BQ Scotland autumn 2017

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Scotland: Autumn 2017

TECH WIDOW David Holton leads the way through Scottish Widow’s innovation lab

LAND OF MILK AND HONEY Mackie’s is serving up more than just its famous ice cream

SPIRIT OF FARMING Iain Stirling uncorks the story behind Arbikie’s gin, vodka and whisky

Scotland: Autumn 2017

Loch now

Cameron’s coming Willie Cameron flies the flag for Cobbs Group and the Made in Scotland export collaboration

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INSIDE

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INVESTING IN THE BORDERS RAILWAY CORRIDOR

Business Quarter Magazine

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Celebrating and inspiring entrepreneurship

BUSINESS QUARTER

WELCOME

“The need for diversification has never been greater. Scotland can’t put all it’s eggs into one basket and so looking for opportunities in other sectors is crucial.”

BQ is part of BE Group, the UK’s market leading business improvement specialists. www.be-group.co.uk

BQ, Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, SR7 7TT. www.bqlive.co.uk.

As a dedicated supporter of entrepreneurship, BQ is making a real and tangible contribution to local, regional and national economic growth across the UK. We are unique in what we aim to achieve as a media brand, a brand that has established a loyal audience of high growth SMEs as well as leading business influencers. They wholeheartedly believe in BQ’s focus on people – those individuals that are challenging the traditional ways of doing things. They are our entrepreneurs. BQ reaches entrepreneurs and senior business executives across Scotland, the North East and Cumbria, the North West, Yorkshire, the Midlands, Wales, London and the South, in-print, online and through branded events.

All contents copyright © 2017 BQ. All rights reserved. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies, howsoever caused. No liability can be accepted for illustrations, photographs, artwork or advertising materials while in transmission or with the publisher or their agents. All content marked ‘Profile’, ‘Partner’, ‘Special Report’ and ‘Commercial Feature’ is paid for advertising.

All information is correct at time of going to print, September 2017.

AUTUMN 2017

It’s unusual for an entrepreneur to have only one innovative idea. That’s why it’s so common for successful innovators to go on to become serial entrepreneurs, often starting businesses across a broad range of sectors.

In the autumn issue of BQ Scotland magazine, we celebrate those serial entrepreneurs who have championed diversification. These are business people who have not just spotted a gap that needs filling in one market, but have recognised the benefits of diversifying into other areas too.

As Brexit approaches, the need for diversification has never been greater.

Scotland can’t put all its eggs into one basket and so looking for opportunities in other sectors is crucial, not just to the success of individual businesses but also for our wider national economy.

Willie Cameron certainly has his eye on international markets. As the driving force behind the Made in Scotland consortium, he’s helping his fellow food and drink companies to export, while in his “day job” at Cobbs Group he’s helping to stoke sales of its cakes south of the Border.

Mackie’s of Scotland is another prime example of how diversification can work. The family-owned firm in Aberdeenshire is best-known for its – if I might say – delicious ice cream and now also makes chocolate, crisps and even ice cubes.

Further south in Angus, Arbikie distillery demonstrates how ingredients grown on a single family farm – from potatoes and wheat through to juniper berries – can be harvested and turned into award-winning gins, vodkas and – whisper it – even whisky. Adding in a visitors’ centre will only increase the farm’s diversification into tourism as well.

The importance of considering tourism when it comes to branching out is at the heart of the success of Archerfield’s walled garden in East Lothian. Elly Douglas-Hamilton and her team don’t just serve food and drink and sell arts and crafts, but are also using the garden and surrounding estate as an exciting events space.

It’s not all about diversification within the food and drink industry either. David Holton takes BQ Scotland behind-the-scenes at Scottish Widows’ innovation laboratory, demonstrating how even traditional brands can innovate and diversify in the digital age.

Plus, Anne Clyde tells the story of UK Steel Enterprise, which helps people living in areas affected by the closure of steel plants to start and grow their own businesses. Perhaps this stimulation of entrepreneurialism is the ultimate example of diversification; helping entrepreneurs to branch out for themselves.

Our two interviews from other parts of Great Britain show that diversification is alive and well across our lands. Vikki Jackson-Smith took her father’s coal business and turned it into a modern recycling company, while there are few more innovative entrepreneurs than Amanda Owens – better known as the “Yorkshire Shepherdess” – who has come up with all sorts of creative ways to diversify her family’s farm.

Thank you for your continuing feedback on BQ Scotland magazine and the stories we share from our entrepreneurs. I hope that their tales continue to excite and inspire you.

Peter Ranscombe, editor

CONTENTS AUTUMN 2017 08 EARTHY FLAVOURS Arbikie Distillery is bottling farming’s spirit

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FROM FARM TO GLASS Iain Stirling and his brothers are turning their family

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A WHOLE WORLD OF WEALTH

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LAB TESTING

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HAMPDEN HOPEFULS

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GIVING SOMETHING BACK

farm’s ingredients into award-winning spirits

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MILK MARKETING Mackie’s of Scotland is expanding from ice cream into crisps, chocolate and retail

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CULTURAL REVOLUTION

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LOCH NESS MISTER

Atom is rewriting the rules of banking

Willie Cameron is helping businesses export through collaborations with Made in Scotland

The global reach of UBS is giving its clients confidence and security

Taking a look at what Scottish Widows is up to in its innovation laboratory

Young Enterprise Scotland’s two-day festival for budding entrepreneurs

Strathclyde Business School’s Prof David Hillier on engagement with society beyond business

Celebrating and inspiring entrepreneurship 52

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OVER THE WALL Ellie Douglas-Hamilton welcomes BQ to

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FROM THE ASHES

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YORKSHIRE SHEPHERDESS

Archerfield’s walled garden

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LONDON CALLING Scottish companies now have their very own home-away-from-home in London

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How UK Steel Enterprise helps aspirational entrepreneurs in old steel areas

Amanda Owen has built her business by being a skilled multi-tasker

WASTE NOT WANT NOT Vikki Jackson-Smith turns rubbish into profits in a

HIGH LIFE

growing recycling business

72 INTERNATIONAL TRADE

A look ahead to the Scot Export 2017 event

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The very best in motoring, clothing, leisure and drink

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From farm

to glass Iain Stirling and his brothers are taking ingredients grown on their family’s farm and turning them into a range of awardwinning gins and vodkas, with whisky also on the horizon, as BQ Scotland editor Peter Ranscombe discovers.

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armers seldom sit still, so it seems perfectly natural to begin an interview with Iain Stirling as he leads the way through the fields of the farm that surrounds Arbikie distillery, overlooking the beautiful Lunan Bay north of Arbroath in Angus.

Swinging his arms from left to right, he points out some of the ingredients that will be used to make the spirits for which the family business is gaining a growing reputation.

As well as the obvious candidates – like the potatoes and wheat that are used to

make the gins and vodkas – Iain also draws attention to some of the botanicals growing on the hedges, which will make their way into the gin. And then there’s the juniper.

“There’s an interesting story behind the juniper,” he muses as he pauses beside several rows of bushes. “Back when the Dutch were creating jenever

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“Farming’s a tough job and involves long hours so we all know what hard work is.”

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– which later developed into gin – they bought the juniper they needed from the North-East of Scotland.

“This was in the days before the whisky industry became so large and gin was a much more important drink. Eventually there was more money to be made through whisky and so distillers burned the juniper to heat their stills.”

It’s the kind of story that turns up regularly in conversations with Iain, wee snippets from the past that, as a history student, he spots and collects like a magpie. It’s the same when he’s let loose in the fields, spotting opportunities to take photographs that will be used weeks or even months later on social media to promote the farm’s liquid produce.

Although he comes from good farming stock – his family has been farming since 1660 and working the land surrounding Arbikie for four generations – Iain isn’t a farmer. He’s a drinks industry veteran and a marketing expert.

He and his siblings – John, David, Andrew,

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“We had the expertise in the family to grow the produce, the experience of building manufacturing facilities, creating brands and marketing.”

Sandy and Sarah-Jane – grew up helping their father, Alec, to feed and milk the cows that used to occupy the barn in which the distillery now sits. “People ask how young we were when we started farming and I tell them I was this high,” Iain says, holding his hand out to show the height of a child.

“We five brothers would be out doing jobs on the farm two or three times a day. Farming’s a tough job and involves long hours so we all know what hard work is.”

Andrew still runs the neighbouring farm and owns Stirfresh, the Montrose-based producer, supplier and packer of fruit and vegetables.

Sandy works in the Middle East, while SarahJane is a lawyer in London.

John became a chartered accountant, while David is now based in Connecticut in the United States. Meanwhile, Iain joined the whisky industry, working for Whyte & Mackay as a project manager before joining United Distillers & Vintners (UDV) as it morphed into Diageo, Scotland’s largest distiller and the owner of brands including Bell’s, J&B and Johnnie Walker.

A spell with Volkswagen followed before Iain teamed up with John and David at their digital business, which evolved into marketing. That led to work with distiller William Grant & Sons and with other clients to develop premium drinks brands, including sourcing some of the spirits to go inside the bottles.

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“We plan to release the whisky when it’s 14 years old, if it’s not ready at that point then we won’t release it – we’ll wait. We’re not in any rush.”

“That’s when it occurred to us,” explains Iain. “We had the expertise in the family to grow the produce, the experience of building manufacturing facilities, the experience of creating brands and marketing.

“John is an accountant and so he has the financial brain and runs our farms, and David is the blue-sky thinker. I sit somewhere inbetween those two.

“All we needed was a big kettle and some distillers,” he adds with more than a bit of his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. The “big kettle” and other distilling equipment soon followed and the expertise to use them came in the form of first master distiller Kirsty Black – a former beer brewing expert after whom

Arbikie’s “Kirsty’s gin” is named – and later production manager Christian Perez-Solar, who made wine in California, New Zealand and his native Chile before joining Kirsty.

The pair’s creations have continued to amass prizes, building on the initial success of Kirsty’s gin. A potato vodka and a wheat vodka flavoured with chili followed and have most recently been joined by AK’s gin, flavoured with honey made by bees from hives on the farm and named after Alexander Kirkwood Stirling, the father of Iain, John and David and affectionately known as Alec or AK. For many of Scotland’s new wave of craft distilleries, gin – and indeed vodka – are often seen as stepping stones towards whisky

production. Newly-made spirit needs to age for at least three years in oak barrels before it can be labelled as “Scotch whisky”, whereas gin or vodka can be made one day and sold the next, easing the cash flow concerns of businesses with their stock slumbering in warehouses.

Some small distilleries choose to sell samples of their new-make spirit – not labelled as Scotch – while others will release three-yearold whisky as soon as it is available. If their owners have deep enough pockets then others will simply wait.

Iain and his brothers sold 300 casks of founders’ spirit to enthusiasts, with the barrels ageing at the distillery. “At the moment, we plan to release the whisky when it’s 14 years old, which is a traditional age,” explains Iain.

“But, if it’s not ready at that point then we won’t release it – we’ll wait. We’re not in any rush,” he adds, firmly.

That combination of tradition and innovation is evident to see throughout the

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“Fundamentally, we don’t think you can have traceability with the food on your table and not with your alcohol.”

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distillery. While the raw ingredients may be as fresh and traditional as they come, the heating vessels and other pieces of equipment inside the barn are temperature-controlled stainless steel instead of wood.

The information that appears on the back labels of the bottles is also innovative – the company lists details about its raw materials down to the location of the field in which the crop was grown and the year it was harvested.

“We offer that kind of traceability because we can do it,” explains Iain. “Our approach is ‘field to bottle’ as provenance is very important to us and our discerning consumers, and takes advantage of Arbikie’s unique terroir.

“Farmers and food producers are required to keep those kinds of records now and some consumers expect it. The drinks industry is slowly catching up.

“Fundamentally, we don’t think you can have traceability with the food on your table and not with your alcohol. There’s a lot of education and discussion going on – that’s why we do trade shows and public tastings.

“People ask why our products taste different and we can explain that they’re our potatoes or our wheat or honey from our bees. It’s a farming story as well as a distilling story.

“The members of our farm team are essential because they not only grow and harvest all the crops, but they also help around the distillery too, particularly with the bottling.”

While the current incarnation may have been founded in 2014, there was a distillery at Arbikie as long ago as 1794. David spotted the former whisky site on a map from the National Library of Scotland.

The next steps for the business include opening a visitors’ centre at the distillery. Work is already well underway, with new dry-stane dykes keeping tourists away from the heavy machinery working in the farm yard, with the new car park offering a view of Lunan Bay that will no-doubt feature as the backdrop to thousands of holidaymakers’ photographs for years to come.

Exports are also high on the agenda. With David based in the US, America appears to be a

natural hunting ground.

“I’m looking at overseas opportunities at the moment,” explains Iain. “Both the European Union before Brexit, plus the US. David lived in Manhattan for about six years before moving to Connecticut so it’s a space he knows well.

“We’ve looking at cocktail bars and highend retailers, very similar to our demographic here in the UK. Customers in the US like the provenance story and they are already familiar with Scottish distilling because of whisky.

“We’re working with retailers like Harvey Nichols, Harrods and Hedonism Wines. It’s a competitive market because the customers know what they want and they know what they like.”

Arbikie’s may have been the first potato vodka in Scotland but, within just a few weeks, Ogilvy Spirits just down the road near Glamis released its own bottle. “It’s nice to see fellow farmers doing well,” says Iain.

“As soon as they launched we sent an email saying, ‘Good luck – it’s great to see you doing well’. It’s not an easy thing to do.” n

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MILKING IT Mac Mackie, Karin Hayhow and Kirstin McNutt have taken diversification to a whole new level, expanding their Mackie’s of Scotland ice cream brand to include crisps and chocolate, with this autumn marking their move into retail.

Peter Ranscombe heads down to the farm to find out more.

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here aren’t many farms that have their own machines for making plastic tubs. But, then again, there aren’t many farms like Westertown, the home of Mackie’s of Scotland, a dairy business that’s successfully diversified into ice cream, ice, crisps and now chocolate.

The company is run by managing director Maitland “Mac” Mackie, marketing director Karin Hayhow and development director Kirstin McNutt, three siblings who form the fourth generation of the family to own the business, which now employs around 60 people and turns over about £11m a year. This autumn, the company will take its first steps into retail when it opens an ice cream parlour in Aberdeen’s flagship Marischal Square development, which could become a beachhead for expansion into other cities.

Tucked away in the rolling farmland surrounding Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, the 1,500 acres at Westertown not only house the family’s 330 milking cows, but also an ice cream factory, a chocolate manufacturing facility and a renewable energy powerhouse consisting of four wind turbines and a 7,000-panel solar array. Soon bees may be buzzing between the panels to make honey, while a field of mint is sprouting with the intention of being added to the chocolate, all part of the family’s strategy of growing and making as much as it can on the one site.

And that’s exactly where those machines for making ice cream tubs fit into the story.

Previously, Mackie’s imported its plastic containers from Sweden, before deciding to invest £1m to buy its own injection moulding

equipment, cutting its supply chain’s carbon footprint by 50,000 miles a year.

Each of the two machines applies two-anda-half tonnes of pressure and 250C of heat to turn plastic granules, a touch of colouring and a pre-printed label into the familiar one- and two-litre tubs that grace supermarket freezers throughout the country. It’s not what you’d expect to find in a former barn on a farm.

Mackie’s passion for innovation doesn’t end there though. Step through another doorway and members of staff are making honeycomb, with the bigger pieces going into the ice cream and the smaller pieces going into the chocolate.

“We haven’t found a way of using the honeycomb dust yet,” chuckles Karin. “At the moment, it goes to a local piggery.”

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“We wanted to develop new products that would give customers an exciting reason to come and visit us then keep coming back.”

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There must be some happy pigs on that farm. And the cows at Westertown look pretty content too, with a robotic milking system that lets the ladies choose when they want to be milked while also monitoring their output and their health, and another robot that trundles along the byre’s floor, sorting out the food when it’s needed.

Inside the new product development or “NPD” kitchen, members of staff are busy creating the ice cream flavours that will form the backbone of the offering at “Mackie’s 19.2”, the name given to the parlour at Marischal Square that will remind visitors of the short distance in miles between the farm and the shop. Plans include around 20 new flavours, alongside some of the brand’s existing bestsellers, as well as crepes, waffles and “ice cream lollies coated in Mackie’s chocolate”.

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“We couldn’t simply sell our existing ice cream flavours at our flagship store,” explains Karin. “Instead, we wanted to develop new products that would give customers an exciting reason to come and visit us then keep coming back.”

The company’s innovations also involve working with partners. Mackie’s has a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) with Abertay University in Dundee focused on its chocolate development, which has involved a study on the size and dispersion of particles at the micron or micro-metre level and how that affects the taste and texture of its chocolates, while it’s also working with Edinburgh Napier University to recover heat from its equipment, making the site even more energy-efficient.

Chocolate making also takes place in a factory built in a converted tractor shed on

“During the 1980s, semi-skimmed milk started to become popular and so we were left with lots of cream that needed to be used.”

the farm. New flavours and different sizes of bars are in the pipeline, along with gift boxes containing a new range of fresh cream ganache-filled chocolates that will feature at Mackie’s 19.2.

For all the technology on the farm, the Mackie’s business started from very humble origins. The company began producing ice cream in 1986 in response to changing milk trends.

“At that point, we had a milk retail business, supplying bottles to supermarkets and customers on about 60 milk rounds,” Mac explains. “During the 1980s, semi-skimmed milk started to become popular and so we were left with lots of cream that needed to be used.

“An ice cream company in Aberdeen had recently folded and one of its workers approached Dad and asked if he’d be interested in making ice cream. He saw the potential and so bought the equipment.”

The sibling’s father, Maitland, was chairman of the company until he died in 2014, just months after the death of his Norwegian-born wife, Halldis. Maitland was born at Westertown and worked all his life on the farm, and is buried in the arboretum that Halldis planted after retiring, with 147 trees of 112 species adding to the 150 acres of the farm given over to woodland.

During the early days, managing director Brian Pack – another of the North-East’s bestknown business and farming faces, who went on to become chief executive of Aberdeen & Northern Marts and chair the Rowett Institute – was also instrumental in developing the ice cream brand, along with sales director Denis Emslie, who signed the company’s first supply contract with supermarket chain William Low and after whom the fourth of the family’s wind turbines is named in tribute.

Today, ice cream remains at the heart of the business. Mackie’s traditional cream flavour still accounts for 67% of sales, but has been joined by a host of permanent and limited-edition tubs, including this summer’s “St Clement’s Ripple”, which featured orange and lemonflavoured ice cream with an orange ripple.

As well as producing frozen treats under its own brand, the company also makes some own-label dairy ice cream for upmarket grocery chain Waitrose. The farm has its own water source and so making ice seemed like a natural extension, with the cubes packaged under both the Mackie’s brand and the Co-op’s own label.

While the transition from dairy business to ice cream maker – and the subsequent

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sale of the retail milk business to Wiseman Dairies – was Maitland’s great contribution to the family’s legacy, the further diversification has been down to his impressive children.

Mac, Karin and Kirstin teamed up with George Taylor at Taypack in 2009 to launch Mackie’s at Taypack, a joint venture that produces the Mackie’s of Scotland-branded crisps and turns over about £5m a year.

Founded as a 50-50 partnership, the joint venture is now 75-25 in Taypack’s favour, with Taylor growing the potatoes and producing the crisps, with a joint focus on marketing and a continued license to use the Mackie’s of Scotland brand. “The crisps have opened a lot of doors when it comes to exports,” says Mac. “They’re exported to around 25 countries, with the Philippines and Ukraine being the latest places to be added to the list. We also export our ice cream to a number of markets in the Middle East and Asia – Costco takes around £500,000 of ice cream each year for its stores in South Korea and Taiwan.”

Chocolate followed in 2014, marking a natural progression from ice cream and allowing the

family to manufacture another product on site.

The chocolate is made using raw ingredients of cocoa liquor and cocoa butter, meaning Mackie’s has the equipment to refine, “conche” – kneading or grinding the chocolate to remove some bitter tastes and aromas and create the desired chocolate taste – and “temper” – perfecting the crystal structure that gives good chocolate its “snap” and gloss – the ingredients before adding flavours to the final mix.

“The chocolate and the crisps could work well together in export markets,” Mac adds.

“For example, we can now offer a mixed chocolate and crisps shipment – a container full of chocolate would be too high in cost for some of our customers.

“The other benefit is that we can partially insulate the chocolate from excess heat with the crisp boxes. The customers benefit from a wider brand selection and a higher margin on the total container.”

Mac’s son, Maitland Mike Mackie, is the fifth generation of the family to be given Maitland as his first name. So, has the fifth generation of the family shown any interest in joining the

business yet?

“Well, we have nine children between us, so we’ll have to grow the company if they all want to get involved,” laughs Mac. “Mike has just left school, so it’s early days yet.”

It’s not just the family that’s dedicated to the business though. In the ice cream factory, one of the walls is decorated with plaques that salute members of staff who have served with the business for 20 years and more.

The hard graft of those workers and their colleagues is also now celebrated on the company’s website, which features a “Faces of Mackie’s” page, containing photos of everyone who works for the firm. From operations director Rhona Wight playing her drum kit through to sales support executive Sadie Barrie pictured with a foal, the images tell the story of the staff behind the brand.

Judging by the smiles on their faces, the firm is well on the way to delivering its mission statement, which hangs on the wall of its boardroom: “to be a global brand from the greenest company in Britain created by people having fun”. n

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Atom: a bank that dares to be different New digital bank Atom is challenging the old order of finance. And to bring about revolution it is creating a whole new culture, as Peter Jackson discovers.

WHEN I arrive at the new headquarters of Atom Bank I fear my satnav has let me down.

The building, not far from the heart of Durham City, is unlike any bank’s headquarters I’ve seen. There’s no great Palladian portico, fronted by a colonnade of imposing pillars, no highly polished brass plaque or daunting stone steps, nothing to intimidate or deter.

Rather the Rivergreen Centre’s appearance is welcoming and in harmony with the gentle greenery that surrounds it. This award-winning building was designed to be sustainable, including features such as a central `earth rammed’ wall, recycled rainwater, natural and stack ventilation and an extensive growing roof. Atom bank moved here in the earlier part

of the year, having already outgrown its first premises, barely half a mile away.

Established in 2014 as a new challenger bank operating an app-based model, Atom has already grown to the point where it has 300 staff and a balance sheet of more than £500m, hence the new home.

The Rivergreen Centre reflects its new occupier in its boldness and its originality, its readiness to upset the norms. Inside, the reception area is flanked by a bustling café area full of the Atom personnel, dressed informally and chatting animatedly.

If this is banking – it’s banking with a completely different culture. And I’m here to talk to three people about that culture.

Partner

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“There’s no reason why banking has to be boring and dull. This is about engaging people on a new level with their financial needs.”

Stewart Bromley brandishes a coat hanger at me...

Atom Bank’s chief operating officer has pulled it out of a carrier bag as a prop to illustrate an important point. It’s the kind of hotel coat hanger which slots onto a ring that slides across a wardrobe pole - useless if stolen.

He tells the story of how, some years ago, he stayed in a plush, highly expensive West End hotel which provided a suitably high level of service in immaculate surroundings.

“Everything was perfect, then I opened the wardrobe and this happened,’’ he recalls. “What is this?’’ He waves the hanger. “This is a stress induction device because it’s almost impossible to get these things off the hook when you’ve got your clothes in your hand. What’s the main design criteria behind this, who did they think I was? A thief! They thought I was a thief! So I stole the hanger.’’

Not what you would normally expect from a bank’s chief operating officer. But then he is most definitely not a red braces sort of banker – more a pair of baggy shorts sort of banker, which is how he is clad on this July day.

It’s significant that he was one of the early key players who developed Atom’s culture.

The point of the coat hanger story is to underline the importance of a culture running right through an organisation.

“If you’re trying to deliver a customer experience, you have to do it all, you have to think about the whole end-to-end experience you are creating and you can’t leave little things to chance.’’

From the same carrier bag he later produces a pair of voluminous Y Fronts and skimpy knickers. We’ll draw a veil over that.

I ask: how do you go about developing a culture? First of all, he explains, the intent was

never to be like a conventional bank, which meant adopting a values system to underpin that strategic intent, and that value system had to be more than a mere wish list.

“Most companies define a values system but most of the time it tends to be motherhood and apple pie that’s very high level and has no sense of what it means to the individuals and customer,’’ he says.

He concedes that being a startup company was a big advantage to Atom in being able to define its own values and culture and being able to recruit people from the beginning who would embrace those values, which are: respectful; pioneering; courageous; energetic; joyful; and sharing. These values were identified by looking at Atom’s target customers.

He explains: “We then looked at the psychology of the everyday progressives and their psychological cravings and, based on that, we defined a values system that we hope would appeal to them. That makes it very powerful because if you then start to hire on that value set, you start to create a symbiotic relationship between your brand, your customer base and your employee, which is a very strong system.’’

Respectful, as a value, refers to individuality and respecting people’s individuality, motivations and preferences. “Respectful for us is all about the celebration of individuality.

It’s not about us, it’s about you as an individual customer and how we treat you and respect you for who you are.’’

So employees dress as they wish and customers can tailor the app to suit their own taste.

Pioneering is an Atom value which is self-explanatory. It has been one of the first banks to introduce face biometrics, the first to use a 3D animated engine to create the app experience and it currently has six patents pending.

Sharing is about collaboration and

relationships and finding and making use of talent wherever it exists.

“Sharing is a verb that everybody understands and if you are prepared to share, you’re prepared to learn from others, you are prepared to help and support others, then it drives a set of behaviours that everyone understands,’’ says Bromley.

Courage for Atom, he emphasises, is nothing to do with testosterone but rather `about being prepared to stand up for what’s right’, which, given the distrust with which the traditional banks are regarded post-crash, will strike a chord. Atom, for example, does not pay cash bonuses.

“Energetic,’’ he says, moving onto the next value, “is all about pace. Darwin said survival is all about those who can adapt to change and that’s very apt in a digital world because the technology is constantly changing, customer demand and behaviour are constantly changing and unless you can move at pace across all those dimensions you are going to be left behind.’’ He points out that to become an Atom customer and set up an account in the app takes less than 10 minutes.

Finally, joyful is a value which aims to capture the excitement of the bank and its desire to put a smile on the faces of the Atom team and customers. “There’s no reason why banking has to be boring and dull. It’s about engaging people on a new level with their financial needs,’’ he says.

These values, he insists, cannot be taken in isolation but must work together to create the Atom culture. Which is where the coat hanger came in. He accepts that some people want “a traditional risk free type of bank’’ – like the Y Fronts – which is fine, but for “the digital, unique experience, built for speed and which is more exciting’’, as illustrated by the skimpy knickers, then Atom is the bank for you. Again, it’s about respecting differences.

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own way, examining the concept of intelligence and using the theory of multiple intelligences to develop its own framework.

First is IQ. Lister explains: “This is your technical intelligence, what you need to be good at your job, your professional, technical expertise. Emotional Intelligence is EQ. Organisations don’t pay a lot of attention to this but it’s absolutely core to what we do. It’s around being self aware, understanding other people, the environment we work in and the relationships we have are key.

“OQ is ‘organisation intelligence’ . This is the glue that holds us together, the skills and knowledge which are important to all of our success.

“MQ is your `me intelligence’. This is very particular to Atom in that we want people to be themselves at work, continue to be the unique individuals they are and celebrate that.

We don’t necessarily know what somebody’s ‘me intelligence’ is when they come to the

“ Anne Marie-Lister is Atom bank’s head of people experience...

This role, she tells me, covers “all the people stuff’’, including recruitment and resourcing, learning and development, human resources and organisational development. “It includes our PA team and front of house team, who are part of our people experience because they help to create the Atom vibe,’’ she says. She previously worked for a power utility, as head of change and employee engagement.

“It was a completely different organisation to this, in that it’s steeped in decades of history with very traditional working practices.’’

Before that, she was in London working for the ACCA, the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants – again a body not noted for its funky, off-the-wall way of operating.

But, working on ACCA programmes overseas brought home to her the difference in people and cultures. There are many different ways of doing things. The HQ corporate stance applied

to everything and everyone doesn’t always get the best results.

She explains: “I’ve experienced many different cultures and working practices in organisations, which has led me to the conclusion that many businesses tend not focus on individuality. They prescribe what their ‘staff’ need to do to be successful. There’s no individuality in that, no freedom and no creativity. I see this as a missed opportunity in what individuals can then bring to a business.”

So, when she got the chance to join Atom at an early stage, in October 2014, to help shape a new culture and a new way of doing things she jumped at the chance.

“It’s our people who are helping us shape this business and by identifying and celebrating the uniqueness and individuality in those who who come to work for us we can create something great for customers. Something that no organisation can prescribe.’’

An important tool in putting that vision into practice is the Atom Intelligence Framework, Atom’s version of a competency framework, to define the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for people within an organisation.

Characteristically, Atom went about this in its

“We always want to encourage people to take that time out.”

organisation. It may be something that’s business related, it may be something that isn’t in an area that we’ve recruited them in, it might be that they’ve got some fantastic and unusual skill or experience that makes them who they are and we encourage people to build that into how they work here at Atom. “All of that together makes your Atom intelligence, your AQ, and everybody’s AQ is completely unique. The Intelligence Framework underpins everything that we do.” As to how this works out in practice, it starts with recruitment.

“We employ people that want to challenge the norm’.’’ she laughs. “We do lots of things differently and we like to take a different approach and challenge the approaches that are out there but we don’t change things for change’s sake.’’

It all looks, sounds and feels different. It’s certainly not like a bank, or any other business, but more like a buzzing college campus. It has, for example, a selfie wall to which anyone joining the organisation submits a contribution.

“People paste them proudly on our wall a very short time after they’ve joined,’’ says Lister. “It’s a celebration, everyone downs tools, people leave meetings we gather round and celebrate

Partner

the arrival of our new family members with music.’’

There is a table tennis table in the social room, a bottomless fruit bowl and an old fashioned tuck shop which operates with an honesty box and the money raised is doubled and given to charity every month.

During the bank’s health and wellness day in January, along with yoga and meditation, it brought in a petting zoo with goats and sheep in the carpark and hens, rabbits and a tortoise into the social area.

“We always want to encourage people to take that time out and give themselves a bit of space,’’ she says. “Work hard, play hard.’’

So Atom has developed its own distinctive culture which informs the way it treats its employees and customers but how does it work when it meets a more conservative sector?

Maria Harris, director of residential mortgages, describes the intermediary mortgage market...

“I’ve been in intermediary mortgages for about 10 years now and it’s an amazing industry, it’s really dynamic but probably in those 10 years nothing new or innovative has happened in the industry. It’s predominantly price driven and it’s pretty traditional.

“The majority of mortgage intermediaries are still predominantly white, male, of a certain age, suit and tie and very formal and probably quite intimidating for customers, especially new generations of customers, and there’s not a huge amount of tech in the industry.’’

Not then an arena which you would think was a natural fit for Atom bank. And yet Atom’s mortgage business is booming. It only launched its first product campaign in April but, by the time of writing, it has done £500m worth of lending to more than 2,000 customers from all over the UK. Success has partly been down to Atom’s completely digital process for the intermediary and the customer. “The intermediary can key in an application and get an offer for their customer in less than an hour. The industry average is about 16 days,’’ says Harris. “It’s a much slicker, quicker, more straightforward process.’’

The products are relatively simple with, for example, no buy-to-let and the automation keeps the overheads down and so the price

is attractive. The Atom approach to business also seems to have had a positive impact in this conservative marketplace. The bank’s business development managers (BDMs) take the Atom culture to the intermediaries and it’s proving popular.

“We’ve recruited our team for personality and values as much as for their industry knowledge,’’ says Harris. “They don’t wear suits, they go out dressed as themselves. One of my regional BDMs is based on the South Coast and will wear shorts and flip-flops on a regular basis because that is him and how he’s comfortable.

He can be himself at work and take that personality out. The intermediaries absolutely love that.’’

If they are not typical business development managers, neither is Harris your common or garden mortgage industry executive. “Look at me, I’m a bit of a maverick in my industry,’’ she says. “There aren’t many people at my level who are female and who look like me – a bit rock chick, with hair extensions and tattoos and I’m a half Spanish Geordie girl, so I am a bit of an anomaly.’’

She has certainly made an impression in the sector, having won the title of Banker of the

Year in HM Treasury’s inaugural `Women in Finance’ awards over the summer, nominated by her peers in the industry.

She says: “The reason for winning the award was put down to a genuinely disruptive approach to mortgage lending, along with mentoring team members and hiring for diversity. Because of all of this we have delivered something completely unique, from scratch and luckily people took the time to write in and nominate. It was a great accolade to win. I was shortlisted against some really formidable competition and I was genuinely shocked when I won.’’

These are three different characters who, in their very diversity, represent the culture that Atom bank is creating.

In the words of Stewart Bromley: “We are trying to create something different and the more different it is, the more chance we have of succeeding.’’ n

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“It was decided that it would be good for me to give it a go with my enthusiasm for Highland food and drink and Scottish food and drink.”

MR LOCH NESS Willie Cameron has done more than most to build the international reputation of the Highlands. The man that locals call ‘Mr Loch Ness’ is now helping other businesses to export through the Made in Scotland collaboration while still fulfilling his ‘day job’ as business development director at café, bakery and hotel operator Cobbs Group, as Peter Ranscombe finds out.

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he Clansman Hotel on the banks of Loch Ness is buzzing. Outside, tourists are piling off the coaches in the car park, ready to wander into the café for tea and scones, while visitors are milling about inside the souvenir shop.

Striding across the shop floor comes Willie Cameron, decked out in his kilt and a fleece, looking every inch the international ambassador that locals often refer to as “Mr Loch Ness”. As he leads the way upstairs to the restaurant to get away from the hustle and bustle of the hotel’s busy lobby, he shares stories of his recent adventures in China.

Cameron is best-known as the business

development director at Cobbs, the group of companies that runs the Clansman, Drumnadrochit and Loch Ness Country House hotels, along with 21 cafés stretching from Inverness in the north and Aberdeen in the east to Edinburgh and Glasgow in the south, and a bakery that produces cakes for distribution throughout Scotland and the North of England.

Cobbs began life as the Loch Ness Coffee Company, which was launched in 2000 by managing director Fraser Campbell and Jackie, his wife, with Cameron as one of the founding directors. Cameron later stepped away from the day-to-day running of the business and

passed his shares onto his nephew, Rory Cameron, before returning in 2008 to his current role.

The business has continued to grow and now employs 350 people and will turn over around £16m this year. It works with distributors Fife Creamery and Bidfood – formerly Bidvest Foodservices – extending its reach south of the Border.

The group is named after John Cobb, who died while trying to break the world water speed record on Loch Ness in 1952 in his boat, Crusader. The remains of his boat were found in the loch in 2001.

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Yet Cobbs Group is only the tip of the Cameron iceberg. Since 1994, he’s run one-manband Loch Ness Marketing, which provides services to the film, television and media industries. His current projects include helping Love Productions, the company behind The Great British Bake Off, to film a new series in the Great Glen, and consulting with Disney on its cruise line’s magic tours of the Highlands, which are based round the 2012 animated film Brave.

Throw in his work as an after-dinner speaker, a world authority on the Loch Ness monster and his voiceover recordings for the cruises run

by Loch Ness By Jacobite and a picture begins to emerge of the portfolio career enjoyed by Cameron. To call him a serial entrepreneur feels like an understatement – and that’s before considering his new line of work with the Made in Scotland export collaboration.

His father had one of the longest recorded sightings of the Loch Ness monster, while Cameron himself is no stranger to unusual goings-on in the loch. Reaching into his bag, he

produces a folder containing photographs of an unusual-shaped wave on the water’s surface, defying the wind direction.

While a sceptical journalist may not be prepared to put his hand on his heart and say he’s seen a photo of Nessie, Cameron reports that experts at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) institute in Oban agree it’s not the wake of a duck like a red-breasted merganser or goosander as some locals had suggested. The jury’s still out.

Born in Grantown-on-Spey and brought up in Inverness, Cameron enjoyed a career in financial services with Northern Rock before returning home to the Highlands in the 1990s.

But what made him settle in Drumnadrochit?

“It was a woman,” smiles Cameron, referring to Alison, his second wife; they both worked in the hotel in Drumnadrochit. They’ve been together ever since and now spend time in Italy, where Alison used to live.

Cameron’s connections to Loch Ness go back even further though. His grandfather’s family came from Abriachan, a village up the

hillside on the western shores of the loch, while parts of his mother’s family came from Glen Urquhart.

All those factors clearly mean Cameron has a deep-rooted love for the loch and the surrounding area. Yet his outlook is far from parochial.

Back in 2012, when London hosted the Olympics, Cobbs won a contract to supply cupcakes to one of the games’ major sponsors, which gave 12,000 cakes to members of staff in its 30 offices. Fulfilling such an important order gave the bakery a taste for major sporting events.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow marked a turning point for Cobbs, which won a contract to supply its traybakes to catering giant Sodexo for use in the venues and the athletes’ village. Along the way, the company has also baked cakes for golf tournaments including the Scottish Open and Ryder Cup. Cameron’s international outlook is being extended even further now thanks to his work as the international sales director at Made in Scotland, a consortium cooperative being set up to help Scottish companies to export their products. The members of the consortium are Aldomak, Braehead Foods, Bute Island Foods, Cairngorm Brewery, Cobbs, R&B Distillers, the Scottish Salmon Company, Shetland Reel, Summer Harvest and A Taste of Arran.

“After the first year of the consortium operating, it was decided that it would be good for me to give it a go with my enthusiasm for Highland food and drink and Scottish food and drink,” says Cameron, who was nominated as Highlands & Islands Tourism Ambassador in 2005 and Highlands & Islands Food & Drink Ambassador in 2016. “We’re now at the stage where we’ve become a limited company and we’re going to be account managed by Highlands & Islands Enterprise.

“We’ve been out in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Singapore, and are beginning to get some traction. When I was out in China – signing a deal with Nanhu Travel to bring 12,000 Chinese people to Scotland over the next year – I also took food and drink meetings.

“Although bringing tourists to Scotland isn’t strictly speaking about food and drink, unless the visitors get to try Scottish products while they’re here then they’re not going to ask for them back home. That was probably the biggest export deal I did.

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“Although bringing tourists to Scotland isn’t strictly speaking about food and drink, unless the visitors get to try Scottish products while they’re here then they’re not going to ask for them back home.”

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“I’m more convinced now than ever that Made in Scotland could be something enormous, we’re making good progress.”

“I’m a great believer in narrative – it’s so, so important. I’m not so good with spreadsheets – as Fraser Campbell, my business partner, says, ‘Don’t tell Willie what he should and shouldn’t be doing – just let him get on with it’.”

Back in March, Made in Scotland was one of the winners of the Collaboration Prize, delivered by Co-operative Development Scotland on behalf of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise in partnership with Business Gateway and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce. The prize was presented at the HSBC Scottish Export Awards in association with Scottish Enterprise, run by BQ at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel.

“I’m more convinced now than ever that Made in Scotland could be something enormous,” nods Cameron. “We’re making good progress.”

Working on international projects has also brought benefits closer to home too. Last

year, Cobbs Group teamed up with Cairngorm Brewery to buy the recipes and intellectual property of the Loch Ness Brewery from its administrators at accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael. Beers produced by the company included Dark Ness, Hoppy Ness and Light Ness.

The rescue deal brought Cobbs together with fellow Made in Scotland consortium member Cairngorm Brewery. Samantha Faircliff, the Aviemore-based brewery’s managing director, was one of the interviewees in issue 26 of BQ Scotland magazine, which focused on scale-up companies.

“That deal wouldn’t have happened without the Made in Scotland initiative,” says Cameron.

“Having worked that closely with Sam meant we were able to come together to rescue the Loch Ness Brewery brand.”

The beers are now being produced by Cairngorm and are on sale in both the bar and

the shop at the Clansman Hotel, along with other Cobbs outlets. Faircliff had previously been bottling the Loch Ness beers under contract and so knew about their popularity.

Looking ahead, Cameron has his eye on the new £650,000 collaborative innovation fund from Scotland’s Food & Drink Partnership, which is funded by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise. “We’re always trying to reduce the amount of sugar in our cakes and we have a contract with Aldi and they’d like to see us reduce the amount of sugar in our chocolate brownies by 20% by 2020,” he explains.

“That pot of money will best be used by collaborations – like Aldomak, Taste of Arran and Cobbs, which are all Made in Scotland members – so I’m sure we’ll be applying to it.

It’s another example of how collaborations are a great way for companies to work together for mutual benefit.” n

Profile

The age-old question: salary or dividends?

Roger Campbell, manager and tax specialist at ScottMoncrieff.

roger.campbell@scott-moncrieff.com 0141 567 4500 www.scott-moncrieff.com

Many directors and shareholders contact us throughout the year looking for advice on optimising their tax efficient remuneration. The most popular question being “should I extract profits as a salary or dividend?”. This has become even more prominent following the introduction of the “dividend allowance” from 2016. Of course, the answer changes depending on the current regime, and particularly as the taxation of dividends now seems to be fair game when Budget day comes around.

DRAWING DIVIDENDS The “dividend allowance” was introduced in 2016, and was set at a level of £5,000. In March 2017, the Government announced that this allowance will reduce to £2,000 with effect from 6 April 2018 (from 2018-19 onwards). This news came before we’d even started to see the effect of the initial change.

The purpose of the allowance is to ensure that dividends up to the limit are taxed at 0% instead of the taxpayer’s marginal dividend rate (which can be up to 38.1%).

Prior to the dividend allowance being introduced on 6 April 2016, any dividends drawn which were within the “basic rate band” would be free from income tax due to the “notional tax credit”.

CONSIDER A COMBINATION Taking into account the reduced dividend allowance, and assuming the individual has no other income, the most tax efficient remuneration strategy is to draw a salary up to the National Insurance Contributions (NIC) Primary Threshold (PT) (which is currently £8,164), and draw the remainder of distributable (after deducting corporation tax) profits as a dividend. This was also the case prior to the introduction of the reduced dividend allowance.

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However, if the National Insurance “Employment Allowance” is available, meaning no NIC is payable on the salary drawn by the director or shareholder, then the salary could be increased to the personal allowance (which is currently £11,500).

IT’S NOT ALWAYS AN EASY ANSWER Generally, there will be corporate tax and income tax liabilities arising with the above remuneration strategy. For the company, dividends are paid out of their “after corporation tax” profits. For the individual, any dividend income that is in excess of any available personal and dividend allowances would be subject to income tax at the appropriate rate.

Due to the progressive nature of the income tax regime and how it interacts with dividends, whilst it is always more tax efficient to use a dividend strategy to extract profits, the tax saving is maximised where total earnings are in the region of £43,000 for Scottish taxpayers and £45,000 for UK taxpayers (excluding Scotland).

Of course, there are some disadvantages to taking the majority of income via the dividend route.

To start with, a salary can be taken whatever the financial state of the business, whereas a dividend can only be taken from distributable reserves – so it’s less dependable within some business models.

Further to this, if you are on a “salary” of £8,164 to £11,500, sorting out a mortgage can be challenging, as many rigid high street lenders don’t recognise income from dividends.

That said, despite the recent pinch, using the salary/dividend combination is more tax efficient – both for the director as an individual, and for the company itself – and the most effective route for those directors wanting to make the most of their money. n

“The taxation of dividends now seems to be fair game when budget day comes around.”

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THE

ONES TO WATCH

The Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE) is the national organisation for the promotion of enterprise and entrepreneurship in Scotland’s universities and colleges. Established in 2000, SIE helps students in Scotland develop enterprise skills, discover their entrepreneurial talent, and start up their own ventures.

Roy Hotrabhvanon, PlayerData: sports wearable company Describe your idea PlayerData is currently in the process of developing a revolutionary wearable that is designed to give coaching insight to any movement based sport. What we have designed is a human telemetry system, a garment filled with biometric sensors to capture your vitals in high fidelity. For example, given a user that runs two timed laps, we can show you the physiological difference that resulted in the faster lap.

Where do you get advice, support or help?

We are very well supported by SIE, LaunchED, Scottish Enterprise, Business Gateway and Quest Corporate.

Specifically, Tom McGuire, Alison Gee, Marcus Noble and Duncan Thorburn. Without their advice and guidance, we would not have made it this far this quickly!

What are the biggest challenges you face when trying to develop your idea?

Time! Between being a full-time research student, an athlete, and working on this project I don’t get much time for rest. A typical day for me is 8am-5pm study, 5-7pm at training, and 7pm-1am on this project - though this hopefully will ease up soon!

In terms of challenges in the traditional sense, we approach them with a mindset that the harder they are the more interesting it is. We do this to re-frame our attitude to problems which has helped us come up with novel solutions.

So we don’t have bigger challenges per se, just more interesting ones!

SIE says: Roy has made incredible progress with PlayerData in a relatively short period of time. He and his team had a positive approach to technical problems, seeing them as fun challenges. Critically that has led to them solving them in house, creating a lot of unique value in the business.

His passion is to make tech simple to use and make it accessible. Watch this space!

Nearly 400 students entered SIE’s enterprise competition, representing an excellent pool of potential new talent. BQ & SIE have come together to present a series of interviews showcasing some of the best students and graduates who were recognised during the process; entrepreneurs who are starting out and have the potential to make it big the Ones to Watch!

Here are just some of the enterprising entrepreneurs they’re working with this year.

Catherine Truel, Alegrant: a platform helping with customs compliance How would you describe your innovative idea to an elderly relative?

If an exporter or importer has a container stuck in customs somewhere and an unhappy customer complaining about the delivery delay, what do they do? They come to us, Alegrant platform will put them in touch with a vetted expert, in-country, for fast and affordable advice so the container can clear customs and be on its way to the customer.

What are the biggest challenges you face when trying to develop your idea?

The biggest challenges came from areas where I had little knowledge, or just enough to be dangerous. Initially building the specs for the prototype has been very painful. Now, we have to learn about the subtleties of marketing as we are preparing to take the service to market. We are very lucky that we are generating sales although we are not officially trading so we haven’t had to work with investors yet, this is another challenge for future growth.

Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

In five years, I’ll still be at Alegrant and I’ll have completed my PhD. Alegrant will hopefully be at the core of our customers’ international operations and our customers will have referred us to their customers and suppliers who will hopefully place Alegrant at the core of their own operations.

SIE says: Alegrant helps businesses operate more simply within an increasingly complex and globalising world. Catherine has made excellent progress with Alegrant in a comparatively short period of time. Even with the early success she has had, she is still willing to learn and that stands her in good stead going forward.

Media bqlive.co.uk Partner

Sydney Chasin, lil’POP: a healthy snack food company Describe your idea in no more than 100 words lil’POP is an exciting new snack food company specialising in popped sorghum, which looks like miniature popcorn, but is made with a supergrain that is better for the environment and better for you! A drought resilient, eco-friendly, nutrient-packed crop, sorghum is predicted to be the next quinoa! Best part? Doesn’t get caught in your teeth!

What led you to come up with this idea, and how does it differ from others?

I came up with this idea off the back of trying the US version of popped sorghum in Washington D.C. and realising the UK popcorn market is booming! I entered the idea in an SIE competition and further developed the idea from there.

To my knowledge, lil’POP is the first popped sorghum product in Europe.

Each lil’POP is sustainable, healthy, and cute as can be!

What are the biggest challenges you face when trying to develop your idea?

Scaling production. It is a big challenge to create a bulletproof supply chain from importing grain to managing shelflife to manufacturing minimum order quantities.

Additionally, it is a challenge to convey our key brand values on limited packaging space. It is difficult to educate consumers about limited waterresources, when water scarcity is not a commonly highlighted issue in Scotland, but is a huge issue globally.

SIE says: Sydney is a natural entrepreneur who has spotted an opportunity in the market and is using her considerable sales and marketing skills to make it happen. Lil’POP is the only popped sorghum business in Europe. She’s now tackling the technical issues and has set herself the mission of making sorghum the next pinot noir!

David White, BGR Training: bodyweight fitness training company What led you to come up with this idea, and how does it differ from others?

I discovered many problems using suspension trainers. Their design inhibited the performance of many crucial exercises for bodyweight fitness training development.

I take my suspension trainer and my Olympic rings to the park to exercise outdoors. It’s a lot of equipment to carry, and takes a lot of time to set up. The whole concept of suspension training is that it should be easy and efficient.

The BGR Suspension Trainer is more compact, versatile, and adaptable than other suspension trainers. With the BGR Suspension Trainer, users can perform more exercises with ease, allowing them to achieve more.

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

I am a finalist at the Sports Innovation Awards for the second year in a row. The first year I competed well, but the judges felt I was a bit early in terms of business development. I have taken their advice on board and developed the business to the exciting stage it is poised at today.

What are the biggest challenges you face when trying to develop your idea?

At first, I was clueless. I literally asked, ‘how do you start a business?’ on Yahoo! Knowing how to get started is the hardest thing. However, there are loads of organisations that are there to signpost you to the correct help. You just need to get out and ask until you find the right support organisation to help you.

SIE says: Fitness is a healthy and growing market – and David’s innovation plays exceptionally well here. It’s his drive to make a difference and positive outlook that makes David really stand out. He is someone who isn’t going to let anything stop him.

For more on SIE, including detailed case studies and more on its educational programme go to the SIE website: www.sie.ac.uk

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JOIN THE PARTY! CELEBRATING AND INSPIRING ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACROSS THE UK 21ST NOVEMBER 2017 ~

The Boiler Shop, Newcastle ~ 6.00pm - 10.00pm

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BQ NATIONAL

ENTREPRENEUR FESTIVAL POWERED BY

Full steam ahead!

Don’t miss the most inventive event of the year!

Our BQ National Entrepreneur Festival, powered

by Atom bank and featuring the emerging entrepreneur awards, is once again scouring the UK to uncover the country’s up-and-coming entrepreneurial stars, placing the spotlight on individuals making their mark in the business world.

Hundreds of entrepreneurs from across the land will be gathering in the heartland of the industrial revolution, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the birthplace of Stephenson’s ‘Rocket’ for the Festival at the Boiler Shop on 21st November 2017.

Expect the unexpected at this inventive and unique business event - it will be THE one you don’t forget. Join us to celebrate entrepreneurship alongside likeminded peers from a variety of industry sectors, of differing size and scale, representing all age groups and experience, attending from all around the UK. The emerging entrepreneur awards which form part of the festival are open to all emerging entrepreneurs who can demonstrate their tenacity, creativity, innovation and determination to scale.

Sounds familiar? Recognise yourself or colleagues?

Then submit a nomination online today.

There will be no event quite like this anywhere else this year. From Glasgow to Guildford we want to celebrate entrepreneurship across the UK. Craig Iley, Managing Director of Business Banking at Atom bank, said: “This is about entrepreneurs receiving the support and recognition they deserve for challenging norms, taking risks and ultimately powering our economy as they develop into SMEs. This year’s festival will be truly innovative, reflecting and celebrating entrepreneurial spirit.”

Our stellar line up of featured BQ entrepreneurs will descend on Newcastle to celebrate entrepreneurship and forge new relationships in business.

You are part of the ‘entrepreneurial revolution’, so get involved, enter the awards, or socialise and recognise that you’re in great company.

For all your event, ticket and sponsor details visit www.bqlive.co.uk/NEF17

ENTER NOW at www.bqlive.co.uk/NEF17 for your chance to win

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Scotland

North east

Yorkshire

North west

Midlands

London &

South

Wales

A whole world of wealth The global reach of UBS - from the UK regions to offices around the world - is giving its clients the confidence and security to look further afield for diversification. Mike Hughes discusses its strategies and success with two key decision-makers.

THERE is a lot to be said for loyalty. Sticking with what you know and keeping what’s important within easy reach can be reassuring.

But in a world full of investment potential a little guidance from the experts can open an investor’s eyes to new possibilities, and at UBS more than 900 analysts in more than 50 offices around the world have been creating, discovering and expanding new investment opportunities for generations. Their success in using such a vast network of the world’s leading investment experts to highlight

changing markets and advise investors to focus further afield is spearheading a key change in strategies for thousands of individuals and organisations.

“If you look at our philosophy and the way we construct portfolios, it is all about diversification,” says UBS Wealth Management Investment Specialist Rikky Shoker.

“If you look at Harry Markowitz, the founding father of modern portfolio theory, he said it was basically the only free lunch in investing – and it pretty much comes calorie-

free. The more diversification you have in portfolios, the better the chance of a strong return.

“But as well as that return, the way we look at it here at UBS is that diversifying the risk is also so important because what is at the top of our priorities for our clients is not losing money,” said Shoker, who joined UBS in 2014 after working at Rathbones, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch.

“People measure risk differently, but it is basically uncertainty about which outcome will occur and the possibility of loss when there is an unfavourable outcome. Wherever our investment experts are in the world, they have been telling our clients for many years that the best way to protect against that is by being diversified and managing risk first, and then returns.”

The reason that approach has been so successful is that more than 50 UBS offices in all the major international financial centres

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work in perfect synchronisation, building up an unrivalled matrix of information about the industries and regions that will provide the perfect combination for each investor.

What has always been at the core of the UBS philosophy is its relationship with its clients. Wherever they are based, knowing what sort of people they are beyond the formal agreements that are being signed means the investment advice can be targeted even more accurately, and advice which may differ from a client’s original instincts can be delivered in a constructive way that develops that relationship.

UBS analysts are already masters of behavioural finance, a fast-growing field based around knowing your client so well that you understand their behaviour and therefore what influences their spending and investing. These can be very personal, emotional and instinctive drivers of a person’s financial decisions, so redirecting those instincts without being dismissive of their importance to the client is a key skill.

That skill exists in abundance across the UBS group, which means that a client will get the same level of investment expertise anywhere in the world and the highest level of co-ordination between its offices allows a highly-prized matrix of information to be drawn up for every potential opportunity, from Edinburgh to Hong Kong and from Leeds to Brazil.

Regional deputy head for Scotland Scott Young says, for the clients he deals with the money is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

“We like to ask “what is the money for? what is the ultimate purpose of the wealth you have worked hard and sacrificed much to create?”.

Many of our clients are in the enviable situation of not being able to spend their wealth in this lifetime, so are looking at their families and the passing on of wealth.

“Psychologically, clients can be nervous about passing on substantial wealth, particularly if it is to young children because they want them to achieve in life. But we will also start conversations about philanthropy and giving, showing that for them and for us it is more than just an investment portfolio.”

Shoker adds: “Investment advice is very much an art as opposed to a science, which is when managing a client’s investment

psychology really comes into it. If you look at our principles as a bank, near the top of our list would be ‘challenge’ because we will already have built up a deep relationship with a client, so we will feel in the right place to challenge them if we feel there is room to do so.

“Essentially, we are trying to protect them from their initial instincts and they way we do that is by using the evidence our analysts have gathered to show the benefits of diversification and looking further afield away from some of those behavioural biases that can result in people doing what they feel is right rather than being open to another option.”

“If you look at the UK market, it seems as if it is very domestic, but it is quite the contrary with 75% of FTSE100 earnings generated overseas. So that is quite a good bellweather for global growth and allows us to cater for a little of that home bias.”

“Also, our clients are very intelligent, have

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where people feel their money will be most productive and has sharpened an awareness of the possibilities and helped with the diversification argument. A lot of UBS clients have business interests based outside the UK, or at least trade links with other countries, so there is a heightened interest in what the group can do and how it can given an insight into the perfect market timing.

“Of course, there is a systematic process behind what we do,” says Shoker.

“But that process is designed to ensure clients can demonstrate the best possible returns for a given level of risk and we have products and services available to offer that confidence in any situation. But the way we deliver that work is very human - and very rewarding for those of us fortunate enough to deal directly with our clients. We are there to empathise with our clients, understand their needs and deliver the best solution.”

“Investment advice is very much an art as opposed to a science.”

earned a lot of money and are very successful and so they feel that they may have a full grasp of certain financial matters and can read markets and gather enough information. That can lead to a home bias and a familiarity bias, which are often linked, and our research has shown that it can be futile to address this approach head-on because you are trying to change a client’s behaviour and expose those shortfalls, and nobody likes to be told that.

“So we might suggest putting them into a discretionary portfolio – as we do with about a third of our assets in the UK – because that is the best way of having a full and proper process that limits the client’s exposure to those biases. It is systematic and is all taken care of for you, and when they look at our capabilities and resources, clients are reassured that we can make those decision in thousands of situations and with multiple asset classes on a global basis.”

Brexit, and its uncertainty both leading up to a deal and after one is in place, is a new influence on

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“

“We are there to empathise with our clients, understand their needs and deliver the best solution.”

“And we are more than capable of doing that. We have attracted some of the best talent in the industry, with our chief investment office having more than 200 analysts who work for them exclusively and globally more than 900 who have a hugely valuable input into the investment process.

“They are all collecting local views and feeding them back into the investment office for us to make a decision on asset allocation and the instruments we select so that we can react to any challenge anywhere in the world.”

Young, who joined UBS in 2006 and has over 30 years’ experience advising wealthy individuals and entrepreneurs in Scotland, is an acknowledged expert in tackling those challenges.

“It is not just about investments, its about the appropriate use of borrowing to leverage a client’s ambitions for themselves and their family. Its about the appropriate use of structures to ensure the smooth transition of

wealth across generations. It’s about working closely with the client’s other advisors to ensure every angle and opportunity has been considered.” At UBS, its about leveraging the very best ideas globally to ensure our clients benefit from our international perspective. It is that personal side of the business once again, finding out the ultimate purpose for the wealth people have, not just managing it.

“From a Scottish perspective, we feel it is a privilege to work for UBS because our network of regional offices like Edinburgh means we live and breathe in the environment our clients are working in whilst providing a uniquely international perspective to many of the issues they face. Local advice backed by Global intelligence.”

“Our offices may be separated by thousands of miles in some cases, but the internal networks we have here mean we can tap into that skills base and bring expertise from Hong Kong to Edinburgh or from Brazil to Leeds. Only

at UBS will you find this capability right across the asset allocation spectrum, through liquidity products, fixed income, equity, hedge funds, commodities and foreign exchange.”

Having a local view from anywhere in the world is what UBS is all about. With a knock on the door of any office that has the familiar crossed keys symbol outside a world of investment opportunities will be unlocked, each personally tailored and globally supported. n

UBS AG is authorized and regulated in the UK by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Markets move fast.

Markets move fast.

How will I keep up?

The world is more complex than ever before. Which makes it incredibly challenging to stay abreast of the latest news that could affect your investments. This is where our 900 analysts can help. Constantly monitoring the world’s markets, they provide our investment teams with the information they need to keep your portfolio on track.

How will I keep up?

The world is more complex than ever before. Which makes it incredibly challenging For some of life’s questions, you’re not alone. to stay abreast of the latest news that could affect your investments. This is where our Together we can find an answer.

900 analysts can help. Constantly monitoring the world’s markets, they provide our investment teams with the information they need to keep your portfolio on track.

The value of investments can fall as well as rise.

You may not get back the amount originally invested.

For some of life’s questions, you’re not alone.

Together we can find an answer.

UBS Wealth Management The valueHouse of investments can fall as well as rise.

Wemyss You may not Place get back the amount originally invested.

6-8 Wemyss Edinburgh EH3 6DH UBS Wealth Management Wemyss House 6-8 Wemyss Scott YoungPlace Edinburgh scott.young@ubs.com EH3 Tel: 6DH 0131 247 2928 www.ubs.com/wealthmanagement-uk Scott Young scott.young@ubs.com © UBS 2017. All rights reserved.

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Welcome to the lab David Holton takes Peter Ranscombe behind the scenes at Scottish Widows’ innovation laboratory. And there’s not a test tube or Bunsen burner in sight.

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ew brands scream “traditional” like Scottish Widows, the insurance and pensions company that traces its roots back to a coffee house in Edinburgh in 1812, when the idea was born for “a general fund for securing provisions to widows, sisters and other females”. From the block type face of its logo through to Amber Martinez playing the fourth incarnation of “the widow” in its television and print advertising, there’s something reassuringly familiar about the financial services firm.

That’s what makes the company’s “innovation lab” so exciting. Squirreled away in the bowels of a concrete-and-glass eyesore office block in Edinburgh, a team of about 140 people are dragging the company’s digital technology into the 21st century.

It’s a big project. Parent company Lloyds Banking Group has invested £80m in its “digital transformation” programme, which is “looking at embedding digital capability across Scottish Widows’ corporate pensions”.

In a nutshell, the lab is responsible for giving clients access to their pensions

via smartphones and tablet computers, revolutionising retirement savings in the same way that mobile banking apps have transformed the way in which customers interact with their current and savings accounts. Instead of receiving a 13-page annual statement, users will be able to see how much money they have in their pension pot, in which funds their cash is invested and how much more they will need to save to secure the standard of living they expect in their retirement.

This type of technology is truly revolutionary for the pensions market and feels a bit like someone’s plonked a BMW i8 hybrid sportscar on the starting grid alongside a lineup of E-type Jaguars. Yet the software – which was launched over the summer – is just the tip of the iceberg.

Behind the scenes, the lab has also created a back-office software system that makes it far easier for employers or their advisors to manage their employees’ pensions. Uploading monthly information about payments has gone

from being a 22-day process to one that can be completed in a single day.

