Thirty years ago, Crawford Beveridge, CEO of the then newly formed Scottish Enterprise, asked a simple question “what has happened to Scotland’s entrepreneurial zeal and why is new firm formation not being addressed as a matter of priority and policy?”
The subsequent 1991 Business Birthrate Inquiry and 1993 Strategy broke new economic ground in addressing this question and putting in place a powerful suite of activities and policies. The rationale was simple – the more new businesses created (of all kinds) the more the economy would grow. The OECD applauded, other nations looked on as to what might happen.
Thirty years later Scotland now sends people to Estonia to see how they have achieved what was once promised for Scotland. What happened and does it matter? What is meant by “the right kind of entrepreneurship”? And why with three economic development agencies, a skills development organisation and more, is Scotland lagging behind?
Enlighten was delighted to host this discussion examining what happened and how we can reverse this trend with Iain Scott, author of “How Scotland Found its Entrepreneurial Compass – Then Lost it Again”. Iain has written about his report in an article for Enlighten which can be read here.
In conversation with Chris Deerin, Director of Enlighten, Iain will be joined by Colin Borland, Director of Devolved Nations at Federation of Small Businesses, and Rachael Arnold, Chief Executive Officer of the Creative Entrepreneurs Club. The discussion will consider why business start-ups have fallen off the national radar; the kind of enterprise culture we want to build; and how do we design support that works for the many, not the few?
Catch up on the event below: