPOLAR SCOTLAND

Investing in the mental health of employees

WHO statistics suggest two to three per cent of a population live with bipolar, which translates into 137,000 people in Scotland. ‘That is not much less than the population of Dundee,’ HELEN COMPSON learned from a small charity that offers a huge amount of support

If there is one message Bipolar Scotland wants to get across to businesses, it is this: an employee with the disorder will be just as effective as the person sitting next to them.

The charity’s chief executive, Alison Cairn, is unequivocal: “Yes, this is a serious mental illness, but it can be controlled and there is no reason an employee with bipolar can’t be effective in the work place.

“Indeed, I have found over the years that people go out of their way to prove they can do the job - they will give more than the person next to them.”

The support that person is able to access is key to maintaining their wellbeing though

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and this is where an employer can play as much of a part as Bipolar Scotland.

because bipolar is the condition with the highest rate of suicides attached.

The charity, which has a network of support groups covering the country, plans to train up its first Mental Health First Aiders in what will be an extension to the information, advice and help it already provides.

“At the heart of the matter for employers is how do you look after your staff both physically and mentally?”

Alison, who happens to hail from a human resources background, says it is a step companies at large should consider.

A good starting point for anybody seeking more information is Bipolar Scotland’s own website.

“It’s quite a big thing now,” she said. “Quite a lot of businesses are beginning to train up and put in place Mental Health First Aiders.

The charity was established in 1992 by a GP who is herself bipolar. She originally sought help from a predominantly London-based organisation that at the time had a support group in Glasgow.

“It is a very worthwhile move, not least

She said later it had saved her life.

BIPOLAR SCOTLAND

Alison said: “When she went to her first meeting, she’d said ‘things like this don’t happen to people like me’, and someone had replied, ‘no, me neither’.”

The GP raised the funds to establish Bipolar Scotland’s first group and the charity grew from there.

The work of the six members of staff it has now is supplemented by a legion of volunteers.

“Support groups are the core of what we do,” said Alison. “We have 16 groups throughout the country, run by volunteer facilitators.”

Family members and carers are welcome to attend too. “That often happens,” she said.

“A loved one will have the condition and they will come along to seek support and then take the message home.”

The charity currently has around 400 members and 2000 followers on Facebook, so when you consider that 137,000 estimate, it has many more people to reach in Scotland.

But perhaps the silver lining of these challenging times is that, suddenly, its support groups are even more accessible.

Within two days of the Covid lockdown being announced, they were online. As luck would have it, last year the team received funding to pilot a young people’s group online and so they already had the format in place.

One of the most important services Bipolar Scotland offers today is teaching people how to manage their condition themselves, via a three-day training course that was devised in-house.

Unique in its specific tailoring, the course is designed to be delivered by someone who is themselves living with bipolar disorder, ensuring maximum empathy for maximum effect.

A modular course, while it focuses to all intents and purposes on the present and the future, it does get participants thinking about the past, said Alison. “The starting point is what is going on in people’s lives now and how the illness has affected them, but that does get them thinking about the past and about episodes and warning signs they might not necessarily have linked with their condition at the time.

“After the course, they go back to their normal lives more aware of the impact it is having and what they can do to control it.” www.bipolarscotland.org.uk

Yes, this is a serious mental illness, but it can be controlled and there is no reason an employee with bipolar can’t be effective in the work place. Indeed, I have found over the years that people go out of their way to prove they can do the job - they will give more than the person next to them.

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NEWS

Alba reaches crucial milestone in journey to become licensed bank through direct lending to SMEs in Scotland and the wider UK regions.

The next milestone for Alba will be securing authorisation with restrictions which they expect to achieve in Q3 2020. At this stage the business will be able to call itself Alba Bank, however activity will be restricted, and will involve completion and testing of their IT system and implementing controls and procedures.

New Scottish start-up business, Alba, are delighted to announce they have officially submitted their banking licence application, following an invitation from the Regulator in October 2019. As over two-thirds of challenger banks fail before they are even invited to submit their application, this represents a significant achievement for the business and reaffirms their belief of becoming a fully operational SME-focused bank in Q1 2021.