Spearheading this push into the future is David Holton. His wider day-job is as director of corporate “propositions”, pensions and investments at Scottish Widows but, within minutes of meeting him, it’s clear that his passion lies in the lab.

Despite sometimes sounding like he’s swallowed a management training manual – with buzzwords like “agile pathways”, “customer-centred” and “team huddles” peppering his conversation as he leads the way on a tour through the lab – once he gets into the swing of things and starts speaking from his heart, few listeners could be left in any doubt that Holton is a man on a mission. And, as corny as it sounds, that mission is to make it as easy as possible for employees to manage their pensions.

Each wall of the lab is covered in posters, post-it notes and whiteboards that tell the story of how a customer uses the new technology and how the underlying software

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“I want my team focused on making the experience as good as it can be for the customer.”

works – the “customer journey”. Comments from clients during the testing phases have guided the team on which parts of the process need to be improved and in what order.

For the development of such a hi-tech product, the approach feels distinctly old-fashioned, like a scene from a 1980s television series – and has perhaps created more than one sleepless night for any fire safety officer who’s seen the number of small yellow paper squares flapping about on the walls. Yet Holton explains that the whiteboards and the post-it notes and the print-outs of customer feedback are all part of the “culture” he wanted to create in the lab.

Instead of sitting behind computer screens all the time, members of the team can stand and point to the work that needs to be done, helping them to prioritise their tasks and to see how their efforts fit into the wider picture.

“I wanted everything to be visible,” explains Holton.

“Instead of working in silos, I wanted people to see how their work fits into the wider project.

“Instead of it all being linear – do one task, then do the next task, then do the next task – people can spot what needs to be done in what order to make the experience better for our customers. That’s also one of the advantages of having the whole team on a single site.

“When I was setting up the project, I was shown the open-plan office where we’d be based – it was empty, there were ceiling tiles missing and it hadn’t been used in ages, but I thought it was perfect because it meant we could have everyone working together in the same place.

People work better together when they understand how their job fits into the bigger picture.

“I’ve banned hierarchies and grades from the lab.

Everyone needs to feel like they can contribute instead of getting tied up in a management chain.”

Giving an example, Holton points to one side of the room where members of staff are answering phone calls from clients. If a customer spots a problem with the software or website then all the call handler needs to do is walk across to the other side of the office to tell one of the coders.

If it’s an easy problem to fix and fits into the broader work that’s going on then the coder can work on it straight away. The call handler can sometimes phone the

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“I’ve banned hierarchies and grades from the lab.

Everyone needs to feel like they can contribute instead of getting tied up in a management chain.”

customer back the same day to thank them for pointing out the problem and to explain how it’s been fixed.

“Under the old ways of working, that fault would be reported by the call handler to their supervisor, who would then pass it up the chain,” he says. “It would then come up at a management meeting in a month’s time and be passed onto me in the technical department and then it might be another month before it came up in one of my team’s work schedule.”

Working out the kinks in the new system has been speeded-up, but so was the whole development process. Implementing additional features used to take nine months but has now been cut to seven weeks thanks to more advanced testing software, while accessibility – for people with dyslexia or who need other support – has also been built into the process.

“In the past, it would take 18 months to develop an idea because the process would ‘waterfall’ from the proposition team coming up with the idea to the IT team who would develop it and then the testing team who would test it – then it would need another 18 months of revisions once customers starting using it,” Holton adds.

“When we opened the innovation lab in January 2016, we wanted to cut that time and also integrate the testing into the process.

We see failure as a good thing, as something we can learn from – it’s better to spend £10,000 trying something out instead of £3m developing a whole system and then finding it doesn’t work for the customer.”

That “fail fast and fail cheap” attitude is much more akin to the mantra followed by digi-tech companies in Codebase or an Entrepreneurial Spark incubator than it is to the ethos of a 200-year-old financial services business. Computer monitors display the number of customers using the system at any one time, allowing the team to spot any technical problems or issues with capacity before they start to affect clients and in realtime instead of in a report at the end of the month.

As Holton strides off further down the lab, he passes as poster that spells out “F-A-I-L” as “first attempt in learning”. To emphasise the point, there are other pieces of artwork scattered around the office that include quotes from Michael Jordan, Albert Einstein and other famous “failures” about the obstacles they overcame in their careers.

For Lloyds, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Around one-third of Widows’ pensions clients are now using the system, with around £100m of money flowing through the platform.

Yet customers are now being encouraged to spend less time using the system – just a few clicks to make each process as simple as possible. So, is Lloyds not annoyed that it can’t sell other products – like insurance policies or bank accounts – to clients in banner adverts or pop-ups while they’re on the pensions website?

“I was quite belligerent about that,” admits Holton. “You won’t find any targets about revenue growth or cost cutting on the walls of the lab.

“I want my team focused on making the experience as good as it can be for the customer. Then it’s up to me and my small management team to make sure we hit our targets.

“If customers have a good experience of using the new capability then they will feel more affinity with the brand. That’s when you can start having conversations about how to offer other products or services to them, not when they’re in the middle of managing their pension pot.”

It’s time for the grand unveiling. Holton leads the way into a side room and plugs his iPhone into a massive television, which shows the software working in its full glory, a sneak-peak at the product revealed to the world over the summer.

Hailing from Jarrow near Newcastle, Holton studied economics at Durham University. But his interest in technology pre-dates his work in finance.

“Me and my Dad used to build our own computers – they were like Lego kits, with the circuit boards all plugging together,” he remembers. “I joined Logica after university on its graduate training scheme, but the fall-out from the dot.com bubble bursting made me think that I should perhaps focus on using my economics training instead of my interest in technology.

“I moved to the Bank of Scotland graduate scheme and worked my way up through integrated finance and investment banking and on to small business banking. But that interest in technology was always there.”

Who knows where that interest in technology will take Holton next? Perhaps there are wearable devices on the horizon for the widow, as she glances away from measuring her daily steps on her Fitbit to read the latest update from her pension on her iWatch? n

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Hampden roar echoes for young entrepreneurs Young Enterprise Scotland held a two-day festival of youth enterprise at Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow, including the national finals of its company programme for secondary school pupils.

HAMPDEN has been the setting for some spectacular triumphs over the years: the 1991 Scottish Cup thriller when Motherwell beat Dundee United 4-3 in the final; Scotland’s 1-0 defeat of France during the 2008 European Championship qualifying campaign; and the national side’s 1-0 1974 World Cup warm-up victory over the auld enemy.

Now, Young Enterprise Scotland’s (YES’s) 2017 “Hampden takeover” can be added to that illustrious list. The national football stadium

hosted the organisation’s festival of youth enterprise on 5 and 6 June, with 500 school pupils taking part in workshops, visiting stalls in the market place and meeting up with fellow young entrepreneurs from throughout the country.

Jamie Hutcheon, the founder of Aberdeenbased chocolate company Cocoa Ooze, delivered the keynote speech on the first day. He told the audience how he started his business in 2008 when he was just 17 years old.

Fifteen teams from around Scotland then returned to the stadium the following day to take part in the finals of YES’s company programme. Each team had already won their regional heat and came together to go headto-head for the national title.

Companies taking part in the finals ranged from Beltane Candles of Currie Community High School in Edinburgh through to Fancie Tins of Brae High School on Shetland. Three firms created books aimed at children and young people, while Graphic Outlook from Marr College in Troon teamed up with local manufacturer Begg of Ayr to produce school scarves and Sustainable Environmental Ecosystem Delivery (Seed), from Inverurie Academy, partnered with the Woodland Trust Scotland to offer carbon-offsetting packages.

Twelve judges – including Peter Ranscombe, editor of BQ Scotland magazine, which was the media partner for the event – reviewed the company reports and then interviewed directors from the businesses. Each firm then gave a presentation and showed the judges around the trade stands they had created in the market place.

The winners were announced during a gala dinner at the stadium, which was hosted by Rachel McTavish, an STV News presenter and entrepreneur in her own right, having launched her own range of jewellery, the McTavish Collection, in 2008. She was joined on stage

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“More than 2,000 pupils have taken part in our company programme.”

by Mark Armstrong, YES’s schools programme manager, while YES chief executive Geoff Leask delivered the closing remarks.

The young entrepreneurs who had gathered for the dinner were also treated to an inspirational speech by Sylvia Douglas, founder of Glasgowbased social enterprise Ms Miss Mrs, which empowers women. Douglas’s organisation is best known for selling its “empowerment pants” but also runs self-development programmes and a hub.

Vision, a company set up by pupils at Fortrose Academy on the Black Isle, north of Inverness, was the big winner on the night, scooping four prizes. The team carried off the Barclays company of the year title, along with the Kaplan best company report prize, the Lyreco best trade stand trophy and the Marketing Society award.

Bon-Bon, based at Lochend Community High School in Glasgow, scooped a brace of prizes, taking home the EY best presentation award and the Disney creativity prize, which was presented by Michael Mercieca, chief executive of the UK-wide Young Enterprise organisation. Handmade Hamilton from Hamilton Grammar School triumphed in the Peroosh people’s choice category, securing the highest number of votes gathered through the YES website.

Looking ahead to the next 12 months, 2018 marks Scotland’s “Year of Young People” and so Leask and his team are keen to extend a festival of youth enterprise throughout the country. “We had 500 school pupils pass through Hampden over the course of the two days, but next year it would be amazing to run youth enterprise events around Scotland on the same day so we can reach even more people,” he explains.

“More than 2,000 pupils have taken part in our company programme over the past year, which is a tremendous number. Each of those young people has been given a taste of what it’s like to run their own company and have learned skills that will help them no matter which career they pursue.

“We want to give even more youngsters the chance to share in that experience and the festival of youth enterprise is a great way of spreading the word and inspiring not just young people but also their teachers and the 500-plus other volunteers who help us to deliver such an amazing experience throughout the country.”

Leask adds: “Our judges had a really hard job picking the winners this year. They told me how inspiring it was to hear the stories from the young entrepreneurs and to see all the hard work they had put into their company reports, presentations and trade stalls.

“The standard of the products and services being offered by pupils taking part in our company programme just keeps getting higher year after year. I can’t wait to see what our young people will come up with during 2018 as we celebrate Scotland’s Year of Young People.”

As well as celebrating the achievements of the young people honoured on the night, guests at the gala dinner were treated to music by jazz duo Joe Williamson and Luca Manning. They were also wowed by a mini fashion show featuring outfits and accessories created by Junk Kouture Scotland, which reuses and recycles materials to create its clothing. n Find out more about Young Enterprise Scotland and its programmes at www.yes.org.uk

And the winner is…

BARCLAYS COMPANY OF THE YEAR: Vision EY BEST PRESENTATION AWARD: Bon-Bon LYRECO BEST TRADE STAND AWARD: Vision KAPLAN BEST COMPANY REPORT: Vision ICAS FINANCIAL DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: Annie Nicol and Samantha Overstone, both from Beltane candles at Currie Community High School IOD DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD: Taylor Henderson from Live laugh Learn at Bo’ness Academy and Chloe Fairman from West Coasters at Lochgilphead High School DYW JOURNEY AWARD: Taylor Henderson from Live Laugh Learn at Bo’ness Academy CITY OF GLASGOW COLLEGE INNOVATION AWARD: Seed FSB BUSINESS ADVISOR OF THE YEAR AWARD: Lee Medd from Dumfries and Galloway SQA LINK TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD: Samantha Coole from St Andrews Roman Catholic High School in Kirkcaldy ASDA SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AWARD: Medley DISNEY CREATIVITY AWARD: Bon-Bon THE MARKETING SOCIETY AWARD: Vision

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STRATHCLYDE MADE ME WHO I AM

Professor David Hillier, associate principal and executive dean at the Strathclyde Business School, highlights the role his institution plays not only in industry but also in wider society.

“GIVING something back” is a topic that crops up again and again in conversations with David Hillier, associate principal and professor of finance at the University of Strathclyde and executive dean of its Strathclyde Business School. When Hillier speaks about the institution “giving back”, he’s not just talking about its involvement with the business community though – he wants to have a wider impact on all society.

Part of Hillier’s ethos and mission for the business school stems from the very roots of the University of Strathclyde itself. Founded in

1796 during the Enlightenment, the university’s forerunner was created to be “a place of useful learning”, a theme that resonates with Hillier today.

Another part of his motivation comes from his personal experience. Hillier was the first member of his family to go to university and so he has first-hand experience of the benefits of higher education.

“I came from a background of people who tended not to go to university,” he explains. “My father died when I was young and I had no sense of direction whatsoever.

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“The path I took was my own path, I didn’t follow anyone else. I studied maths and was training to become an accountant, but the company I was training with wasn’t performing well.

“When you come out of university with a degree, you think you’re going to automatically go on to this fantastic career, but it doesn’t work that way. I graduated in the early 1990s and it was the time of the first lost generation because the economy was really stagnating.

“What I really enjoyed from my degree was doing research. I gave up my good job to come back to the university on a temporary threemonth contract. With a young family, I ended up working for a pittance and at that point I had to prove myself.”

Hillier worked his way up through the ranks, studying for his doctorate before being made a professor in 2002 at the age of just 32. After spending six years at the University of Leeds, Hillier returned to Strathclyde in 2010 and took over as executive dean in 2015.

“That’s one of the reasons why I’m so loyal to Strathclyde – they made me who I

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am,” he says. “I became a man here and my whole ethos and work ethic comes from that Strathclyde background.

“The great thing about being an academic who’s plugged into industry is that you’re called into so many situations and asked to give advice. I can draw on my research background and my teaching background and apply my knowledge to industry.”

Hillier singles out Strathclyde as one of the best business schools in both Scotland and the UK and points to the institution’s triple accreditation – from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of Masters degrees in Business Administration (AMBA) and the EQUIS quality-assurance scheme run by the European Foundation for Management Development.

“I really believe that, as an organisation, you need a purpose – when you have a purpose then it makes decisions easier,” he explains.

“When I became executive dean, I looked at the university and the business school and asked ‘Why are we here? Why do we exist?’

“We were the only university created during

the Enlightenment, with a mission to improve humanity. We also have a strong technical background too, having been the Royal College of Science & Technology.

“There are two aspects there – you have the really strong university connections with industry, which is epitomised now by our Technology & Innovation Centre (TIC), but there’s also that social angle there as well.

We’re a socially-progressive business school within a leading international technological university.

“What does that mean? It means we’re engaged. That’s not an aspiration, that’s a statement of fact.”

Giving examples of the ways in which the business school engages with industry and wider society is no problem for Hillier. He quickly reels off a list of how the university interacts with the world.

In the public arena, he points to the Fraser of Allander Institute, the research unit that produces some of Scotland’s most highlyregarded economic reports, as an example of how the school connects with government

“When you come out of university with a degree, you think you’re going to automatically go on to this fantastic career, but it doesn’t work that way.”

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and policy. Yet he also highlights a little-known fact about how members of staff from the institute engage with businesses on a oneto-one basis, spending time with directors to talk about the micro-economic picture at an individual company level and not just through the wider macro reports they produce.

The work of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research in helping companies innovate and change is an example close to Hillier’s heart. The centre interacts with companies of all sizes, from small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) through to large corporates.

“I’m really proud of our work on the living wage and the work agenda,” he says. “That overlaps with the social angle too.”

The business school’s engagement with industry follows individuals through each stage of their lives. It sends business people into

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schools to speak to budding entrepreneurs and help them develop their entrepreneurial attitude.

Once those pupils reach Strathclyde, they are greeted with the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and the university’s wider work with the Hunter Foundation. The university has an “entrepreneurship pathway” at the undergraduate level, with many of its students going on to set up their own businesses.

After they graduate, the university continues to provide advice and mentoring.

Strathclyde also has its own incubation unit, where start-ups can receive further help.

“Our students also take part in internship schemes,” adds Hillier. “Those internships don’t just benefit the students, but also benefit the companies too because our students are among the best in the country and can make

major contributions to businesses.”

Hillier also highlights the ten-month Growth Advantage Programme (GAP) that Strathclyde runs with banking giant Santander. GAP is designed to help scale-up companies to reach double-digit revenue growth, with some achieving increases in turnover of more than 20%.

Another important strand is the school’s work with large corporations, including running master’s degrees in business administration (MBAs) for engineering firm Weir Group, Scottish Power-owner Iberdrola in partnership with the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, defence contractor Babcock and whisky distiller William Grant & Sons.

Strathclyde also runs a dual master’s degree programme in project management with the Politecnico di Milano, ranked as Italy’s top university.

“Those internships don’t just benefit the students, but also benefit the companies too because our students are among the best in the country.”

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“A large part of leadership is mentoring abilities. If you can mentor someone then you can use those skills in your organisation.”

The final piece in the jigsaw is the business school’s wider work in society. “When I came back to the university, I introduced a scheme for every undergraduate student within the business school – except those on foreign exchange programmes – to take part in a community activity in which they use their business skills, management skills and leadership skills to help organisations or individuals in their local communities,” Hillier says.

“One of the best examples is our work with Annette Street Primary School in Govanhill, which has now expanded so that we’re not just working with the pupils but also with their parents too.

“Every single undergraduate is out doing something in the community, which is building up that Strathclyde ethos. It’s getting back to why we exist – our purpose is to improve humanity.

“We then said that we wanted to go further than that by not just getting our students involved but getting our staff involved too in social projects. We’re one of the vanguard

partners for MCR Pathways and up to 20% of our staff – both academic and administrators – go out and mentor young adults from care backgrounds.

“This year, I’m expanding that programme to cover 40% of our staff. The impact that programme has had on people’s lives has been fantastic.

“It’s not just the young people either. The staff who are involved in that project come back with much stronger leadership skills.

“A large part of leadership is mentoring abilities. If you can mentor someone then you can use those skills in your organisation.

“We’re now developing a leadership programme that includes a two-year mentoring commitment. We’re developing innovative leadership modules to help people reflect on how they can become better mentors and better leaders.”

Strathclyde is also working with Enable Scotland, Iberdrola and the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid to launch the UK’s first university certificate for people with learning difficulties. “We want to launch a ten-month

programme this year,” Hillier explains.

“Enable Scotland will choose the people for the programme and Iberdrola with its own corporate network is interested in offering internship opportunities. The people who complete the programme will be able to graduate from the university.

“This will help give all parts of society the chance to learn and develop. As a business school and university, I believe we’re unique because we’ve identified our purpose and have created the engine that has powered our success since Professor Sir Jim McDonald was appointed as Principal, and will continue to do so in the future.” n

Contact details www.strath.ac.uk/business 0141 553 6000

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“It’s free to go on the fairy trail and so it adds value for families when they come to visit.”

Not-so secret

garden Elly Douglas-Hamilton’s family has run Archerfield since the 1960s.

Now, the estate’s walled garden is helping the business to diversify into areas including brewing, events and retail, as Peter Ranscombe reports.

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t’s not often that fairies crop up in conversation during an interview for a business magazine. Yet fairies are just one of the ways in which Archerfield Estate Limited (AEL) in East Lothian is diversifying and drawing in new customers.

The Douglas-Hamilton family bought the 1,000-acre estate in the 1960s and opened the Archerfield Walled Garden in 2013. As well as traditional features like a bar, café, restaurant, delicatessen, gift shop and gallery, the venue also has its own microbrewery, where Archerfield Fine Ales are created under the watchful eye of brewer Robert Knops, who also makes his eponymous range of tipples on-site.

Then there are the fairies. They arrived last summer, with

visitors having the opportunity to follow a fairy trail around the grounds that surround the walled garden.

“The fairy trail was Ross McGregor’s idea,” explains Elly Douglas-Hamilton, chair of AEL, saluting her operations director. “It’s free to go on the trail and so it adds value for families when they come to visit.”

The fairies who have taken up residence are also making good financial sense too. Around 10,000 families have followed the trail during its first year, with many of them buying fairy-related souvenirs in the gift shop afterwards or stopping for a snack or a drink in the café.

And the fairies aren’t alone either. Over the summer, the walled garden has hosted “Canteen”, East Lothian’s first

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“During the first event, we had 2,000 people passing through the walled garden in a single day, that was a new record.”

street food festival, with local producers gathering on the last Saturday of each month, special guest DJs playing music and even a flypast from the nearby airfield.

“During the first event, we had 2,000 people passing through the walled garden in a single day,” says Elly. “That was a new record.”

Canteen was organised by Rogue Village, a local events company.

It’s just one of the partners in the surrounding area with which AEL has been teaming up.

Richard Dowsett, owner of Leith Cycle Company, opened a “bike hub” on the estate over the summer. Instead of having to drive out to East Lothian with their bikes in the back of the car, families can now hire them and go for a ride.

