Tag: Scottish Enterprise

Companies benefit from the Scottish Government’s business support package

The Scottish Government created a support package for businesses in Scotland affected by Covid 19 and enterprise agencies worked at pace with VisitScotland and Creative Scotland to design and deliver two short-term funds: 

The Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund for vulnerable Scottish SMEs deemed vital to local, regional and national economies and the Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund for tourism, hospitality and creative industry businesses that experienced hardship due to Covid 19.  

A total of 3,656 awards have been made to companies across Scotland equalling around £145.3M. Visit the Scottish Government website for more information. 

Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise Steve Dunlop (above) said: “It is not an easy time for many businesses and Scottish Enterprise is working hard to provide funding, advice and resources to ensure businesses not only survive, but thrive now and in future.  

“The support from the Hardship and Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Funds has allowed companies across a range of industries to continue to trade. We will continue to work alongside Scottish Government and partners to focus on a fair, sustainable and jobs-focused recovery and play a critical role in rebuilding Scotland’s economy.” 

Precision engineering company Almond Engineering is based in Livingston and received £100,000 from the Pivotal Enterprise Fund and has remained in production throughout the pandemic by undertaking safety precautions. 

The business has also manufactured face shields to donate to the NHS as well as creating test equipment for ventilator manufacturers.

Managing director of Almond Engineering Michelle Quinn said: “The support from Scottish Enterprise has been so important for us. We have always really valued the help and support and in times like this it is doubly valuable.    

“The coronavirus has really impacted our orders at Almond and at times such as these when you don’t know how long the crisis will last nor how deep the recession will be, the government and Scottish Enterprise support allows time for the economy to start recovering and ensure that businesses such as ours are here once the world reopens.” 

Edinburgh based interior and graphic design firm 442 Design specialises in venue design, creating memorable customer experiences that challenge the conventions of traditional Food, Drink and Retail spaces. Their clients include Arsenal Football Club, Amazon, SSE Hydro, BBC Scotland, Adidas and Aramark. 

442 Design received £50,000 from the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, which was welcomed by Managing director David Dunn who said: “Our business relies heavily on crowds and entertainment whether through eating and drinking out, football matches or live gigs.

“The banning of crowd activity had a massively detrimental impact on our client businesses. Our business practically stopped with lockdown with all projects put on hold. 

“PERF has kept the company afloat during a time of forced abandonment of all projects, saved jobs and allowed 442 to reposition for the future. We’re now developing a different Covid-aware approach to designing spaces that can deliver both commercial return for client and ensure a great experience for our customers.” 

Arrayjet is a biotech company based in Roslin, Midlothian, supplying inkjet bio-printing instruments and also manufactures Covid 19 testing and research products.  

Iain McWilliam Chief Executive Officer of Arrayjet said: “The PERF grant helped support our cashflow during a critical period when revenue collection and generation was extremely difficult.

“Many of our customers had to cease operations temporarily, and the restrictions on travel prevented us from installing new instruments, look after our installation base, or to visit prospective clients.

“A large proportion of the Arrayjet team were already on the furlough scheme, but the PERF grant allowed us to continue some limited economic activity, to support our key local supply chain, to bring some staff back sooner and accelerate our recovery.  

“The PERF grant helped to stabilise our cashflow and gave our board the confidence to bring members of the Arrayjet team off furlough earlier than planned. As a result, we have been able to develop and market products and services related to Covid 19 research and diagnosis.” 

Four-way drive to help tourism bounce back

Edinburgh Napier University and Scottish Enterprise deliver sector-wide recovery initiative

From April to June, four themed workgroups reviewed the challenges facing Scottish tourism as it reeled from the impact of Covid-19. The scale of the challenge facing the sector – one of Scotland’s largest employers – was obvious from the first day of lockdown and, ultimately, more than 85% of personnel have been furloughed over the period.

In response, in March, Scottish Enterprise and Edinburgh Napier University, the partnership which runs the ground-breaking Destination Leaders Programme (DLP), acted to harness the experience and expertise of more than 120 DLP alumni, launching DLP Assembles to support a pathway to recovery.