Since submitting their application, the business has commenced a series of monthly meetings with the PRA and the FCA as they work together through the application journey. When they launch, Alba will be a new Scottish based business bank on a mission to help fuel economic growth

Between authorisation with restrictions and the full launch as a bank, which is expected in Q1 2021, Alba will be further developing and enhancing their systems and processes to ensure they are fully prepared in advance of going live with customers.

On submitting the application Rod Ashley, Alba’s CEO, commented: “This important stage in our journey truly represents a substantial step in becoming a fully licensed SME-focused bank. We will continue to work tirelessly with the PRA and FCA in order to reach our next milestone and, ultimately, become a fully operational bank in 2021, providing the necessary support and funding to UK SMEs which is currently needed in today’s market.”

Building a talented, market-leading team Meanwhile, Alba has continued to strengthen their team ahead of launching as a fully operational bank next year with strategic,

experienced hires. In addition to the original founding team members, Rod Ashley (CEO), Wendy Morrison (CFO) and Iain McBride (Director of Operations), they have appointed Craig McKellar as Head of IT and John Fisher as Chief Compliance and Risk Officer.

John joined the team in January 2020 and is an experienced risk executive, able to cover all aspects of risk across the portfolio. Most recently, John was Director of Commercial & Credit Risk at Tesco Bank, and prior to that was a Senior Risk Specialist at the FSA. He has spent his entire career in risk management in banking, at Lloyds Banking Group, MBNA and the Co-operative Bank, among others.

Craig, who joined the Alba team in August 2019, has spent the past two decades working within a variety of IT environments across both the public and private sectors.

Combining a specific focus towards IT infrastructure with a passion for security, Craig has successfully facilitated multiple cloud-based operational models across a range of industries.

Stay connected to the Alba channels for further news and updates as they continue on their journey of becoming an innovative and ground-breaking SME-focused bank headquartered in Scotland. www.albacoltd.co.uk

CBC announce strategic leadership appointments Clyde Blowers Capital (CBC) is delighted to announce changes which strengthen its leadership team with the return of Bill Thomson OBE and the promotion of Gareth McColl to Partners of the firm.

Bill returns to Clyde Blowers where for over two decades he played a key part in creating the outstanding track record which formed the basis of Clyde Blowers Capital of which Bill was a Founding Partner. He was responsible for the impressive expansion and development of Clyde Blowers in China, where he founded CBC’s Beijing office. Bill was instrumental in the success of previous Clyde Blowers’ investments; Clyde Bergemann, Clyde Materials Handling, Interbulk, Clean Cut and H-Fang.

Gareth has been at CBC for 10 years and can count on an array of operational and investment experience firstly as an Investment Analyst and then Associate Director, before being appointed Investment Director in 2017. He played

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a pivotal role in global oilfield service platform, Allrig, and US-based precision motion control expert, Cone Drive, which was successfully exited to The Timken Company in 2018 in a deal worth $245m.

CBC Founder, Chairman and CEO, Jim McColl, commented: “I’m delighted to welcome Bill and Gareth as Partners at Clyde Blowers Capital, significantly strengthening the leadership team. As we

embark on an exciting new chapter, their skill set, expertise and experience will be invaluable”.

Bill and Gareth have experience of investing in and managing businesses through previous economic cycles. Their and the wider CBC team’s immediate attention will be on providing assistance and guidance for businesses during these difficult and unprecedented times.

INTELLIGENCIA

Intelligencia Training engage with GVC Group Specialist intelligence, counter-fraud and risk management apprenticeship training provider Intelligencia Training, have been commissioned by GVC Group to deliver intelligence training to delegates within a number of departments within their business. GVC Group operates in the betting and gaming sector. In the UK, their brands include Ladbrokes, Coral and Gala Bingo.

The innovative intelligence analyst apprenticeship standard was developed in conjunction with a consortium of high profile public and private sector organisations to deliver formalised and standardised working practices relating to the way in which organisations gather, utilise and make decisions based upon intelligence and data. Delivering parity in skills with other sectors and organisations that Intelligencia Training engage with including Government agencies, Police forces, local authorities, the banking and insurance sectors, utilities providers as well as other gaming and gambling businesses the programme is utilised to within departments including intelligence, counter-fraud, risk, security, loss prevention, anti-money laundering and many others reliant upon intelligence and data. The programme will deliver a number of structured analytical techniques that allow analysts to become more effective, efficient and empowered within their various specialised roles.