That’s in addition to theatre company Three-Inch Fools performing Romeo & Juliet by the estate’s pond over the summer, local artist Charlotte Cadzow taking guests on a sketching tour, and the Big Kid Circus rolling into town for three days.

It all feels a long way from a traditional farming estate. Wind the clock back to the 18th century and Home Farm and the walled garden were growing exotic fruit and vegetables for the estate’s Archerfield House, with 110 varieties of apples and 57 of pears, along with operating an ice house, a mushroom house and a gas works.

By the time the Douglas-Hamiltons arrived in the 1960s, Archerfield House was a run-down mansion, while the walled garden was in ruins.

Elly’s parents set about doing up Home Farm – where they raised their children – while the family from whom they had bought the estate moved into Marine Villa.

At one stage, the estate even had its own horseracing track and the previous owners bred racehorses on the site. But the walled garden was beyond repair when the Douglas-Hamilton family bought the estate, with the remaining greenhouses knocked down in the 1980s and silage pits constructed.

Half of the estate was sold in the same decade to a property developer and was eventually bought by Kevin Doyle, the founder of Edinburgh-based pub operator Caledonian Heritable. Doyle went on to restore Archerfield House and build the 100-plus luxury homes on the site, along with two golf courses.

During the 1990s, as with many country estates, what was once the walled garden became a dumping ground, with members of the public abandoning everything from broken television sets to punctured tyres on the site. “My Dad always had an idea that we wanted to restore the walled garden and was looking at options during the late 1990s,” Elly remembers.

“One of the options was an equestrian centre but market research said it wasn’t the right time. Around the same time that Kevin Doyle was developing Archerfield House, the idea started to formulate for us to create the walled garden we see today, with a shop, café and brewery.”

Elly’s father, the 15th Duke of Hamilton, died in 2010 and so sadly didn’t see the walled garden reopened. Although Elly is the eldest

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“When people think of Archerfield now, they think it’s very exclusive and they can’t come here – but actually the exact opposite is true because we’re encouraging people to come and visit the estate and use the walled garden.”

child in the family, the dukedom passed to her brother, Alexander, as the male heir.

Is Elly disappointed that she didn’t inherit the title and with it the position as the “premier peer of Scotland”, a job that includes being the hereditary keeper of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and the hereditary bearer of the crown of Scotland?

“I was relieved when I didn’t inherit it,” she laughs.

“It’s a lot of hard work, but Alexander does the job very well. I don’t envy him it.”

Alexander lives at the family’s home in nearby Lennoxlove House and owns the surrounding estate, which the family bought in 1947 after the hereditary seat at Hamilton Palace was demolished in 1922 due to subsidence caused by coal mining. Elly and her

sister, Anne, meanwhile own AEL and manage it alongside a board of non-executive directors and trustees.

“There are really two halves to the estate now – the half that Kevin Doyle owns, with Archerfield House, the golf courses, the spa and the upmarket cottages, and the half that we own, with Home Farm, the walled garden and our 14 long-term let cottages and land for horse grazing,” explains Elly. “When people think of Archerfield now, they think it’s very exclusive and they can’t come here – but actually the exact opposite is true because we’re encouraging people to come and visit the estate and use the walled garden.”

For Elly, exploring the scenery and wildlife are at the centre of that invitation to the public. Both halves of the estate contribute

to the cost of having a countryside ranger on the site, who is shared with the neighbouring Yellowcraigs beach.

Having studied wildlife biology, Elly became the red squirrel conservation officer for the Borders and later the events coordinator for the Scottish Wildlife Trust. That love of nature clearly still runs deep because the leaflets and other literature for the walled garden are peppered with information about the local flora and fauna, from roe deer, hares and bats through to the newts, dragonflies and damselflies at the restored pond.

While the estate has already clearly diversified to add tourism and leisure to its traditional mixed farming activities – and revenues from the walled garden are expected to hit £1m this year – there are even more plans

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“It’s named after my tattoo, we needed a name that would work for the jams and jellies but would also transfer to other products that we might make and sell in the future. You can’t take yourself too seriously.”

on the horizon. The company is working with other neighbouring businesses to stock more produce in the café and the store, trying to develop its “Taste, shop, explore” tagline to include a local flavour.

A host of local brands have already become involved, including Salt Pigs in Dunbar and Laura Thomas Linens. Many have started making bespoke items using ingredients grown in the market garden, which continues to be developed by head gardener Erica Randall.

Involvement with the local community is also important to Elly. She’s the regional ambassador for Reverse Rett, a charity funding research into Rett syndrome, a neurological condition, and has held two five-kilometre

runs, raising £30,000 – the fund raising filters down to the level that even buying a burger in the walled garden raises 50p.

Events are also high on the agenda. While the site is already used for music and theatre productions, Elly and Ross are keen to expand the number of functions that take place in the evening.

They’ve developed a “Party your way” package, which highlights the flexibility of the space. They recognise that Archerfield does lie some distance from the population centres in Edinburgh and North Berwick, but they point to the regular bus services during the day and the availability of taxis at night.

One of the projects is particularly close to

Elly’s heart though. She has created the “Ginger Squirrel Company” as a brand for the jams and jellies that she makes, which will soon be on sale in the shop.

And the name for the new venture? “It’s named after my tattoo,” she laughs, with her curly strawberry-blonde hair bobbing about as she chuckles, emphasising the tongue-in-cheek brand.

“We were trying for ages to come up with a name and then Ross saw the tattoo and suggested it. We needed a name that would work for the jams and jellies but would also transfer to other products that we might make and sell in the future. You can’t take yourself too seriously,” she adds with a giggle. n

HIGH LIFE AUTUMN 2017 MOTORING

TRAVEL

FASHION

DRINKS

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COMBINING

FUNCTION WITH FORM Creative head Marek Reichman tells Josh Sims why the DB11 is kicking off a decade of innovation at Aston Martin that will make the company’s sports cars unrecognisable in years to come.

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arek Reichman, the creative head of Aston Martin, has given his new car what one might call the “11-year-old test”. “Irrespective of how the car is reviewed, I know the response I get from an 11-year-old if I’m driving a Vanquish,” he says.

“And it’s very different to the one I get when driving this car. They go a bit bat shit crazy, like they’ve seen their favourite pop star.”

The car in question is, of course, the DB11 – of course because the DB line is, in no small part thanks to the association with James Bond, unarguably the British luxury car

“The thing is, whatever any of it does, all this just looks so good too.”

manufacturer’s most famous, even among those who know little of cars. And, according to Reichman, the DB11 is a game changer, at least for Aston Martin.

“It represents a shift in mindset in terms of how our customer will perceive the design language of Aston Martin,” he says. “Look at its predecessors and there’s quite a feline, amorphous form – it’s that holistic approach that cars of a latter generation took. Look at the DB11 and it’s technology that defines it. It’s a real form-follows-function approach, rather than maintaining the pure line of the DB9.”

To the lay driver, of course, this grand tourer experience is somewhat oblivious to the technology. Sat in a surprisingly spacious leather-clad cabin – so leathery, in fact, that Aston Martin has perhaps overdone its Britishness by brogueing it – one is propelled from nought to 60 in three seconds, whipped around corners with the ease of a go kart, and, if giving your own 11-year-old or younger a thrill is the order of the day, pinning them to the back of their child-seats. Yes, should Bond ever grow up, the DB11 is the first two-plus-two from Aston Martin that comes with Isofix.

The driving modes – “GT”, “sport” and “sport plus” or “crikey”, “help” and “stunned silence” – and new adaptive damping system allow you to cruise or bomb around as you see fit. Naturally, it’s a fantastic, assured drive and, thanks to the carefully-considered music

of the 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12, one worth having with the radio off. To a car designer like Reichman, however – and perhaps the man on the street awed by the DB11’s presence – all those exterior surfaces represent a new level of engineering and aerodynamics for the marque.

There’s the clamshell bonnet, for example, made – with great complexity – from pressed aluminium. The result allows for a minimum of interrupting breaks to its lines, while also having energy absorbency properties that make it better for any slack-jawed pedestrian who comes off badly at the wrong end of it. There’s the re-engineered fuel tank, which leaves more room in the boot for the pram, or something much more glamorous.

Or there’s the “AeroBlade”, as Aston Martin is calling it: intakes at the base of the c-pillars that channel air through ducts passing within the body of the car, churn them up and exit them at the back. The result? Reduced rear lift.

In other words, it’s a spoiler, without the need of the kind of actual physical spoiler that turns beauty into boy racer. Small wonder Aston Martin has been very quick to patent this genuine innovation in aerodynamics.

But the thing is, whatever any of it does, all this just looks so good too. Of course, Reichman has not sacrificed all pursuit of beauty to the demands of science. There’s the roof strake, for example, flowing in an

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“In every kind of art form – from sculptors to singers – every now and then you need a step change.”

unbroken line from A to C pillar thanks to a process of extruding, stretching, pressing, laser cutting, polishing and anodising – a lot of work for a little thing.

And there’s the grille. “It’s my favourite part of the car,” says Reichman. “It’s a bit DB5.

There’s a slight undercut that gives it a bit of a shark’s face, and I’m fascinated by sharks.

They have an amazing beauty while also being amazing predators. I wouldn’t want to swim with them but I love watching them swim – and I think an Aston Martin needs to have that same sense of potency too.”

“We’ve made some very risky changes,” Reichman adds. “There’s a very hard line to the rear of the car now, for instance. But in every kind of art form – from sculptors to singers – every now and then you need a step change. Of course, with an Aston Martin you fundamentally still have to have a balanced form, because that’s what an Aston Martin is about.

“But if you have those proportions right – and we pushed with every single millimetre – then that allows you to be more daring with

the elements in between. It’s like a fantastic haute couture dress on a model who looks perfect without it anyway.”

Indeed, that daring look’s set to shape the blueprint for Aston Martin for the coming few years. While new iterations of the Vantage and the Vanquish are in development, Reichman stresses that the DB11 represents such a new school of thinking for the company that, come the end of the decade, go into an Aston Martin showroom and the DB11 will be the only recognisable car in the line-up. Everything else will have, in some way or other, followed the super-modern design philosophy it embodies.

“The company has a clear set of goals and, what’s more, the money in the bank to make them happen,” says Reichman. “I’ve been lucky in that Aston Martin’s emphasis on making its cars beautiful means I’ve been like a kid in a sweetshop and as a designer, typically, I get what I want. But I think the company’s vision is what has kept me working here now for much longer than I expected. After the end of this decade I might have to retire – I’ll either be exhausted or I’ll have run out of ideas.” n

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“It’s like a fantastic haute couture dress on a model who looks perfect without it anyway.”

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FASH

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D E D I C AT E D FOLLOWER OF

ION Stefano Ricci was one of the first high-end tailors to break into the Asian market and now counts Russian oligarchs, Chinese billionaires and Indian steel magnates among his clients. Josh Sims finds out more about his focus on quality and customer service.

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here’s a point where menswear becomes too ostentatious,” admits Stefano Ricci, a man known to occasionally make belt buckles out of solid platinum, cuff-links encrusted with diamonds and trainers out of crocodile skin. “But the fact is that people successful through the new economy want to express through their clothing that they’re winners. And that can lead to ostentation.”

It’s not a look Ricci, who started designing menswear under his own name 45 years ago this year, espouses himself. With his Karl Marx hair and beard and his soft, elegantly-crumpled suit, his own style is more classically Florentine, a nod to his home town. And, indeed, for all that he may be the go to dresser of Russian oligarchs, Chinese billionaires and Indian steel magnates – not to mention various heads of state – the bulk of his

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collections is focused around perfectly-finished tailoring and shirting that, seeking reassurance in their purchasing, chime with the tastes of the suddenly very rich.

Without the cultural import of Armani or the flash of Versace, the comparatively niche Ricci may be less well known and have fewer customers – but they’re customers that count. Take, for example, the businessman who last year was followed around the world by a Stefano Ricci tailor for six months, being shown fine fabrics and giving measurements without actually giving any commitment to buy anything. Then who, one day, announced that he was satisfied with the product and service and placed an order for 50 suits. At over US$10,000 a pop.

“It’s about building a relationship with your client,” Ricci suggests. “It’s about respecting them. So, we don’t do the usual marketing – people like this aren’t impressed by ads or celebrity testimonials any more. You won’t see our products in outlets. We don’t ever do sales.

We’ll even destroy products at the end of a season to protect the brand’s image.

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“You won’t see our products in outlets. We don’t ever do sales. We even destroy products at the end of a season to protect the brand’s image.”

“The idea of luxury ended with 9/11,” he adds. “That’s when everything was suddenly ‘luxury’ and things became very confused.

What we sell now is emotion – a connection.

They trust us to only offer the very best. That means there’s something of an arms race going on and every season we have to push ourselves a little further, in the materials, in the finishing.

After all, our clients don’t actually need more suits, or more jeans, or more anything. And the brand alone could never justify the prices. You have to be able to feel it in the products.”

Ricci – whose sons, Nicolo and Filippo, also work for the family firm, having recently taken up senior positions as chief executive and creative director respectively, and with whom he shares a love of old cars and big game hunting – has had an uncanny ability to connect with his customer too. He used to be

a major player in the Middle East, then home to the world’s big luxury shoppers. Then, in 1991, and much to the bemusement of many in the luxury goods sector, Ricci opened a flagship shop in China, way ahead of the curve.

“This was when there were no clothes shops, when there was barely even lighting in the streets in China,” says Ricci. “OK, so in every family there’s someone who’s not right in the head. But I could sense that China was going to conquer the world. All the young people were running. And people moving fast is always a good sign.”

He has just launched a line for boys too: not children’s clothes with Stefano Ricci branding, but proper, serious clothes – at serious prices – scaled down to fit. Why? Because he predicts that men who have grown up enjoying clothes are looking for a way of sharing that interest

HIGH LIFE

with their sons. Stefano Ricci’s is, if it’s not already clear, a very male world, although Nicolo points out that, to say his father goes big game hunting, would be an exaggeration: “He spends most of the time on safari staring out across the valley and sketching his designs.”

These days they include designs for homewares too, and the interiors of yachts and shops – last year the company opened a shop in Mayfair, London, and this year comes one in Istanbul, so expect Turkey to be the next big luxury hotspot. They’re all part of the mix that makes Stefano Ricci’s a US$100m turnover business. Yet don’t expect the brand, as particular as it is, to stretch to hotels, for example, as both Armani and Versace’s have done, and as Stefano Ricci was asked to do. It declined. Yes, it has a small restaurant above a shop – that’s just to host those customers that spend US$100,000 a year or more down below.

And its kitchens are busy.

“But it’s one thing being consistent in clothing, or in the shop you sell it from, and maintaining that service at the level of something like a hotel,” says Ricci. “That’s very

hard to do. You can’t control it all. And quality is what we’re all about.

“If you trust any company – it could be one that makes pasta, anything – then you’re reassured by its consistency. That goes beyond the product. It means we can stretch a little, because if your customer likes what you do in one area, they’re prepared to give you a chance in another – if the quality and the price is right. Sure, some customers get really attached to a brand and want that designer label in all aspects of their life. But there are limits.”

Though not, it seems, too many, and especially for a company that has long gone its own way. Or, rather, perhaps just stuck to its guns, both literal and metaphoric. That has included making all its products in Italy – and, Ricci stresses, whether “made in Italy” still has the cachet it once did or not, that means really made in Italy, not abusing lax European Union regulations that allow the claim to be made without actually utilising any of the nation’s craft skills. It’s included refusing to diffuse or dumb down.

“The fact is that we haven’t always been

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“Sure, some customers get really attached to a brand and want that designer label in all aspects of their life.

But there are limits.”

alone,” says Ricci. “One of the reasons for our success is that our competition – and there were several companies operating right at the top, quality-wise, without mentioning them by name – didn’t believe in the power of this niche. These other companies had their hands on the prize. But then they twisted themselves into fashion brands and lost their position.

They lost the quality and service that people would have got from them in the past. And when it’s gone, it’s gone.” n

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By the bonnie, bonnie banks A heady mix of food, drink, spa treatments and a seaplane flight make for a memorable stay for Peter Ranscombe at Cameron House on the shores of Loch Lomond.

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s the seaplane banked gracefully over the waves, the full splendour of Loch Lomond opened up for all the aircraft’s passengers to see.

From the green hills surrounding the loch to the passenger boats edging their way along its shores, there can be few better ways to experience the sight of the largest surface area of freshwater in Scotland.

With its big windows and clear visibility, flying in the nine-passenger aircraft was a whole world away from being enclosed in a tin can-like jet heading off on holiday. The views from the seaplane as it headed towards the west coast were spectacular and, even on a dreich early summer day, being able to see Argyll, Arran, Islay and Jura all from a new angle was a fantastic treat.

Bringing the plane down for a graceful landing on the surface, the pilot then turned the small aircraft to dock at the pontoons outside Cameron House, the five-star resort nestled at the south-western corner of the loch. The hotel offers impressive views of the bonnie, bonnie banks, both from the benches in the gardens and from the new terrace that opened this summer at its Great Scots bar.

Equally impressive are some of the views from the hotel’s spa, located just a short distance further up the loch side at The Carrick, the championship golf course that’s hosted the Scottish Ladies’ Open. The picture windows from several of the “hydro and thermal experiences” rooms offer views across the golf course, but the star of the show is the roof-top terrace.

To say it has an infinity “pool” is perhaps going a step-too-far, but the “infinity Jacuzzi” with its bubbles was a really enjoyable experience. It’s

been a long time since I did any wildlife watching from a hot tub – the last time was in Highland Perthshire for The Scotsman Magazine – but at the Carrick I enjoyed spying on a family of coots as they waddled their way across the golf course and down to one of the ponds, all the time with the bubbles massaging my back.

I’m not normally a huge fan of spas, but Cameron House may well have tipped the scales for me. The contoured tile-lined thermal beds in the “tepidarium” were superb, providing a gentle heat that was nearly enough to lull me off to sleep, while the jets of water in the hydrotherapy pool provided the opposite invigorating experience.

The hotel’s concierges ferry guests between the hotel and the spa and golf course at the Carrick. If golfers don’t want to venture that far then there’s also the nine-hole “Wee Demon” course within the hotel’s grounds, sitting alongside the main building and the holiday lodges further along the site.

While golf and the award-winning spa may grab many of the headlines when it comes to Cameron House, the dining options are also one of the hotel’s major selling points. At the heart of the food offering is Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond, which won a Michelin star in 2011, a decade after Wishart won his first star for his eponymous restaurant at Leith in Edinburgh.

Yet food doesn’t begin and end with Wishart’s eatery at Cameron House. The hotel also has its own major Cameron Grill restaurant, the décor in which offers an interesting mix of exposed pipes and ducts alongside thick-stuff leather seats and another cracking view across the loch.

Haggis bon-bons arrived as an amuse-bouche,

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with moist haggis that wasn’t over-peppered, a delightfully thin and crispy batter and a whisky mayonnaise. The dish set the tone for the tasty meal ahead.

A starter of Iberico pig’s cheek with chorizo, watercress and an apple sauce continued the meaty theme, leading into a princely porterhouse steak, served with triple-cooked chips, a mushroom, a tomato and a choice of sauces, from which I selected the classic Diane.

Even among all those carnivore’s treats, the highlight of the meal was the dessert, with a crepe Suzette served at the table in its own wee copper pan. A fine way to round off a fine meal.

Though it felt like infanticide to be drinking a Gevry Chambertin from just 2014 with the meal, the bottle of red Burgundian wine from G Lignier & Fils was a meat-lover’s dream.

Aromas of wood smoke, vanilla, red plum and red cherry on the nose led into fresher flavours of redcurrant and red cherry on the palate, with well-integrated sweet-vanilla and spicier white pepper notes. It was the wine’s fresh and youthful acidity that worked best with the meat dishes, yet its fine tannins meant it didn’t overpower my dining companion’s fishy selections either.

Talking of fish, a short stroll through the hotel’s grounds will lead diners to The Boat House, the recently-refurbished restaurant sitting on the water’s edge, which offers fish, oysters, crabs and a variety of other seafood in a more relaxed atmosphere. Fish-haters needn’t despair though, as there’s a range of pub classics, along with some cracking pizzas – the calzone stuffed with meatballs, Parma ham and chicken was my top pick.

My only slight gripe about Cameron House is a minor point, but comes down to housekeeping. A couple of frayed carpets in the hallways leading to the bedrooms and paint peeling from the woodwork in the bathroom are little things, but not what’s expected from a five-star hotel.