“When we launched, the aim was to provide identified actions, outputs and outcomes to help recovery,” explains Professor Jane Ali-Knight of the Edinburgh Napier Business School.

“Involvement was designed to ensure participation came under the acceptable category of professional training for ‘furloughed’ professionals, and we used the DLP alumni network to form the project groups to ensure a good mix of experience and expertise. We also matched the workgroups with mentors and professional support to guide participants on their themes and tasks.”

DLP alumni used their connections to bring together the network of professionals who considered each theme – guided by weekly discussions with mentors drawn from DLP alumni and Edinburgh Napier. Mentors helped focus each group’s actions around the Scottish tourism strategy, Scotland Outlook 2030, and provided regular updates on government funding and initiatives.

Aileen Lamb from Scottish Enterprise adds: “We wanted the programme to encourage innovative thinking across a range of themes, but most importantly we wanted to help maintain and extend participants’ professional skills, expertise and experience, and their networking during furlough.

“This project was built upon the alumni network of the Destination Leaders Programme. It is an excellent example of successful collaboration across academia, the public sector and the tourism industry. What Covid-19 has shown us, despite empty hotels, attractions and airports, is the passion, innovation and resilience of the people who work in this critical industry.”

Kenneth Wardrop, a fellow DLP founder, adds: “Using the DLP alumni we were able to act quickly and ensure we coordinated with groups such as Edinburgh Tourism Action Group and the Scottish Tourism Emergency Response Group. 

“Everyone involved is to be commended for the quality, professionalism and practical solutions identified. They will all be vital in adjusting business operations to post Covid-19 challenges, and the longer-term strategic planning for the recovery of the sector.”

The practical recommendations of each workgroup were presented in individual online sessions in June.

An undoubted highlight has been an interactive toolkit for visitor attractions and experiences, which is now hosted on the VisitScotland website. The Toolkit includes case studies from across the world and suggests technological solutions to suit different budgets, as well as short, medium and long-term ideas.

“It covers everything from online ticketing and social distancing, to moving content online and creating your own podcast,” explains Thayanne Scardini, who volunteered to work on the Toolkit workgroup with fellow tourism professionals Karin Gidlund and Jemma Reid.

“We believe the Toolkit will be a great starting point for attractions and experiences who are looking into diversifying through technology, helping to prepare them for a safe reopening for both visitors and staff, whilst meeting visitors’ expectations and improving customer experience. It has many recommendations for applying technology that can also be helpful for other sectors as well.”

For Antony Carter, and his fellow participants on the Business Events workgroup, they quickly realised that – whether global chain or local venue – the priority going forward is to find ways to reassure clients that operations are safe.

“In the past, operational staff at events were meant to blend into the background; going forward clients and attendees will want to see the operational team front and centre – whether they are cleaning or managing movement around a venue.

“Our report recommends ways that venues can demonstrate how they have alleviated risk effectively, and that includes collaboration throughout the supply chain.”

For Colin Corson and the Whisky workgroup, ‘collaboration’ also became their watchword: “Whether you are a self-catering provider who wants to welcome guests with a fridge full of local produce, (and a local malt of course), or two attractions selling combined tickets online to avoid the need for queuing, collaboration is vital to future success.

” It can minimise congestion in local shops; help improve the experience for guests and local businesses; and help local communities – as well as visitors – feel safer as they move forward.”

From conception to conclusion, collaboration is the theme that sums up the ‘Pathway to Recovery’ project.

Jane Ali-Knight adds: “The University is incredibly proud to have worked with Scottish Enterprise to lead and drive this project forward. We applaud the hard work of all the workgroup participants, against the backdrop of the many challenges of lockdown, and the professional uncertainty, anxiety and disruption.

“That hard work was marked by the presentation of Certificates of Participation to all group members on Friday 10th July.”

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Getting tourism ready for recovery

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/partners/edinburgh-napier-university

Glennon sponsors Edinburgh Gaelic football school league

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!”

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