Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Annual Conference will take place next week (Thursday 21 April) at Gleneagles Hotel and is set to be an inspiring occasion. The country’s leading business membership network has assembled a world class line up of speakers including Bill Aulet, the international entrepreneur and academic to share his knowledge, experience and insights with Scotland’s business leaders.
Focusing on the theme of ‘Disruption’ Bill Aulet, Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde and Managing Director of Martin Trust Centre for MIT Entrepreneurship will bring a global perspective to the challenges, opportunities and practicalities of scaling up Scottish businesses.
As well as internationally successful business leaders, delegates will hear how entrepreneurship in the public sector is transforming the NHS and Scotland’s Canals. Rod Mountain is an ENT cancer surgeon working for NHS Tayside. He leads on Design & Innovation for the first Academic Health Science Partnership (AHSP) in Scotland and is introducing a fresh mindset of design led thinking within the healthcare sectors. He acts as a creative facilitator, stimulating engagement between the sciences, arts and industrial partners in Tayside. While, Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Canals, will share how The Helix project, a £43m development has transformed 350 hectares of under-used land into a vibrant new parkland, canal hub and world-class visitor attraction featuring the biggest pair of equine sculptures on the planet – The Kelpies – that are making an increasingly significant contribution to Scotland’s economy.
Other speakers on the day will include: Mike Welch OBE, Blackcircles; Lesley Eccles, FanDuel; Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Emerging Entrepreneurs of the Year 2015, Julie Wilson and Amy Livingstone, Cheeky Chompers and Entrepreneur of the Year 2015, Mike Loggie, Saltire Energy; Karen Marshall, Bridge of Weir Leather Company; Brian Duffy, Aurum Holdings; Ron McCulloch, JJJ International; Jim McColl OBE, Clyde Blowers; Bob Keiller, previously Wood Group; and Ellis Watson, DC Thomson.
Sandy Kennedy, Chief Executive of Entrepreneurial Scotland, said:
“Our conference brings together some of the most successful global figures, the leaders of the country’s fastest growing companies and those transforming our major public organisations.
“We are incredibly fortunate that in Scotland we are able to bring all this expertise together at Gleneagles to benefit all the entrepreneurially minded individuals attending – the people who are working hard to strengthen the country’s economy and society.”
Professor Eleanor Shaw, Vice Dean (Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise) at Strathclyde Business School and Head of the Hunter Centre of Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde, added:
“The University of Strathclyde has an entrepreneurial focus beyond research. We are committed to making Scotland a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation through our strategic partnership with Entrepreneurial Scotland; our focus on supporting scale-ups; our work with Visiting Professors including Bill Aulet and Irene Graham, CEO of the Scale Up Institute and our strong support for the Scotland CanDo SCALE programme.”
Rod Mountain, NHS Tayside, said:
“I truly believe that we have an opportunity to create a wider Scottish entrepreneurial renaissance, founded by the creative thinkers within Entrepreneurial Scotland, with the potential to design a platform of innovative opportunities for all sectors within Scottish society to meet, challenge each other and co-design the sustainable products and services of the future.
“Support for innovation and entrepreneurship within the public sector will not only help grow the economy, but will introduce significant efficiencies and savings to the public purse.”
Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Annual Conference is open to members and non-members. To book a place contact: [email protected]