Yet those tiny niggles didn’t detract from the delicious food or the luxurious spa. Cameron House offers an impressive package – especially when you remember it’s only a 40-minute drive north from Glasgow city centre. n Bed and breakfast at Cameron House starts from £129 per person per night.

Find out more at www.cameronhouse.co.uk, while more information about the seaplane flights is available from www.lochlomondseaplanes.com

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King of the

CASTLES Despite holding the distinction of being Scotland’s largest inhabited castle among its claims to fame, Floors Castle in the Borders has a very homely feel, as Peter Ranscombe discovers.

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here’s something very special about Floors Castle – and, at first, it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what makes it different.

It could, for example, be the fact that it’s Scotland’s largest inhabited house.

It could be its beautiful setting on the Roxburghe estate in the Borders, overlooking the River Tweed and across to the Cheviot Hills. Or it could be the sprinkling of celluloid magic that has led to the castle being used as the backdrop for everything from Tarzan films to Ferrari photoshoots.

Yet it’s something far simpler that makes Floors so special. Despite its massive size, the castle has a very homely feeling to it.

That’s perhaps because it’s remained in the same family since 1721, when Edinburgh-based architect William Adam drew up the designs for the original castle for John Ker, the 1st Duke of Roxburghe. It was remodelled and extended between 1837 and 1847 by William Playfair and is now the home of Guy David Innes-Ker, the 10th Duke of Roxburghe, and his family.

And that continuous ownership is apparent as soon as guests begin their tour around

the castle. Being occupied by a single family for nearly three centuries allows for a strong narrative, with visitors learning more about the family as they pass from room to room.

Instead of following a tour guide around the fortress, guests can make their way through the public spaces at their own pace. Members of staff are on-hand in each of the main rooms to tell the stories about the fixtures and fittings – and the Roxburghes behind them.

Perhaps the most important character in the story of Floors Castle is Mary Goelet, an American heiress who married the 8th Duke of Roxburghe. The pair met in 1895 at the wedding of the duke’s cousin, the Duke of Marlborough, to Consuelo Vanderbilt, for whom May was a bridesmaid.

May redecorated the castle to display her collection of fine art, including the 17th century Gobelins tapestries in the ballroom and the Brussels tapestries known as the “Triumph of the Gods” in the drawing room. The Belgian tapestries had to be cut to fit into the available space, though it’s hard to spot the alterations.

The house is full of interesting objects, from

Floors Castle

a commode that came from the bedchamber of the Comtesse d’Artois at the Palace of Versailles to paintings by Gainsborough and Turner. Yet some of the most intriguing exhibitions relate to the members of the family, including a display dedicated to the Duke of Roxburghe’s “Attraction”, hailed as one of Scotland’s finest racehorses after becoming the first steed to win both the 1,000 Guineas and the Irish 1,000 Guineas.

Floors Castle is about much more than simply history though. The gardens and grounds offer something for everyone, including a riverside walk, plenty of forest paths, and formal gardens, complete with greenhouses that are open to view.

If all that walking has helped to build-up an appetite then both the terrace café and the courtyard café offer food cooked on-site, including charming wee loaves of bread baked in flower pots. The delicatessen’s shop in the terrace café also gives visitors the chance to take produce home.

Food is also foremost on the mind when it comes to The Roxburghe Hotel, the estate’s 22-room, four-star establishment located just a short drive from the castle. The hotel is run

by Inverlochy Castle Management International (ICMI) – alongside other properties including Sir Andy Murray’s Cromlix in Dunblane, Crossbasket Castle near Glasgow and the Rocpool in Inverness – while its restaurant is operated by Albert Roux under his Chef Roux brand.

After a recent visit to Crossbasket – checkout issue 28 of BQ Scotland from summer 2017 for the full review – the excitement was mounting over dinner at The Roxburghe and the kitchen didn’t disappoint. Highlights included a classic cheese soufflé, salty with cheddar and pairing beautifully with a Highveld chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc blended white wine from South Africa, with enough acidity to cut through the soufflé matched by green apple, peach and lemon fruit flavours.

A bottle of the Château Mont Redon Côtes du Rhône Reserve matched as well to a roasted rump of Orkney beef as to a roasted flat iron steak from Campbells Prime Meat, with the well-balanced tannins helping to ease through the juicy and tender cuts of steak. Sticking with the savoury side, the handmade breads are always a highlight in Roux’s restaurants, with the multi-grain sourdough especially worthy of a mention this time round.

It was the desserts that brought the meals to life though; something as simple as an apple crumble was elevated to new heights thanks to the contrast between the sharp fruit and the sweet crunchy topping, while a caramelised “pain perdu” – or posh bread and butter pudding – with cinnamon ice cream and vanilla-poached apricots hit the same balance between textures and sensations.

The deconstructed goat’s cheesecake also defied its appearance as a collection of blobs and crumbs on a plate to deliver some magic flavours.

Following a week in the hustle and bustle of London, it was the grounds at the hotel that offered the most relaxation. Early-summer bird song rang out so clearly and crisply while walking through the gardens and then on past the trout pond and up onto the hill behind the hotel, overlooking its golf course.

Barely an hour and a quarter south of Edinburgh, the estate’s castle and hotel make for an ideal weekend away, whether it’s to explore the history of one of Scotland’s major landmarks or to relax and unwind with food, drink or sport. Offering a family-style welcome in such grand settings is no easy feat, but Floors Castle and The Roxburghe Hotel strike the perfect balance between grandeur and intimacy. n Find out more about Floors Castle at www.floorscastle.com Find out more about The Roxburghe Hotel at www.roxburghe-hotel.net, where bed and breakfast starts from £247.50 per room per night.

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HIGH LIFE

One helles of a lager Drinks writer Peter Ranscombe argues that not all lagers are born equal and that the helles style of Munich has found a new spiritual home among the community of exciting craft brewers in the UK.

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s a real-ale drinker, it’s all too easy to dismiss lager as frothy horse pee, only fit for consumption on the hottest days of the year when even an amber or an India pale ale (IPA) feels just that wee bit too heavy. Yet not all lagers are born equal.

Since Gordon Brown introduced small brewers’ rates relief in the early noughties, the UK has seen an explosion in the number of micro-breweries springing up. Inspired by their hop-fuelled siblings in the United States, the tax break has allowed many young brewers to follow their dreams by opening their own businesses and creating the beers that they want to drink, instead of being limited by the mass-produced offerings from the bigger beer brands.

Lager, I would respectfully suggest, has been the unsung beneficiary of the micro-brewery revival. While most craft breweries will be able to offer drinkers an IPA, a best bitter and perhaps a stout, there are a decent number of brewers beavering away in the background to create innovative lagers too.

One of the styles that’s been at the forefront of those efforts is helles, which originated in Munich at the end of the 19th century as an alternative to pilsner from Bohemia. Helles lager is described as “bright”, “clear” or “light”, yet has a distinctive rounded or malty note that sets it apart from the more hop-focused pilsner and which should make it more appealing to real-ale drinkers.

And who better to create a helles lager on our shores than a German? Petra Wetzel – one of the first cover stars of BQ Scotland magazine – opened West Brewery in Glasgow in 2006 and brews all her beers in strict adherence with the “Reinheitsgebot”, the German purity law of 1516, leading to her business’s strapline: “Glaswegian heart. German head.”

Her flagship St Mungo lager has rich flavours

of caramel, spun sugar and a touch of toffee at its malty core, balanced by fresher notes of lemon rind and lemon zest. Look out too for her new Nix alcohol-free lager and its sister Nix wheat beer.

Innis & Gunn, the Edinburgh-based beer brand best known for ageing its ales in oak casks, launched a helles lager in 2013 to celebrate its tenth birthday. As well as going on to become a mainstay in bottles and cans, the company’s chain of pubs – or “beer kitchens” – also sells a fresh version of the lager on tap.

The Innis & Gunn lager has been one of my staples for a long time and always reminds me of Spain’s delicious Estrella Damm, with its pine, caramel and lemon aromas on the nose and well-balanced lemon and caramel notes on the palate. There’s a new kid in town that’s caught my attention too though and that’s the Paolozzi lager made by Edinburgh Beer Factory,

the family business set up by former Scottish & Newcastle chief executive John Dunsmore.

For me, Paolozzi is slightly lighter, with green apple, pear and peach notes balanced by subtler spun sugar flavours. It’s named after Edinburgh-born Eduardo Paolozzi, revered as the founding father of the pop art movement.

Helles isn’t all about Scotland though.

Venture to Cornwall and the St Austell Brewery’s Korev lager has enough attractive grapefruit and orange aromas to catch my attention, plus a lighter fizz and a bitter hoppy finish that sets it apart from the Scottish trio.

And no round-up of helles style lagers would be complete without a mention of Camden Hells, created by the Camden Town Brewery in London to fuse together elements of helles and pilsner. As you’d expect, it’s much fresher and lighter in body, with lemon and grapefruit flavours, along with a metallic pilsner tang. n

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Profile

A new home away from home for Scottish businesses in London

BQ Scotland editor Peter Ranscombe goes behind the scenes at Scotland House to find out more about how Scottish companies can make connections and engage with the global business community in London.

It’s a situation that will be familiar to so many Scottish entrepreneurs. You’re down in London for a few days on business and you need to arrange an important meeting.

You scramble around trying to find a venue, somewhere that’s central yet private. But you still end up meeting your contact in a coffee shop or a hotel lobby, fighting against the noise of screaming children and neurotic parents.

If that rings a bell then Scotland House may be a very welcome development. It’s a flexible home away from home for Scottish businesses that’s opened on the Victoria Embankment in London, just yards from Blackfriars station.

The new facility offers meeting rooms that

can be booked for an hour at a time, flexible events spaces that are available for hosting larger gatherings and hot-desks that can be rented on a half-day basis. The venue has been opened by the Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE), Scottish Development International (SDI), Scottish Enterprise (SE), the Scottish Government (SG) and VisitScotland (VS).

“Sometimes Scottish businesses can struggle to make their voices heard in London,” says Molly Martin, events and membership manager at Scotland House. “It can also be difficult logistically to get investors or companies from London and overseas to come up to visit Scotland too.

“Scotland House gives Scottish firms or companies that have a presence in Scotland a place to reside while they’re meeting clients in London – to avoid those Costa Coffee or hotel lobby meetings – and gives them a contemporary, well-established setting where they can work. These are businesses that are ambitious about making a contribution to growing the Scottish economy.

“The house has a City of London postcode and is right on the embankment. It’s very central, so we’re surrounded by a lot of landmarks, like the London Eye, the Shard and Westminster in the distance.”

Transport links are a key selling-point for the new venue. It’s 32 minutes from London city airport, 41 minutes from Gatwick airport, 12 minutes from King’s Cross railway station and 16 minutes from Euston train station.

Scotland House offers two levels of membership: associate level, which gives members access to meeting rooms and keeps them connected with news of events taking place in the facility; and enterprise membership, which allows for the booking of hot desks, discounts on meeting rooms and events space, and free refreshments. As well as support from Team Scotland House, enterpriselevel members can access help from officials from HIE SDI, SE, the SG and VS through various workshops and events currently being arranged for later this year and early next year.

Very practical services such as wireless internet access, photocopying and printing are available on site. The venue also hosts a business lounge and café in which entrepreneurs can unwind between meetings.

Each of the meeting rooms is named after a Scottish island and range in capacity from Orkney, which can seat four people, through to

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“Scotland House gives Scottish firms or companies that have a presence in Scotland a place to reside while they’re meeting clients in London – to avoid those Costa Coffee or hotel lobby meetings.”

a combined Lewis and Harris, which can take 24. The flexible spaces allow for one-to-one meetings or for larger events such as receptions or product showcases, at which the capacity can range from 35 to 80 people depending on the format.

Catering is also available for meetings and events – serving Scottish produce when possible, of course.

The venue is already proving popular for events and, in the spirit of making connections, these gatherings have provided an excellent opportunity for Scottish brands to be promoted. For example, Blair Bowman – the whisky columnist for Scottish Field magazine and the founder of World Whisky Day – has taken the opportunity to promote Scotch whisky and Scottish craft gin as part of events in the facility.

“On a wider perspective, everything in Scotland House – from the produce on show to the literature we display and even the rugs

– is Scottish, to promote Scotland’s strong industry as much as possible,” adds Martin. “It’s not just about trying to get Scottish firms to expand into London or overseas markets, it’s also about creating business opportunities with other Scottish companies.

“It’s important to get Scottish businesses to network with each other. That way they may be able to join each other’s supply chains or sell products or services to each other.”

Scotland House was officially opened in April by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. It became our nation’s second “investment and innovation hub”, following in the footsteps of a similar facility in Dublin, with plans afoot to open further venues at Brussels in Belgium and Berlin in Germany.

Speaking at the event, Sturgeon said: “London is a very important trading market and a meeting place for the world’s business leaders, but for Scottish businesses it can be challenging and costly to try and break into

these markets. The new hub will play a critical role in attracting investment to Scotland, helping businesses trade internationally and raising Scotland’s international profile.

“Scotland House will provide Scottish companies with a base to build new partnerships and a low-cost place to trade and I am pleased that hundreds of businesses are interested in becoming members of the hub.

“As we face the uncertainty and threat of a hard Brexit, having a Scottish hub in London will help support and stimulate the Scottish economy and show that we are open for business. We are already seeing the benefits of our presence in Dublin and I look forward to our next investment and innovation hubs in Brussels and Berlin.” n Find out more about Scotland House at www.scotlandhouse.com

Scotland House

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Genie

in the bottles Vikki Jackson-Smith turns rubbish into profits as managing director of J&B Recycling. She tells Liz Hands why waste is a growth industry.

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ikki Jackson-Smith claims that she isn’t Wonder Woman. But I beg to differ. She’s been up since 5.30am to take her daughter to swimming practice, before dashing around on site visits at J&B Recycling, the family firm she heads up, and then sitting down to talk to me.

When she was a child, Jackson-Smith wanted to be a nursery school teacher, but it soon became obvious where she was meant to be. From being a Saturday girl, she now runs the family company, which – to use a cliché – turns “trash into cash”. At the age of 13, she worked on the weighbridge in her father Alan Jackson’s coal business during school holidays. “I’ve always been surrounded by dirty industry and mucky wagons,” she says.

Her father’s firm, Jackson’s Fuel Company, in Hartlepool was one of the country’s biggest importers and exporters of solid fuel. He held contracts for major power stations in the North of England, bringing in tens of thousands of tonnes of coal every year for business and domestic markets.

There was a fleet of 30 tipper trucks making deliveries, and Jackson-Smith began to take an interest in logistics. While she was waiting for GCSE results, her father asked if she would help-out, and she began to seriously think about making a career for herself in the family business.

“When I was offered a full-time position with

the company, I decided to prove myself; to show I wasn’t just there because I was the boss’ daughter, so I started looking at the qualifications needed to be able to give the drivers their instructions,” says Jackson-Smith. At 17, she gained a certificate of professional competence in road haulage. “I did an Open University course and didn’t tell anyone what I was doing until I finished. Dad was proud and I got my first company car. I’d been driving around in a classic Morris Minor that I bought myself from my wages. It cost me £500 and it got me noticed everywhere I went, particularly when I had to be pushed on Stockton High Street.”

With the right qualifications, Jackson-Smith became transport manager and the operator’s license was put into her name; a big responsibility at the age of 18. The business was thriving, but it changed overnight once Britain’s power stations were privatised.

“No contracts were being renewed because the power stations could import cheaper directly,” says Jackson-Smith. “We had to close one of our sites.

We were still bringing in coal for the domestic market, but we went from having 60 employees to 20. Letting people go is one of the hardest things we ever had to do.

“Not only did we stop supplying the power stations, but we had competition with gas coming

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“The evidence was there; we either closed the business or we had to diversify.”

into the area, meaning we had to go further afield with our domestic deliveries. We were losing 20% in sales year-on-year. So, the evidence was there; we either closed the business or we had to diversify.”

In 1998, her father was getting to an age when he was thinking about retiring. “He asked if I would like to take it on,” she says.

“We owned the site as a family and we had an infrastructure in terms of logistics, processing and moving tonnages around. So, it was a question of what we did with that.”

When Jackson-Smith was just 27, she took on the business that was to become J&B Recycling. In 2000, landfill tax was introduced, meaning companies were charged depending on how heavy their bins were, and she saw an opportunity.

“We did a lot of research and everything we were looking at needed a lot of investment,” she says. “While everything in the coal industry could be processed outside, everything in the waste industry needs to be inside. So, we had the site, the weighbridge and the skills, but we needed to invest a lot of money.”

It was at the point that local authorities were starting to recycle. However, because it was all very new to councils, they were nervous about dealing with firms without experience, so the biggest hurdle was to find a way to get

experience without being awarded a contract.

“Landfill tax came in when alcopops became fashionable – Lemon Hooch and Bacardi Breezers – and all those bottles were nonreturnable,” she explains. “They were all going into the waste bins, making bins heavier, and the bars were being charged higher disposal costs.”

With her in-laws running a pub in Hartlepool, Jackson-Smith asked them to collect their bottles so she could see the amount of glass she could potentially pick up from busy pubs and clubs in the town. From there, the service was rolled out across Hartlepool, with a free collection for mixed glass bottles.

“I’d just got married and had my son. I used to put him to bed and then phone all the pubs in the Yellow Pages to ask if they were interested in glass recycling and, because it was free, they pricked their ears up.

“That gave me something to talk about,” she says. “Now we had experience, we were collecting waste, we were a recycling company.

I went to every recycling forum going that I knew local authorities would be at so I could push our services.”

The firm got its first kerbside contract in 2003 and was well established as a recycling business within three years. When JacksonSmith first set up the recycling arm, it was

to safeguard the jobs of the remaining 20 employees and the coal side of the business was still running. However, that stopped in 2005 when J&B got its first co-mingled recycling contract, where material came in together and needed to be sorted over picking lines.

Investment was made in the vehicle fleet, changing from flatbed lorries to glass and skip vehicles.

Always on the lookout for what J&B could do differently in the area, it also started recycling plastic, which wasn’t being done by anyone else at that time, building up contacts and contracts for all materials from Scotland down to North Yorkshire. Now, J&B has taken material from London and Ireland, with 21 vehicles, 195 full-time staff and 25 agency staff.

It recycles 170,000 tonnes of material across its three sites in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough every year with turnover having increased by 41% in the past financial year to £13.5m.

In 2014, J&B received Business Growth Fund (BGF) cash, which allowed it to invest. At the Hartlepool site where we meet, Jackson-Smith estimates £7-8m has been ploughed into new machinery. The funding slightly changed the ownership, with the BGF coming in as a minority shareholder. But the firm is still very much a family affair. With Jackson-Smith at the helm, her husband, Stephen, heads up operations, while her father is still hands-on.

The firm has gone from hand sorting to using up-to-the-minute machines that can recognise plastic bottles and use jets to flick

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“There’s nothing here I wouldn’t do myself, and people respect that. But i’m not Wonder Woman.”

them off conveyor belts. Steel is sorted into ferrous and non-ferrous for different markets.

Material comes in mixed, and J&B gets it to a point where it is a commodity.

Paper, for example, heads off to a mill in North Wales. Plastics are reprocessed, washed and flaked so they can be transformed into garden furniture, pipes, or back into packaging.

In short, J&B finds an outlet for every type of material it brings in. Across the sites, myriad materials are reprocessed, including rigid plastics, scrap metal, wood, mattresses, rubble, waste electrical appliances and plasterboard.

It also works with a partner to provide food waste handling.

Jackson-Smith isn’t stopping there. She has already gone through an 18-month efficiency programme, looking at processes, and monitoring downtime. That downtime – the time machinery isn’t operating – has reduced from 12% to less than 4% on average, although currently the firm is running at 2.5%.

Clean downs are more efficient and more preventative maintenance is carried out.

The entrepreneur believes there is still more she could do with material without additional tonnages. “There are already projects we’ve identified within the business to add value to the materials we separate,” she says.

“For example, we supply a mixed bottle grade of plastics to reprocessors but we could sort into different polymers, which would

attract a higher value. With a little more investment, we could take that to the next level.”

She also has her eye on expansion on a wider scale. “There are things we can do here but we’re also looking to push out into other sites,” she explains. “We’ve got our model right, and we’re confident we’re at the optimum performance for processing, so it’s about duplicating and expanding.”

It’s no surprise talk turns to Brexit. But Jackson-Smith isn’t worried. “We’re not going to suddenly start putting everything back into the ground again,” she says. “The public is on board with recycling and companies want to be seen to be doing the right thing, and getting the cost benefits.

