Hansard

I welcome the opportunity to open this debate on the steps that we are taking to strengthen support for the development of new enterprises in Scotland.

This is a fundamental area of policy for the Scottish Government, which recognises the importance of creating the strongest and most vibrant climate for business development activity in our country. If we encourage more people to enter into business start-ups and encourage those businesses to grow, that can contribute significantly to the realisation of the Government’s wider ambitions to boost and strengthen the performance of the Scottish economy and to create opportunities for all our citizens to flourish through their participation in that economy.

The “Scotland CAN DO Action Framework: Building on Our Vision to Become a World-leading Entrepreneurial and Innovative Nation”, which was published by the Government last year, is a shared statement of intent on the part of us and our partners for Scotland to become a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation—a can do place for business to take place. It is an ambitious framework, and I want to take the opportunity to update Parliament on the elements that are in place to make sure that the vision that is contained in that statement of intent, which is shared across a range of partners, is transformed into stronger business growth in Scotland and more emphatic economic performance.

The framework not only is ambitious—I will talk more about that ambition later—but embodies an approach that draws on the very best that our nation has to offer in providing the most sympathetic and supportive climate for companies to do business in. One clear example of the approach that the Government is taking is the action that was taken to establish the Scottish EDGE fund—the encouraging dynamic growth entrepreneurs fund—which takes the form of a competition that makes awards of up to £100,000 to some of our country’s most talented early-stage entrepreneurs. The concept was originally put to me by Jim Duffy of an organisation called Entrepreneurial-Spark, which has a commendable track record of improving business performance and business start-up rates, as a vehicle for giving new and innovative companies a boost in realising their goals and their economic opportunities.

The real strength of the EDGE fund lay in its being taken forward by a committed partnership involving the public sector, represented by the Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies, the private sector, represented by the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the third sector, represented by Entrepreneurial-Spark. That collaborative approach has contributed to a vibrant, high-profile competition, which, since its launch at the end of 2012, has already made awards totalling more than £3.3 million to 85 businesses in Scotland. Winners from the first four rounds alone have gone on to create more than 200 new jobs, generate an additional £8.5 million in turnover and secure external funding of more than £4.3 million, which is a not inconsiderable impact in such a short space of time.

The point has been made to me strongly by many of the people involved in this community that, although the sums of money that the EDGE fund distributes to individual companies might not seem to be the largest, they are absolutely critical in the business development process in enabling people to take ideas from the conceptual stage to the stage of being able to implement them, and in giving new entrepreneurs a reasonable prospect of being able to deliver greater financial performance as a consequence.

I view the Scottish EDGE fund as an example of the Government working collaboratively with its partners and, as a consequence, laying the foundations for a truly lasting legacy that supports business development in Scotland. That is why, towards the end of last year, I agreed that management of the EDGE fund would shift from our enterprise agencies into a new charitable company sponsored by the Hunter Foundation, which is led by Sir Tom Hunter. As well as helping to ensure that the fund has a sustainable future, that will ensure that it is truly owned by our partners in the business development ecosystem that we have been determined to create.

That ecosystem is another aspect of the approach that is encapsulated by the “Scotland CAN DO Action Framework”. Rather than individual organisations or initiatives being viewed or viewing themselves as the answer, our approach as a Government is characterised by a desire to develop diverse partnerships and to work collaboratively with other organisations to meet specific business needs.

A good example of that is the way in which the Government works in partnership with local authorities and supports them to deliver business provision through business gateway to Scotland’s start-ups and its early-stage and established businesses. Business gateway helps to support more than 10,000 start-ups a year and assists more than 17,000 unique businesses. With an estimated spend of £226 million in 2014, local authorities play a key role in facilitating support for growth in the sector. This is an area in which Scotland is particularly strong and in which we will continue to strengthen our activities.

Whether it be youth or female entrepreneurship, local or social enterprise, or business innovation, Scotland has a growing wealth of support mechanisms to help realise the dreams of visionary companies and individuals. We place on all players within the system a clear obligation that they must operate in an integrated climate in which support is offered to individuals, whichever organisations they decide to support. That is the principal concept behind the business development ecosystem through which individual companies will be able to secure the support that they require, regardless of where they go.

We place the onus on different players in the business development ecosystem to work together co-operatively to ensure that the needs of the business community are fully and adequately met. The Government continues to engage in that challenge to guarantee that we have the necessary co-ordination and collaboration to ensure that businesses are not in any sense passed from pillar to post—that would clearly be undesirable and debilitating for new and emerging businesses. I make a commitment to Parliament that the Government will look readily at how we can ensure that different elements of the business development support network are properly connected to meet the needs and ambitions of the business community.

Let me set out some areas where the Government is helping to breed a culture of ambition, collaboration and innovation for different groups within the population and different areas of activity.

First, supporting young people to develop the skills that they need to achieve their ambitions is a central element of the Government’s approach to that agenda. That is why we continue to work with a range of partners to ensure that the right support is available, both within in and beyond our education system, and to encourage more young people to consider entrepreneurship and establishing their own business as an option that they may wish to take.