President’s welcome

Dear Members, Welcome to the summer edition of Business Matters magazine.

Thank you to everyone who attended Renfrewshire Connect on Thursday 18th May. I thoroughly enjoyed the day connecting with new and existing contacts and was pleased to see so many people at the Lagoon, Paisley. We value the support of our sponsors, exhibitors and those attending to make the event so worthwhile.

CEO Bob Grant recently attended the opening of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) on 21st of June. The NMIS building was opened by the First Minister (FM) and this world class R&D facility will lead innovation in our manufacturing sector throughout Scotland. We are proud the groundbreaking facility is right here in Renfrewshire and our SME community can benefit from this investment in the years to come.

Scottish Chambers of Commerce has been representing the SCC Network on your behalf on the Scottish Government’s “New Deal for Business” Group. This has also included inputting into multiple strategic meetings and a range of subgroups which SCC has participated including business/government relationship, regulation, data metrics, and non-domestic rates.

Sub-group meetings have taken place intensively over the last four weeks and the Scottish Government have published an initial set of highlevel recommendations in a report compiled for the FM. I am encouraged to see this process underway with a positive start however there is much work ahead to ensure ambition is translated into the outcomes which our businesses need to thrive.

The Glasgow City Region has just been announced as one of two new Investment Zones in Scotland, along with the North East following a joint selection process by the UK and Scottish Governments. Each region will each be supported by up to £80 million in targeted investment, tax reliefs and other incentives over five years. We warmly welcome this announcement with selection based on our region’s research strengths, an assessment of economic need and potential, and a consideration of geographic spread.

The initiative is to be delivered by each area’s Regional Economic Partnership. Regional leaders, businesses and universities will take the lead in shaping regional plans, and discussions will now begin with government to develop detailed proposals.

Scotland’s Bravest Manufacturing Company has been announced as one of the first recipients of The King’s Award for Enterprise, for its commitment to social enterprise. The work of Scotland’s Bravest, which is a division of Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) has been recognised in the Promoting Opportunity category. The military charity is one of only nine organisations to be recognised for promoting opportunity in the first year of The King’s Award for Enterprise.

This year’s King’s Awards are now open for entries until September, and I would encourage you to consider applying, more details on how to apply on page 23.

As usual at this time of year we do not have any events in July however the Chamber team will be launching Rocco 2023 in the coming weeks. Winning a Rocco Award is a great opportunity to recognise the success and achievements of your business in the last 12 months and shines a spotlight on all the impressive organisations we have in Renfrewshire – however winning is a challenge and each year the competition gets stiffer, making the shortlist is a huge achievement in itself. Entry is free and open to all members regardless of location. If you are a non-member your business must be based in Renfrewshire. There will be categories relevant to all sizes and sectors of business.

Finally, I hope you all get the opportunity to enjoy time off during the summer break and recharge your batteries with friends and family.

Kind regards - Derek