“Not everything we’ve done in the past 17 years had been enforced on us. We’ve been looking at opportunities and taking them. But there’s still more which could be done, like in Scotland, where there is a zero-waste plan.”

Now, the firm has turned full circle. While Jackson-Smith was once the one working there during the summer, her father is now the one with the summer job.

“He’s retired but he loves to be here and the staff have huge respect for him,” she smiles.

“He’s always told me that you can’t put your head in the sand, that you have to face things head-on, and that you must communicate well with people so they are on-board with what

you’re trying to do.”

When Jackson-Smith has an idea, she runs with it. “I’ve been fortunate because, although I’ve never worked anywhere else, it’s never been boring. There’s been many a time I’ve come in and done a trial myself, sorting stuff out on the floor to see what can be done.

And then it gets exciting because you can implement your plan. There’s nothing here I wouldn’t do myself, and people respect that.

“But I’m not Wonder Woman and I can’t do everything singlehandedly. I’ve got a really good team and a great management structure.” That team includes Stephen, who came on-board after a career in the Royal Navy when JacksonSmith needed someone to run the operations side of the business while she concentrated on financials, networking, marketing and sales.

“Within three years, we met, were engaged, married, we had our first child and I was starting a business,” she says. “I’m an all-ornothing type of person. I often think there must be more than 24 hours in every day for what I fit in.”

And, with that, she’s off, squeezing as much as possible into the working day, before walking the dog, standing freezing on the sidelines while her son plays rugby, then sweltering by the swimming pool with her daughter, all the time catching up on emails and reading about goings on in the waste industry and the business world. n

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Special Report - International Trade

BQ has launched the Scottish Export Awards 2018 sponsored by HSBC and in association with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise.

The Scottish Export Awards sponsored by HSBC and in association with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise are set to take place once again on the 22nd March 2018 at the Glasgow Hilton. The event will bring together export businesses from across Scotland to recognise and celebrate their achievements whilst also providing encouragement for more businesses to consider exporting as a realistic opportunity for growth.

Exporting remains central to the Scottish Government’s growth agenda and the campaign aims to recognise those exporters who have made the transition from great local companies to potentially world-class exporting businesses based in Scotland.

The awards and accompanying international trade campaign are about highlighting those

wealth creating companies that are selling their products, services and expertise into scores of overseas markets.

Exporting continues to present Scotland with an opportunity to bring immediate and sustainable growth to its economy and with this in mind we need to encourage more Scottish companies to consider trading overseas. Last year the awards shortlisted companies represented almost £500 million of export turnover from Scotland with strong representation across the Food & Drink, Manufacturing and Engineering and Creative and Digital sectors.

Bryan Hoare, Group Commercial Director said: “If you are reading this article knowing that you have company activity in export markets I’d encourage you to enter the Scottish

Export Awards 2018. Last year we had a great mix of entrants with companies employing as little as four staff to those in their hundreds.

The structure of the awards categories means that it is a level playing field for all entrants and we get great satisfaction in uncovering some of Scotland’s newest export talent as we do recognising those more mature export businesses.”

The BQ digital series of “Around the World in 80 Trades” features also give chance to Scottish Exporters to receive free PR about their export achievements throughout the campaign.

Hoare continued, “We’d like to hear from any Scottish Exporter who has an interesting story to tell so we can use their experiences to inspire others to consider internationalising their business for the first time”. n

Nominations for the Scottish Export Awards 2018 sponsored by HSBC and in association with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise are open now and are free to enter. For more information go to www.bqlive.co.uk/ScotExportAwards18.

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THE AWARDS MOST ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPORTER OF THE YEAR A company that has demonstrated entrepreneurial flair within their export strategy. This will be shown through an extraordinary approach to reaching new markets where creativity, innovation and tenacity has resulted in success.

MICRO EXPORTER OF THE YEAR Recognising outstanding achievements in export growth by a company in any industry with a turnover up to £2million. This success will be measured by growth in sales and market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

SMALL EXPORTER OF THE YEAR Recognising outstanding achievements in export growth by a company in any industry with a turnover of £2-£15million. This success will be measured by growth in sales and market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

HIGH GROWTH MARKET EXPORTER OF THE YEAR Awarded to a company demonstrating impressive export growth in high growth markets (including Bahrain, China, Hong Kong, India, Kuwait, Macao, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, UAE). This success will be measured by growth in sales and high growth market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

SCALE-UP EXPORTER OF THE YEAR A company that has shown significant growth as a direct result of its export activity where exporting has played a fundamental role in the scaling of the business. It should be clear how exporting from the outset has allowed the business to scale both in terms of size, turnover and profitability. This would be demonstrated through a coherent business plan and strategy that places exporting at the heart of the business. The company must have achieved average annual growth in employees or turnover greater than 20 per cent per annum over a three year period, and with more than 10 employees at the beginning of the period.

EMERGING MARKETS EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

Recognising outstanding achievements by a company in any industry with a turnover greater than £15million. This success will be measured by growth in sales and market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

Awarded to a company who can demonstrate impressive export growth across one or more emerging markets, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Hungary, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey. This success will be measured by growth in sales and market penetration together with the application of innovative market strategies to extend export potential.

EXPORT TEAM OF THE YEAR

HSBC SCOTTISH EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

The export team of the year award will recognise a team who can demonstrate significant added value to their business through adopting innovative techniques, personnel development measures, and successful implementation of the company's export sales strategy. It should be clear how the company has developed a team wide approach to exporting which may well extend beyond the company to distributors, agents and other third parties who will have contributed to export success.

This award will be presented to a company that has made an outstanding contribution to Scotland's export profile and success. Companies must have demonstrated how they have overcome their barriers when entering new markets. The winner of this award will be selected from the winners of the above award categories and announced on the evening of the awards.

LARGE EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

E-COMMERCE EXPORTER OF THE YEAR A company that through e-commerce has increased brand awareness and recognition, expanded into new markets, increased sales and efficiency and improved customer service. The winner of this category must be able to demonstrate how they have used e-commerce and trading online to significantly enhance their export growth or potential for growth.

THURSDAY 22 MARCH 2018

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Special Report - International Trade

Scotland’s strong links with Europe provide export opportunities Scottish Enterprise’s new ‘Selling into the EU’ online portal will help businesses to market their goods and services to the continent, a step by step guide to taking those first steps.

Scotland has a long and proud history of trading with Europe. From Aberdeen’s connections to the cities of the Hanseatic League through to the wines from Bordeaux that flowed into Leith and the whiskies sent back to France, our nation’s merchants have sold their goods and services to our European neighbours for centuries.

Yet the story of exports isn’t confined to the pages of our history books. Today, the European Union (EU) remains a key trading partner.

Scotland exports £12.3bn of goods and services to the EU each year, accounting for 43% of all our international trade. The total has risen by £520m or 4.4% year-on-year, driven by higher demand for petroleum and chemical products. (source: Export Statistics Scotland) The Netherlands – which acts as an importer

and distribution hub for much of the continent – remains Scotland’s largest trading partner within Europe, buying £2.3bn of goods and services. France takes second spot with £1.8bn of imports, followed by Germany.

Despite the uncertainty created by Brexit, Scottish companies are still presented with a host of opportunities to export to the EU. With 500 million consumers for Scotland’s services and products, Europe will remain a key trading partner once the UK leaves the union.

Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and Scottish Development International (SDI), the international arm of Scotland’s economic development agencies have together created “Selling into the EU” – the online portal to both help companies take their first steps on the road to exporting to the EU and to aid businesses that are already

trading internationally and want to accelerate their sales growth in EU markets. The portal draws together expert advice from throughout the agencies’ network.

The website contains information to help businesses to create an export plan, guiding them through the steps they need to take and the issues they must consider before starting to trade overseas. The portal begins with the basics – such as the benefits of trading with the EU, how to get ready to export and how to find the right markets – before progressing on through guides to the routes to market, how to visit potential markets and the logistics of getting products to customers.

Other topics covered in the portal include how to set the right prices for services and goods being delivered abroad, help with sales and marketing, and using e-commerce to sell online. Other “cool stuff” available through the portal includes currency converters, shipping cost calculators and EU Country Guides.

Established exporters can use the portal to learn about expanding into further markets, opening regional offices or developing existing markets. The site includes a list of opportunities from other businesses looking for products and services, research material on EU markets, details of customs and regulations, details of financing options and the ability to identify potential agents, buyers and business partners on the continent.

The portal also gives companies access to a series of pre-recorded webinars on key EU markets and topics that matter most.

Online resources such as the webinar videos make the portal a rich source of information and expertise for both fledging and experienced exporters.

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“With 500 million consumers for Scotland’s services and products, Europe will remain a key trading partner once the UK leaves the union.”

One company that’s already reaping the rewards of international trade is Chocolate & Love, the Perth-based food firm that won the micro exporter of the year title at the 2017 HSBC Scottish Export Awards in association with Scottish Enterprise. Richard O’Connor founded the business in 2010 and began exporting in 2012.

“Europe was where we started to export and it is still hugely important, accounting for around 30% of export business,” O’Connor explains. “Europe is nearby. Language barriers are easy to overcome, paperwork is relatively straightforward and there are no real cultural hurdles.

“There are differences in how to market between countries within Europe and that’s where knowledgeable distributors really come into play. For example, some European countries are very aware of the fair-trade mark, whereas elsewhere there is more interest in our organic status – or simply in the quality of the taste.

“Finding a distributor is not something to leave to chance. This is a long-term relationship and it makes sense to be pretty deliberate about it.

“To me, finding a distributor is like looking for a marriage partner. You don’t get married to the first girl you kiss. You need to put in time and effort to find a distributor who shares your values and connects with your customers.”

O’Connor adds: “Exhibitions have been excellent places for us to make the right connections and SDI has supported us to attend a wide range of events in Europe and further afield. One thing that we’ve discovered is that it is much better to take the initiative and contact the people that we are interested in working with, rather than waiting for them to come to us. We are choosy about who we partner with, so we have to actively seek out the best distributors to market our products.” n Find out more about selling into the EU and the support available to your company by visiting scottish-enterprise.com/eu

Free export advice for all Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) To help Scottish companies like yours grow internationally and overcome potential challenges, Scottish Enterprise’s enhanced export advisory service offers an unrivalled breadth of expertise across key sectors and global markets.

It also offers an international market research service to help scope out potential partners, distributors and agents in your chosen market, whilst connecting you with up-to-date market intelligence. The export advisory service will help you: • Identify the best opportunities • Understand what’s involved • Develop the resources and skills you need to trade abroad • Prepare an export plan.

Dedicated advisers will provide tailored guidance on what your business needs to do next to export successfully. From ecommerce solutions and market entry to cultural intelligence, export finance and logistics – they have the answers.

Get in touch with the experts today at scottish-enterprise.com/exportadvice or call 0300 013 3542.

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Commercial Feature

Global knowledge in a local setting Deborah Hunter has returned to her roots in Scotland to help HSBC’s customers to begin exporting or increase their overseas sales, drawing on the experience she gained working on global trade in London and Manchester.

Deborah Hunter is enjoying being back on the road. As the new corporate director for global trade finance in HSBC’s Edinburgh office, Hunter is making the most of the opportunity to get out from behind her desk and meet her customers face-to-face.

“I’ve been in Lauder this morning and I’m in Kelso this afternoon,” she explains. “It brings back a lot of memories of working with my trade clients in Manchester.”

“I also recently met with Scotmas Group, which specialises in water purification and which scooped the most entrepreneurial exporter of the year title at the 2017 HSBC Scottish Export Awards, which are held in association with Scottish Enterprise.”

Hunter spent a decade in Edinburgh cutting her teeth with Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank before joining HSBC in 2007 as a senior commercial manager in the Scottish capital. She spent time in

Manchester and then London, before returning to her native Scotland earlier this year.

In London, Hunter worked in the trade credit approval team where she dealt with some of the more complex trade finance cases. Her previous work in Manchester also involved companies that were trading globally.

“I hope that bringing my knowledge and experience back to Scotland will prove invaluable for our customers,” she says. “Having worked as a trade director in Manchester and then a trade credit manager, I can see where clients can be supported Currently around one-in-five companies are exporting, but experts think that proportion could double if the right support is put in place.

Research by HSBC found that 22% of those companies that are already exporting now bring in more than half of their turnover from overseas sales.

“The secret is to reach the companies that are

not already exporting,” Hunter explains.

“I recently met with one of our clients, which makes oatcakes.

“It’s been really successful in the domestic market and now wants to begin exporting its wares. I arranged for a meeting with Scottish Enterprise so we could learn together about the help the agency can offer.

“That client will begin by looking at markets for which it won’t have to change its recipe.

It can then expand by looking at how it could tweak its oatcakes to meet the needs of other countries.”

Food and drink is one of four key sectors of the Scottish economy that Hunter highlights as having great potential for export growth.

Scottish seafood producers are another major success story. She salutes their prowess among European connoisseurs in France and Spain, and now in emerging economies such as China.

“The ‘Made in Scotland’ label is a real

Commercial Feature

advantage because it signals that the company is selling a premium product,” she explains.

“We’ve been able to help lots of food and drink companies with their working capital requirements – it takes a long time to rear salmon or grow mussels.

“We can offer support with structured funding so that companies don’t have to have all their cash tied up in working capital. But it’s about much more than just providing facilities – it’s about offering them help and advice too.

“Often our customers want to be put in touch with someone on the ground in their target market so they can ask them questions. HSBC is such a large bank that we can help them to do that.

“Clair, my predecessor in this role, has moved to New York to work for our bank, while one of my former bosses is now in Dubai. It’s amazing how many people who I’ve worked with in the past are now based overseas – the bank encourages us to move around and experience different cultures.”

The bank is taking its ability to forge

international links for its customers onto the next level through the launch of its HSBC Connections service. Clients in Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore, the UK and the United States can use the scheme as a “dating service”.

“We can introduce clients to each other through HSBC Connections,” explains Hunter.

“All our clients go through a rigorous ‘know your customer’ process and so they can be confident we will only introduce them to proper, legitimate businesses.”

Other online resources can also help companies to start their exporting journey.

HSBC’s online portal has country profiles, along with links to further expertise on the “Exporting is Great” and UK Government Department for International Trade websites.

It’s not all about online activities either.

HSBC supports the “Entrepreneurs Exchange” events, which bring together experienced and budding entrepreneurs. March’s gathering in Glasgow featured speakers including Julie Wilson and Amy Livingstone, the founders of

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baby apparel brand Cheeky Chompers, who featured in the spring issue of BQ Scotland magazine, and Tom Warner, co-founder of the Warner Edwards Distillery.

The bank also helps its clients find the right finance to fund their exports. HSBC launched a £500m fund for Scottish small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) back in June and currently approves more than 90% of SME loan applications.

The lender has also been given extra powers

by UK Export Finance, the public agency that secures trade credit insurance to support overseas traders, meaning it can now approve applications itself within a set framework. The new service should further speed up trade credit insurance applications, removing yet another barrier to exporting. n Find out more about HSBC’s export advice at www.buisness.hsbc.uk/export

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Special Report - International Trade

Get set. Connect.

Go global. ScotExport conference is your chance to put your business on the world map A new event taking place in Glasgow in October will give businesses the chance to take their first steps on the journey towards trading internationally, while also providing a boost for those already exporting.

Making connections is a key factor when it comes to international trade. Whether it’s customers, distributors, or agents, finding the right business partners is crucial to making a success of exporting.

Connecting to the right people is at the heart of the ScotExport 2017 conference, which will take place at the Hilton Doubletree Hotel in Glasgow on Tuesday 31 October. The event is being organised by Scottish Enterprise (SE), Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Scottish Development International (SDI), the overseas arm of Scotland’s economic development agencies.

What’s most exciting about the ScotExport event is the practical advice that’s on offer – SDI reports that there are more than 1,000

live exporting opportunities worldwide right now. These are companies that want to buy goods and services and so present a chance for Scottish businesses to win a share of the international trade market straight away.

Exports are already a key part of the Scottish economy. In 2015, Scotland’s businesses sold goods and services worth £28.7bn overseas, up 3.6% on the previous 12 months.

Customers in the European Union bought £12.3bn of services and products from Scotland, with the Netherlands – which acts as a distribution hub and import centre for much of the continent – soaking up £2.3bn, followed

by France and Germany taking around £1.8bn each. The United States was Scotland’s biggest individual export market, buying £4.6bn of our

Special Report - International Trade

TOP 10 REASONS TO ATTEND SCOTEXPORT 2017

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“Connecting to the right people is at the heart of the ScotExport 2017 conference”

nation’s wares, or nearly 16% of the total.

Together, Scotland’s five largest export markets account for 41% of exports, illustrating the opportunities that lie ahead to diversify international trade, sending whisky and widgets, salmon and services, to a broader range of countries.

Food and drink accounted for just under 17% of all exports in 2015, tipping the scales at £4.8bn. Whisky continues to dominate the sector, accounting for £3.8bn or 80% of sales.

A series of seminars and interactive roundtable discussions at the ScotExport event will give would-be exporters the chance to hear from more-experienced companies and to pose questions.

Roundtable discussions will give businesses the chance to pose the questions they might not have had time to ask during the main conference sessions or to go into more depth on the hot issues of the day. A range of hosts and formats will be used to stoke conversations and get discussions going.

Interactive sessions will be a key part of the delegate hub, where existing and would-be exporters will come together with experts to seek advice and share stories. It’s going to be a great place to make the connections that are needed to begin or develop an export journey and form the relationships with potential business partners that could help to generate success in overseas markets.

As well as the group sessions, one-to-one appointments can also be booked to help businesses that have very specific or sensitive questions. Markets specialists will be available to offer confidential advice and advisers will be on hand to offer advice on e-commerce, finance, legal matters and opportunities in key countries.

Back in the main conference, there will be plenty of help when it comes to creating an export plan, researching new markets or handling all those niggling questions about logistics, foreign languages, exchange rates and local customs or practices.

Making the most of Scotland’s global connections is an important step in growing our nation’s exports. As well as having staff in 14 offices in the UK, SDI also has market specialists in 29 overseas locations, providing boots on the ground to help businesses begin or grow their exports.

More than 2,500 companies each year benefit from the export advice on offer from Scotland’s economic development agencies and their wider network of partners. If a Scottish business has a question about international trade then there are plenty of experts out there to provide an answer – and ScotExport 2017 is exactly the right place to meet them. n

To find out more about ScotExport 2017 and to book your free place, visit www.export.scot

1. GET YOUR TAILORED SUPPORT FROM MARKET EXPERTS AND ADVISERS 2. MAKE NEW CONTACTS TO FAST-TRACK YOUR EXPORTS 3. LEARN HOW TO INCREASE YOUR SALES INTERNATIONALLY 4. ACCESS NEW MARKETS AND/OR LARGER MARKETS 5. MINIMISE RISK OF RELIANCE ON EXISTING MARKETS 6. LEARN ABOUT CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN TRADING ABROAD 7. FIND OUT WHAT GRANTS/ FUNDING ARE AVAILABLE TO HELP YOU EXPORT 8. GET SUPPORT TO VISIT POTENTIAL MARKETS 9. LEARN HOW TO GET THE MOST FROM SELLING ONLINE 10. NETWORK WITH LIKE-MINDED SCOTTISH BUSINESSES

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Online sales can open the door to export markets Not all exporters need to have a network of shops or offices around the world in order to sell their goods or services, and ecommerce will be a key focus at the ScotExport 2017 conference in Glasgow on 31 October.

When Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web while working at the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN) in 1989, few entrepreneurs could have foreseen the dramatic effect that his creation would have on their businesses. The web has been at the heart of bringing down barriers to trade, allowing companies to export their products and services online through electronic commerce or “ecommerce”.

One in five companies within the European Union used ecommerce during 2015, according to official figures, with online sales accounting for 16% of their combined turnover. Businesses of all sizes are trading online, with 42% of large companies making online sales, compared with 18% of small firms.

The UK has been at the heart of the growth in ecommerce. Back in 2005, 44% of Britons reported ordering goods or services online, with the total rising to 79% by 2014.

“All predictions are that more and more products of increasing complexity will be

purchased via a browser or app in the future,” explains Hayden Sutherland, a director of Glasgow-based online business consultancy firm Ideal Interface. “You only have look back at the types of products bought online just a few years ago – cheap, simple, off-the-shelf, branded and easily packaged, such as books and CDs, which is how Amazon started off.

“But now practically everything gets bought online, including complex, expensive, bespoke and considered products, from cruise packages through to tailored fashion clothing and handmade furniture. So, in my view, the ecommerce future for Scottish companies is very bright and Scottish companies should be no different to any other in the UK when it comes to online selling.

