The First Minister has praised those manufacturers and businesses which have stepped in to support frontline services by diversifying production lines, increasing capacity and exploring new distribution routes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Continue reading Businesses rally to the cause in the battle against coronavirus
A call has gone out to those with skills, expertise and experience, who are currently ‘furloughed’ or on a reduced working pattern, to help address the challenges facing Scotland’s tourism sector.
In 2017, the sector provided employment for eight out of every 100 Scottish workers, but thousands of tourism business owners are naturally feeling anxious about the future in the wake of coronavirus.
The call to arms – ‘Getting ready for recovery’ – has been championed by around 120 alumni of the Destination Leaders Programme (DLP), a joint initiative for tourism industry professionals delivered for the past seven years by Edinburgh Napier University and Scottish Enterprise.
DLP alumni to mentor furloughed tourism workers along the road to recovery
The aim of the furlough initiative is to help small tourism businesses recover by providing targeted support and mentoring that can enable them to take forward identified actions, outputs and outcomes during this period of enforced reflection.
Professor Jane Ali-Knight (above) of Edinburgh Napier University’s Business School, explained: “It is intended that involvement will fall under the acceptable category of professional training for ‘furloughed’ professionals, and will help maintain and extend their professional skills, expertise, experience and network.”
This will mean projects taken up will be focused on objectives that underpin The Scottish Tourism Strategy to 2030, as well as wider destination leadership, development, management, industry resilience and recovery, and destination promotion.
Aileen Lamb from Scottish Enterprise said: “The objective is to support recovery and potential restructure of the Scottish tourism industry. We want to use this opportunity to encourage innovative thinking across a range of themes.
“Most importantly we want to encourage the supportive and adaptable nature of tourism professionals to shine. The initiative will include a weekly online session called DLP Assemble giving businesses a collaborative place to gather regular updates on initiatives and government funding as we look towards the point when restrictions can be lifted.”
Ali-Knight says: “We will guide participants on themes and tasks arising through the DLP Assemble initiative, to help form project groups with a good mix of experience and expertise, and to match groups with mentors and professional support.”
Kenneth Wardrop, a fellow DLP founder, says: “We want to act quickly, working with existing groups such as ETAG [Edinburgh Tourism Action Group] and STERG [Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group] in order to start applying practical thinking and solutions in response to the evolving and devastating impacts on Scotland’s tourism industry.”
Edinburgh Napier University is also running a free online course through FutureLearn to help small tourism businesses understand the power of data they hold or can access in helping them market themselves more effectively at this critical time.
‘Understanding Data in Tourism’ is open now for people to register for the next starting point, on 16 May, by visiting:
futurelearn.com https://www.futurelearn.com/
Timber processing firm Glennon Brothers has announced it is to sponsor the Edinburgh-based Gaelic football school league for three years.
The youth element of Dunedin Connollys football club was established in 2012 and Glennon Brothers will provide financial backing to fund new kits and equipment to support the newly named ‘Glennon Brothers School League’, giving something back to the Scottish community in which over half of its employees are based.
Glennon Brothers joint managing directors Mike and Pat Glennon, accompanied by David Roger, CEO of Glennon Brothers in Scotland, attended the launch event of the league on Thursday 14 March at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh where the sponsorship was announced.
The evening kicked off with a photo opportunity for the team and its new sponsors, followed by a networking event for key VIP guests including the Irish Minister of State for Small Business, John Perry and Consul General of Ireland to Scotland, Susan Conlon, as well as industry bodies Enterprise Ireland and Scottish Enterprise.
Mike Glennon, joint Managing Director at Glennon Brothers, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor the Edinburgh school league for Gaelic Football. We all know that involvement in sport is enormously positive for young people. Without the time, commitment, and patience of countless volunteers, and the team at Dunedin Og, many young people would miss out on the wonderful opportunities that sport can provide, and we are delighted that we can support this venture and give back to the Scottish community which is so important to the success of our business.”
Pat Glennon, joint Managing Director at Glennon Brothers, added: “This sponsorship is a key part of our celebration of 100 years in business in 2013 and clearly marks the significance of Scotland to Glennon Brothers today. We wish the Edinburgh school league every success.”
Peter Dillon, Dunedin Connollys Chairman said: “We are very grateful to Glennon Brothers for their kind and generous financial support of the Gaelic school league. It makes a huge difference for the families and children involved in the league, creating a solid foundation for us to build upon following the clubs inception last year. We are excited about spreading the word about Gaelic football to the Edinburgh youth community and are hopeful that the club will now go from strength to strength!”