Working closely with GVC Group’s Apprenticeship Leads, Omari Harry, Stephanie Emmanuelle and a wide range of departmental managers a cohort of delegates was identified who work across various multiple facets within the business.

These ranged from anti-money laundering, responsible betting, security investigators and other analysts who will all be given the opportunity to work closely together during this apprenticeship learning programme.

Intelligencia Training’s mixed cohort approach has been delivering strong results within many sectors promoting interorganisation, interdepartmental and interrole sharing of intelligence and analytical processes.

Intelligencia Training’s Commercial Director, Nick Atkinson, commented “The opportunity to work with another high profile organisation such as GVC Group is obviously fantastic for us. We have been working with other organisations within this sector as well as those that regulate the industry therefore the ability to share best practice should deliver strong results. From the onset, the support shown from senior management and line managers has been outstanding, they clearly understand the benefits that the intelligence analyst apprenticeship programme can deliver as well as the commitment and support required. It has been a pleasure working with Ladbrokes for a number of months to get us to the point where we have now commenced their learning journey”

GVC Group’s Apprenticeship Lead, Omari Harry, commented “I am excited to be engaged with Intelligencia and Nick Atkinson on what should prove to be an exemplary opportunity to invest in our people. Furthermore, to invest using our apprenticeship levy with ‘meaning and with long lasting effect’ which is an ongoing theme in our wider Talent and Development Department.

Looking at the experience and impressive client list Intelligencia holds; moreover, the attitudes of Nick and his team toward excellence in delivery and ‘the detail’ I am filled with confidence that we will see positive change from this. As a company, being able at a minimum, to contribute to an example of great practice in developing people within our sector is always a win for GVC” You can read more about Intelligencia Training and the programmes they deliver at

www.intelligenciatraining.com.

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CHAMBERCONNECTIONS

CHAMBER CONTACTS

Scottish Chambers of Commerce Strathclyde Business School, 199 Cathedral Street, Glasgow G4 0QU T: 0141 444 7500 E: admin@scottishchambers.org.uk www.scottishchambers.org.uk President – Tim Allan Chief Executive - Liz Cameron OBE

Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce

Scottish Chambers of Commerce

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce The Hub, Exploration Drive Aberdeen Energy Park, Bridge of Don Aberdeen, AB23 8GX T: 01224 343900 E: info@agcc.co.uk www.agcc.co.uk Chief Executive - Russell Borthwick President - Colette Backwell Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce & Industry The Mezzanine, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport, Prestwick, KA9 2PL T: 01292 678 666 F: 01292 678 667 E: enquiries@ayrshire-chamber.org www.ayrshire-chamber.org Chief Executive - Val Russell President - Lorna Gibson Cairngorms Business Partnership Ltd Inverdruie House, Inverdruie Aviemore, PH22 1QH T: 01479 810200 E: office@visitcairngorms.com www.visitcairngorms.com Chief Executive - Mark Tate Chair of the Partnership - Angus McNicol Caithness Chamber of Commerce Naver Business Centre Naver House, Naver Road Thurso, KW14 7QA T: 01847 890076 E: info@caithnesschamber.com www.caithnesschamber.com Chief Executive - Trudy Morris Chairman - Stephen Sutherland