“There’s still huge opportunities to sell

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products and even services to customers in the UK, Europe, North America and even further afield. Whether you come from the suburbs of London or the shores of Loch Ness, it is possible to sell to the global village of 3.2 billion online users, which is about 40% of the world’s population.”

Scottish Enterprise’s ecommerce workshops are a great starting place for companies that are new to online sales. Topics due to be covered at the seminars in the coming months include: cyber security; digital strategy; ecommerce and marketplaces; ecommerce surgeries on the future of the web and search engine optimisation (SEO); increase your international sales online; and international Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Scottish Enterprise has also teamed up with

“Scottish Enterprise’s ecommerce workshops are a great starting place for companies that are new to online sales”

other organisations and businesses to deliver ecommerce training. Back in May, the economic development agency was one of the partners for the Amazon Academy at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, at which free advice and practical support were given to help small and medium-sized businesses to grow through ecommerce and exports.

When it comes to overcoming hurdles, Scottish Enterprise has also gathered experts to offer advice to companies that want to avoid any ecommerce pitfalls. One of the major questions raised by businesses that want to start trading online is about the cost of setting up a platform.

“Try out your international ecommerce using existing marketplaces such as Amazon and Ebay,” suggests Stephen Whitelaw, an independent ecommerce consultant based in Scotland. “You can begin to develop your ecommerce this way without any major investment. You’ll gain market knowledge and business understanding that will ready you for expanding through your own ecommerce platform.”

Gori Yahaya, a director at Upskill Digital, a Google delivery partner, adds: “When it comes to choosing an ecommerce platform you need to select the one that is right for you and your business. It will depend on what you are selling as different platforms offer different product templates.”

Security is also another key consideration. “Both PayPal and Worldpay are recognised in many countries around the globe and are therefore good choices for payment systems,” says Whitelaw, while Yahaya also highlights Google’s “certified shop” mark in the UK, which is known as “trusted store” in the United States.

Appearing high up the rankings on search engines is another crucial factor. “Get great relevant, fresh, up-to-date and unique content on your website,” advises Whitelaw. “There are more than 200 factors that influence Google’s placement of your company in a search engine, but up at the top of the list is content.

“Google will penalise you if your content is copied from another site, so write your own content. Add new content, such as blog content frequently and ensure it is relevant to your product or service.” n Search and book your place on the Scottish Enterprise ecommerce workshop series at scottish-enterprise.com/events Want to attend ScotExport 2017?

Book now at export.scot

Trtl came out of its shell online Trtl, the Glasgow-based travel pillow brand, has been exporting from day one. The company, which was founded in 2013 by Michael Corrigan and David Kellock, has used ecommerce as a central part of its strategy.

“The Trtl pillow was created to be a global product and help you travel around the world comfortably, so exporting the product worldwide is so important to building the global brand and reaching consumers near and far,” explains Corrigan.

“We have exported the product to more than 65 countries so far, with the principle export markets being the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.

“We plan to keep on reaching and exporting to more markets as the business grows. The challenge of taking on competition which are based in California and Shanghai is something that truly excites us.”

Kellock adds: “The logistics and supply chain is a huge piece of the puzzle. We manufacture in two locations and ship to Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America.

“Selling online has been a huge opportunity for us,” explains Michael. “That’s key for a brand like us because we can keep the brand communication with the customer as clean and as clear as possible.”

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RISING FROM THE ASHES

UK Steel Enterprise helps entrepreneurs in areas affected by the decline of the steel industry to start their own businesses. Anne Clyde tells Peter Ranscombe how the company can provide investment, loans and facilities.

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here are moments in Scotland’s history that we’ll all remember: when Pan Am flight 103 exploded above Lockerbie; when the Piper Alpha oil rig was engulfed in flames; and when the gasometer and cooling towers at the Ravenscraig steelworks in Motherwell were demolished, marking the end of a chapter in our nation’s industrial heritage.

Anne Clyde recalls exactly where she was shortly before 1pm on Sunday 28 July 1996: standing and watching with her family for the six seconds that it took for carefully-laid

explosive charges to bring down the iconic blue gas holder and the witches’ cauldron-shaped towers, creating Europe’s largest brownfield site.

“I was there watching it – it was almost like a picnic,” Clyde remembers. “You couldn’t park in the area because everybody was out to watch it.

“It was quite a sad day. I think I did shed a tear, to be honest, when the towers came down, as many people did.”

The closure of Ravenscraig in 1992 marked a

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turning point in Clyde’s career. She had joined British Steel in 1979 as a commercial trainee on its apprenticeship scheme, spending three to six months in each department, trying her hand at a variety of jobs.

After opting to work in finance, the firm put her on a day-release scheme to do her training and she later moved to the internal audit department, monitoring the output from the nationalised company’s sites in Scotland and the North of England. As she was employed by the corporation’s head office in London, she carried on working at Ravenscraig for a further year after it closed until 1993, when the audit department was due to move to Wales.

Instead of heading south, Clyde applied to join a little-known part of the corporation – British Steel Industry (BSI) – which had been set up in 1975 to help create jobs in areas that had been affected by the nationalisation and then decline of the steel industry. As steelworks closed, BSI’s initial focus was on turning the empty workshops and plants into managed workplaces, giving steelworkers the chance to continue practising their trades and set up businesses.

By the time Clyde joined in 1993 as one of three regional executives covering Scotland, BSI had already expanded its remit to provide serviced offices and workshops like the Grovewood business centre on the Strathclyde business park in Lanarkshire. When Corus was created in 1999 through the merger of British Steel and Dutch peer Koninklijke Hoogovens, BSI became UK Steel Enterprise (UKSE), the name under which the company still trades today as part of Indian steel giant Tata.

“Tata is a very philanthropic business in India and it sees UKSE as its corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm,” Clyde explains. “That’s what UKSE is really – a very early example of CSR.” Reaching across her desk, Clyde produces a hardback book written by Paul Usher called “Putting Something Back”. Produced in 1989, the book records the early years of BSI, helping steelworkers to launch their own companies.

“Working in the internal audit office at Ravenscraig meant I got to go down to the blast furnace or the boss plant or the steel plant and I got to understand much more about the steel-making process than I would normally have done working in an office environment,” she says.

“There was great camaraderie. We all used to mix and use the staff canteen. It was a great group of people to work with.”

By the time Clyde joined the steel industry, rationalisation was already underway; steelworkers went out on strike the year after she arrived and the miners’ strike followed in 1984. “My granddad had retired from the Dalziel steelworks and he asked me if I was sure I wanted to go into the steel industry,” Clyde remembers.

“When Ravenscraig was closing in 1992, workers were still being offered a good redundancy package, with a lump sum that could help them set up their own business and up to two years of retraining. Some of the people I knew from the site went on to become doctors and lawyers.”

Clyde continued to develop her career at UKSE, becoming its area manager for Scotland in 2006 and then its regional manager for Scotland and the North of England in 2013. Since joining the company, she’s seen it expand the way in which it supports entrepreneurs.

UKSE offers unsecured loans of between £25,000 and £100,000 at a fixed rate of interest.

Beyond the £100,000, it tends to invest with a mixture of debt and equity funding, all the way up to £1m, with the investor’s stake not rising above 25%.

“We don’t want to run companies, so we don’t take a seat on the board,” explains Clyde.

“We’re backing management teams and letting them run their businesses.”

Clyde and her team have seen a sharp increase in demand for its services since the 2008

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“Tata is a very philanthropic business in India and it sees UKSE as its corporate social responsibility arm.”

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“While the unemployment rate in the former steel areas is still higher than in the rest of Scotland then there’s still work for us to do.”

banking crisis and ensuing global recession, both in terms of debt and equity funding. “At the moment, we have offers on the table for three companies in which we may invest £400,000, £500,000 and £600,000 – five years ago, we would have been lucky to have one investment opportunity of that size each year,” Clyde comments.

Since it was launched in 1975, UKSE has supported 6,650 companies throughout the UK, including 1,500 in Scotland. Together, those businesses have created 77,000 jobs, with 17,500 of those posts based north of the Border.

UKSE has invested £91m through debt and equity for companies, with £25m having been spent in Scotland. Some 30% has gone to start-up and early-stage businesses, while 50% has been used to fuel expansion, with the rest spread between management buy-outs and buy-ins, acquisitions, restructuring and relocations.

At any one time, the investor can be working with between 100 and 150 businesses, with around 25 to 35 of those based in Scotland, although the total has risen above 40 in the past. Current Scottish clients include components supplier Martin Aerospace, engineering sub-contractor Thomson Pettie Group, and technology firm SST Sensing.

UKSE is also one of the partners for the Scottish Investment Bank’s co-investment fund, meaning the amounts invested can be doubled if requirements are met. As well as commercial investments, UKSE has also pumped £10m into community projects since the 1970s and plays a role in the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem, working with organisations such as Young Enterprise Scotland and running a “Dragons’ Den”-style competition over the summer for pupils from South Lanarkshire Council’s schools.

The third leg to UKSE’s stool is its ability to offer managed workspaces to companies.

Grovewood business centre has 46,500sq ft split between 34 workshop units and 17 offices.

The centre is currently home to 36 tenants, ranging from architects and engineers to software developers and sales staff. Services on offer to companies based on the site include meeting rooms, super-fast broadband, and franking and photocopying.

“I think what really appeals to tenants is the ‘easy-in, easy-out’ leases,” adds Clyde. “They can take space for as little as three months if they just want to test the water or they can stay for 10 or more years.

“Two of the companies based at Grovewood arrived as two-man bands and they now each occupy whole corners of the building because we can rent them more space as they need it. We don’t see it as a bad thing when companies out-grow our site and move elsewhere – that’s a good thing because it means we’ve done our job right.”

UKSE’s operations in Scotland were initially clustered around Cambuslang, Glengarnock and Motherwell, but have since spread throughout Glasgow, Lanarkshire and much of Ayrshire, covering the wider area from which workers would have commuted to the steelworks. “The postcode is the key for us,” Clyde explains. “We see lots of good investment opportunities in the East of Scotland, but sadly they lie out-with our area.”

Three framed photographs hang on the wall of Clyde’s office in Grovewood: the first shows workers in the steelworks, the second features Ravenscraig’s gasometer and three chimneys, and the third is an aerial view of the whole site. The photos must serve as a reminder of both UKSE’s achievements so far, but also the work that lies ahead.

“While the unemployment rate in the former steel areas is still higher than in the rest of Scotland then there’s still work for us to do,” Clyde nods. Yet inspiration for the task at hand doesn’t just lie in the pictures.

“It’s always great to hear how the businesses we support go on to develop,” she adds.

“We lent £25,000 to Tom Monaghan in the late 1990s to start Fastplas, a PVC cladding business based in Lanarkshire.

“He wrote to me about 10 years later to tell me his business had been so successful that he’d sold it. That’s really inspiring.” n

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“It doesn’t matter what sort of education you have got, if you are a bit of a plank and can’t work things out because you won’t lift a finger, then you’re not going to get on.”

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Shepherding

her flock

Amanda Owen rose to fame through a series of books and television appearances as the “Yorkshire shepherdess”, but Mike Hughes pulls on his wellies to meet someone who’s much, much more – a mum, a farmer and an indisputable entrepreneur.

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t’s not that I envy Amanda Owen’s office – I crave it. Her workplace is 2,000 acres of the reason why we both love Yorkshire so deeply.

The breathtaking landscape of streams, rolling hills, pasture and stone walls is home for her and husband Clive and is where they have raised nine children – from Raven, who is 15, to eight-month-old Nancy – and hundreds of sheep.

Like my own back garden just an hour’s drive away, it is both beautiful and challenging but, while I think I’ve earned a beer after getting a nice clean edge to the lawn, Owen has fought to make a living at Ravenseat; at the head of the

River Swale, about an hour’s walk west of Keld, the halfway point on the coast-to-coast footpath.

As well as looking after the sheep, she now has a shepherd’s hut where hardy travellers can lay their heads, she runs The Firs, a nearby rural retreat that can accommodate another big family, she offers cream teas – if she’s in, best to check beforehand – and the very way she lives her life has led to two books with a third already planned.

“When we were first starting out here, people were always telling me, ‘Make sure you specialise… you have to concentrate on one

thing if it’s going to work’, but that just wasn’t going to work with what we were doing because farming is so up and down, so hit and miss,” explains Owen, in-between herding her children as they shout back to the farmhouse from their chores outside.

“You can go to the auction mart with whatever your product is that day and it depends what another farmer is prepared to pay for it and that can vary so much from week to week, and even day to day, that a single approach does not work.

“You have to hedge your bets. To look at it in a very simple way, not taking all your products

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to the mart on one day. Doing it gradually means you can take the rough with the smooth and never need to take too hard a hit.”

This 42-year-old entrepreneur has changed, just slightly but noticeably, over the years. The strong woman is still there, and growing stronger with each additional direction her life takes her, but her business sense is a bigger part of her than before. It has had to be, as the idea of making a living for 11 people only from sheep was never going to happen and the ideas needed to start coming fast.

She says she struggles with her book and newspaper deadlines because she is so busy doing the things that provide the copy for them, but that writing has also helped her build her presentation skills for speeches and interviews and a growing awareness of the lessons she can pass on about making the most of your products.

“I am a shepherdess, and we are a very hard farm and our job is to breed animals,” she tells me. “We get the sheep here and we get the cattle here and we sell them on.

“It wouldn’t make any sense to sow anything because we don’t have any arable, so we just grow grass. And as far as the other farms are

concerned, we are at the very top of the scale, so if the trade for meat is bad, then they don’t want to pay us for the breeding stock.”

There is some help from the likes of the Countryside Stewardship scheme, which gives payments to farms in England that protect and improve their environment. Owen, Clive and their children build walls, dig ponds and clear ditches to keep the land productive at the same time as securing its long-term future as a landscape that has international importance, a home for animals you might only see in the wild a few times in your life, and also a place that walkers and visitors will come to for a glimpse of what their country is really made of.

“The fact that Ravenseat is a very traditional and very commutable hill farm, set in that wild landscape with the hills and moorlands, means we get a lot of tourists here, especially in the summer,” says Owen.

“We capitalise on that by providing accommodation from a cheap-and-cheerful shepherd’s hut for walkers passing through or lovebirds who want to go there to do who knows what – what happens in the hut stays in the hut – and a holiday house as well to cater for the family. I’m also thinking of doing guided

walks to take people a bit further afield on the old tracks.

“We have to tick the right boxes because it can be a busy thing for us, but also allows us to have six months of people coming through when the world comes to me and then six months of solitude. As a business, we have to take that opportunity and acknowledge that we are very lucky to have the chance to do something extra because with the financial times you are in you never know what will happen.

“We have a lifetime tenancy at the farm, so we know that our hands are tied in some respects, but equally, we wouldn’t want to build a campsite here and have a sea of caravans, so we have to make money using our brains instead of bricks.”

With the books bringing in an income, as well as more people drawn by that Google pin in the middle of nowhere, there could be concerns that such progress may be completely counter-productive and ruin the “product” she treasures so much, but this very special place is safe in Owen’s hands.

“I don’t think much will change,” she says confidently. “A farm like this can’t be anything

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“A farm like this can’t be anything else because the sheep come with the farm and they will stay here.”

else because the sheep come with the farm and they will stay here.

“The sheep are a constant, so nothing will change there and we have a lot of rare birds and the hay meadows that people want to see, so I think it is all about striking a balance between having the right stock on the ground and making a living. There are no other options as to what Ravenseat is and how it is farmed.

“So, it is no good having sleepless nights about it or sticking your head in the sand, you just get up in the morning and get on with your jobs. Because of that, I don’t see myself as a businesswoman, but more of an opportunist – I spot gaps in the market.

“I never came here to do anything other than chase after sheep. I never came to be turning the bedsheets over for visitors, or to pick up a

pen and write like some Emily Bronte, I was just a very normal person who was prepared to go with the flow.

“When I look at the thousands of people who come here every year, I could start shouting and telling them to put their dog on a lead or ‘Get off my land’… or I could see them as a captive audience looking for somewhere to stay for the night or asking questions about the farm. I tell the kids that communicating is how you get on in life and that if you are a people-person who is prepared to listen then you will get somewhere.”

The flock she feeds, nurtures and guides starts with those nine who usually live in the house. With a 2,000-acre back garden, the children can run wild to burn off some energy, but they always know Mum will need their help when there is work to be done – they probably just don’t know it is work.

“I think this kind of life is a great foundation for whatever you want to be,” she says, as the children shout in through the kitchen door, letting her know they are going to sell some eggs at the gates.

“It is all happening out there this morning.

Reuben has got 200 trees to plant over his

holidays, one of them has two lots of sheep to feed and the other’s off with his eggs. For me, it is about gaining some common-sense and confidence, learning how to stand on your own two feet – they know it’s a lie to say ‘Where there’s muck, there’s money’ and as I tell them, how do you appreciate a good day if you haven’t had a crap one?

“It might sound like I am running some kind of military campaign – and sometimes I suppose I am – but you never know what is around the corner and it’s the same with life, whatever the children decide to be. They are all different characters with different ways about them, but we all sit down at dinner time and discuss the next plan of action.

“It doesn’t matter what sort of education you have got, if you are a bit of a plank and can’t work things out because you won’t lift a finger, then you’re not going to get on.”

There is a practicality about Owen that would be a good addition to any boardroom.

It’s instinct blended with common-sense, but with a hefty dose of Yorkshire grafting – something I’ll try to take on board as I “farm” the borders in my more modest back garden at the weekend. n

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Natalie Ferguson with Luigi and Nadia Di Vaio serve up success thanks to support from the Scottish Microfinance Fund.

Supporting Scottish Enterprise: Scottish Microfinance Fund helps firms access finance The Scottish Microfinance Fund is here to help current and future business owners access the funding they need to turn dreams into reality by securing a small business loan.

Web: dsl-businessfinance.co.uk Phone: 0141 425 2930 Email: info@dsl-businessfinance.co.uk

Café Bellina in Edinburgh is one business that is now booming thanks to support from the Scottish Microfinance Fund. Struggling to raise funding through traditional routes, the enterprise secured a small business loan which has helped bring an authentic Italian café culture to the Scottish capital.

Located on Elm Row in Edinburgh city centre, the thriving Café Bellina is receiving rave reviews from locals and visitors alike who applaud the business for its culinary offerings and customer service. Offering everything from cakes and arancini to pasta, pastries and paninis the menu is made with passion and attention to detail and it is proving a real hit.

Originally from Naples, Nadia Di Vaio had a dream to own her own business and bring an authentic taste of Italy to Scotland. With friend and Scottish native Natalie Ferguson and brother Luigi the trio conceived the idea to bring homemade Italian specialties to Edinburgh, served in an environment which makes customers feel at home. Yet despite Café Bellina’s success, the fledgling entrepreneurs initially struggled to secure the funding they needed to get the business started.

Nadia said: “Finding the finance to open a cafe was not easy, one bank completely ignored our request for a loan and a second one refused our application.

We were pointed to Business Gateway who thankfully referred us to DSL Business Finance which runs the Scottish Microfinance Fund. We met with Nicola, an excellent loan officer in Glasgow, who helped us develop our business plan and to present our business growth project to a panel. This resulted

“

“Finding the finance to open a cafe was not easy, one bank completely ignored our request.”

in a loan, and the opening of Café Bellina.

“It’s great that the Scottish Microfinance Fund provides emerging entrepreneurs who may not be able to access traditional finance the chance to follow their dreams. It really made a difference to Café Bellina and Nicola still follows our progress as a business mentor.”

The Scottish Microfinance Fund is delivered by DSL Business Finance Ltd with the support of Scottish Government, ERDF and The Start Up Loans Company for whom DSL is the only Scottish based delivery partner. The Fund provides loans of up to £25,000 to businesses in Scotland. It is encouraging both new and established businesses to take the leap into entrepreneurship. Successful applicants will sign-up to a competitive interest rate of 6% and will not be burdened by arrangement fees or early repayment fees.

The application process for the Scottish Microfinance Fund is simple, quick and effective and if you do not meet the criteria for a SMF loan, DSL has other funding options available. Our friendly and knowledgeable team can talk you through everything you need to know and give you the support you need every step of the way. Give us a call or visit our website to find out more. n

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FROM RWANDA TO MIRANDA VIA TEESPORT Miranda loves a good cup of tea before she starts work. She drinks Yorkshire Tea; milk, one sugar. But before she switches on the kettle, before she goes to the supermarket and long before the shelves are stacked; Teesport made sure her tea was where it needed to be.

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