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Eskdale House, The Crichton, Bankend Road Dumfries, DG1 4UQ T: 01387 270866 E: admin@dgchamber.co.uk www.dgchamber.co.uk President – Kenny Bowie Dunbartonshire Chamber of Commerce Whitecrook Business Centre 78 Whitecrook Street, Clydebank, G81 1QF T: 0141 280 0272 E: admin@dunbartonshirechamber.co.uk www.dunbartonshirechamber.co.uk Chief Executive - Damon Scott President - Stewart Rennie Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce 37 City Quay, Camperdown Street Dundee, DD1 3JA T: 01382 228545 F: 01382 228441 E: info@dundeeandanguschamber.co.uk www.dundeeandanguschamber.co.uk Chief Executive - Alison Henderson President - Ian Collins East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce 1 Golf Road, Clarkston, East Renfrewshire G76 7HU T: 0141 887 6181 E: info@eastrenchamber.org.uk www.eastrenchamber.org.uk President – Laura Molloy Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce 40 George Street, 2nd floor Edinburgh, EH2 2LE T: 0131 221 2999 F: 0131 261 5056 E: info@edinburghchamber.co.uk www.edinburghchamber.co.uk Chief Executive – Liz McAreavey President - Jane Clark-Hutchison

Fife Chamber of Commerce Office 7A, Flexspace, Mitchelston Drive Kirkcaldy, Fife KY1 3NB Fife, KY2 6HD T: 01592 647740 E: info@fifechamber.co.uk www.fifechamber.co.uk CEO – Alan Mitchell President – Brian Horisk Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce Group (incorporating Stirling Chamber of Commerce) Suite 2, Scion House Stirling University Innovation Park Stirling, FK9 4NF T: 01786 448 333 E: info@forthvalleychamber.co.uk www.forthvalleychamber.co.uk President Lynn Blaikie Glasgow Chamber of Commerce 30 George Square, Glasgow, G2 1EQ T: 0141 204 2121 E: chamber@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com Chief Executive Stuart Patrick President - Dr Paul Little Helensburgh Chamber of Commerce M&T Builders Merchants, 22 Charlotte Street, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, G84 7PH T: 07789904687 E: info@helensburghchamber.org www.helensburghchamber.org.uk Chief Executive - John Clark Inverclyde Chamber of Commerce Room 5, Victoria House 5 East Blackhall Street, Greenock, PA15 1HD T: 01475 806824 E: seo@inverclydechamber.co.uk www.inverclydechamber.co.uk Senior Executive Officer – Rachel Burns President – Gavin McDonagh

CHAMBER CONTACTS

Inverness Chamber of Commerce Metropolitan House 31-33 High Street, Inverness, IV1 1HT T: 01463 718 131 E: info@inverness-chamber.co.uk www.inverness-chamber.co.uk Chief Executive - Stewart Nicol President - George Moodie Lanarkshire Chamber of Commerce Barncluith Business Centre, Townhead St, Hamilton, ML3 7DP T: 0330 0947370 www.lanarkshirechamber.org.uk E: info@lanarkshirechamber.org.uk Director: Tracey Campbell-Hynd Lochaber Chamber of Commerce 15 High Street, Fort William, PH33 6DH T: 01397 705 765 E: membership@lochaberchamber.co.uk www.lochaberchamber.co.uk Chairman - Bruno Berardelli Chief Executive - Frazer Coupland Midlothian & East Lothian Chamber of Commerce Moulsdale House, Edinburgh College 24d Milton Road East, Edinburgh, EH15 2PP T: 0131 603 5040 E: info@melcc.org.uk www.melcc.org.uk Joint Chief Executives - George Archibald and Keith Barbour President – Archie Paterson

Outer Hebrides Chamber of Commerce Stornoway Business Hub, Stornoway, HS1 2XG, Isle of Lewis T: 07939 450 276 E: info@outerhebrideschamber.co.uk www.outerhebrideschamber.co.uk Chief Executive - Lynne Maciver Chair - John Moffat Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Saltire House, 3 Whitefriars Crescent Perth, PH2 0PA T: 01738 448 325 F: 01738 450 402 E: info@perthshirechamber.co.uk www.perthshirechamber.co.uk Chief Executive - Vicki Unite President - Stephen Leckie Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce Bute Court, St Andrews Drive Glasgow Airport, Paisley, PA3 2SW T: 0141 847 5450 F: 0141 847 5499 E: info@renfrewshirechamber.com www.renfrewshirechamber.com Chief Executive – Bob Grant President – Tom Johnston

www.scottishchambers.org.uk @ScotChambers Like us on Facebook Siobhan Divers Head of Content T: 0141 444 7509 E: sdivers@scottishchambers.org.uk

Production, Design & Advertising Distinctive Group 3rd Floor, Tru Knit House, 9-11 Carliol Square Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 6UF Telephone 0191 5805990 production@distinctivegroup.co.uk www.distinctivepublishing.co.uk This publication is also available as an ebook at: www.issuu.com/distinctivepublishing

Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce 27 North Bridge Street, Hawick, TD9 9BD T: 07771 865 758 E: chairman@borderschamber.com www.borderschamber.com Chair – Moira Wilson

Moray Chamber of Commerce Moray Sports Centre, Linkwood Road, Elgin, Moray, Scotland, IV30 8AR T: 01343 543344 E: info@moraychamber.co.uk www.moraychamber.co.uk Chief Executive - Sarah Medcraf President Carol Stewart

Scottish Chambers of Commerce Strathclyde Business School 199 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G4 0QU T: 0141 444 7500

West Lothian Chamber of Commerce Systems House, Alba Centre, Alba Business Park, Rosebank, Livingston, EH54 7EG T: 01506 414808 E: chamber@wlchamber.com www.wlchamber.com President - Billy MacLeod Chief Executive – Charlene Wallace

Disclaimer

Distinctive Publishing or Scottish Chambers of Commerce cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies that may occur, individual products or services advertised or late entries. No part of this publication may be reproduced or scanned without prior written permission of the publishers and Scottish Chambers of Commerce.

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CHAMBER NETWORK NEWS

New Digital Hub on the Horizon for the Scottish Borders A faster future is on the horizon for Borders businesses, following the announcement that local company, GB Technologies, has launched the region’s first digital hub, near St Boswells.

Tweed Horizons Business Centre, a former seminary that includes office suites, communal facilities, meeting rooms and events space, had been under the management of Scottish Enterprise since 1991 before being purchased by GB Technologies in December 2019.

Aligning with their commitment to improve the digital infrastructure for the region’s businesses, the first change made by the IT and Communications company was the installation of a 1GB fibre optic broadband service to the centre. The work was achieved as a result of the strong partnership between GB Technologies and Commsworld, an Edinburgh Based company who specialise in fibre connectivity.

Appreciating that robust connectivity is critical to both businesses based in the centre and for the successful delivery of events hosted on site, the installation ensures high speed broadband which will be deployed throughout the building as part of ongoing improvements to the Centre.

Achieving a smooth transition from one owner to another was important to the GB management team so Managing Director, Mark Moncrieff, spent time with all existing Tweed Horizon’s tenants and employees,

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all of whom will remain at the centre.

Mark said: “Tweed Horizons is a wellestablished business centre serving the Scottish Borders, but we know that with our expertise in IT and communications we can significantly improve the experience for tenants and those who host events at the centre. This investment marks a new and exciting phase in the growth of our company too, and we have lots of plans for the region’s first Digital Hub.”

and has the potential to benefit many businesses across the South of Scotland.

The investment in innovation is not the only area of development as the company looks to achieve improvements with energy efficiency too. Working with local company, Renew Green Energy, the digital hub will have a new ground source heat pump and solar panel systems installed to the main building. The two systems will reduce the carbon footprint by an estimated 152 tonnes of C02 each year, the equivalent of planting approximately 770 trees every year.

Talking about the developments with the business, GB Technologies Founder and Chairman, Gordon Brown said: “I am exceptionally proud of what we have achieved, formerly as GB Telecom, and subsequently as GB Technologies, but this next stage in the story of our business is very exciting for us all, taking us into new sectors. We’re delighted that we have already achieved 100% occupancy at Tweed Horizons, with new businesses having already joined us.”

Professor Russel Griggs OBE, Chair Designate of South of Scotland Enterprise, the new economic development agency for the region that will assume operations on 1 April 2020, said: “The establishment of a digital hub by GB Technologies at the Tweed Horizons Business Centre is most welcome

“Using and improving digital connectivity is an overarching aim of South of Scotland Enterprise and this will add to other digital hubs that will help drive inclusive growth.

South of Scotland Enterprise, through its predecessor the South of Scotland Economic Partnership, has already supported other developments of this type in the region and will continue to do so.”

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