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Scotland Can Do Partners join Resilient Leadership Catalyst 2021

Scotland Can Do is a national initiative, funded by the Scottish Government, to accelerate entrepreneurship and innovation through collaboration, to help tackle our country’s biggest challenges. At the heart of Scotland Can Do is a joined-up, multisector community of over 70 partners who all support entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial endeavours across different sectors, sizes and geographies. Together known as the Can Do Collective, this community of like-minded leaders are on a mission to provide enterprise and skills support that will enable individuals, and businesses of all kinds, to make a positive impact in Scotland and beyond.

One of the key elements for growing a strong and thriving entrepreneurial community is investing in the leadership capacity of ecosystem partners. That is why Scotland Can Do is committed to deepening the skills, confidence and connections of Can Do Collective partners, so that the impact they deliver is amplified and positively influences not only their organisational contexts, but the growth of the wider ecosystem.

Following a successful pilot in Dec 2020 on the topic of Navigating Volatility, this winter the Scotland Can Do programme has launched a bespoke Resilient Leadership Catalyst programme. This unique, immersive learning experience will take place virtually across two cohorts, in November 2021 and March 2022. It has been designed for leaders who belong to the Can Do Collective and are ready to amplify their impact and positively influence their organisations, the entrepreneurial ecosystem and Scotland. 

“I was very excited about the opportunity to finally go to Babson College, even if only online, through the Catalyst programme and thoroughly enjoyed the interesting, thought provoking and entertaining sessions with Jay Rao.  However, of equal if not more value was the chance to reflect on what we’d learned and the challenges we’d faced with my peers in the Can Do Collective.” – Evelyn McDonald, CEO, Scottish EDGE (2020 Participant)

“Taking part in the Catalyst opportunity, Navigating Volatility with Babson, was a very timely and beneficial experience to me both personally and organisationally. The pandemic brought along so many uncertainties and the programme was able to strengthen existing methodologies of leadership and add value through the insights of the experts on the programme both from Babson and fellow participants. Highly Recommended!” – Geoff Leask, CEO, Young Enterprise Scotland (2020 Participant)

The Resilient Leadership Catalyst will provide a blend of structed and self-guided learning across 3-months for 10 Can Do Collective partners. The learning experience will stretch the boundaries of participants’ thinking, and enable them to apply new insight, learning and perspectives back into their organisation and their work in partnership across the ecosystem. The programme will enable the participants to learn from peers, share best practice, and connect with international experts in their field, whilst showcase the breadth and productivity of Collective partners.

Introducing the 2021 Can Do Cohort:

Caroline Wylie, Director of Finance & Projects, Challenges Group

Claudia Cavalluzzo, Director, Converge

Elizabeth Pirrie, Chief Opertaing Officer, Investing Women & AccelerateHER

Ghillean Macleod, Senior Project Manager, Highlands & Islands Enterprise

Howell Davies, Sector Engagement Manager, Interface

Kirsty Bathgate, Director, Gearing for Growth

Lindsay Wake, Head of Impact, Social Investment Scotland

Nick Murray, Co-Director, Startup Grind Scotland

Seemab Farooqi, Lecturer, University of Dundee School of Business

Rachel Wallace, Programme Manager, Entrepreneurial Scotland

We asked participants what attracted them to the programme and what they’re most looking forward to.

“I am a Saltire Fellow from the 2014 cohort which means I have spent almost 4 months studying entrepreneurship at Babson College. It’s then that my leadership journey started and never really ended. When I heard about the opportunity to join the Catalyst programme as an eco-system leader, I rushed to secure a place. Babson’s approach to leadership is absolutely unique and I look forward to challenging myself once again, to get comfortable being uncomfortable and to progress my leadership journey for my benefit but also for the benefit of my team and the Scottish entrepreneurial eco-system we support.” – Claudia Cavalluzzo

“The Resilient Leadership Catalyst has come along at just the right time for me. I had been investigating learning opportunities to enhance my leadership skills, when the email from Scotland Can Do arrived in my inbox and it was exactly what I was looking for. The opportunity to learn through Babson College whilst studying alongside my colleagues in the Scotland Can Do Collective is just the right balance of global outlook and local impact. I can’t wait to get stuck in and see what the 2021 cohort can learn and achieve together” – Elizabeth Pirrie

Explore the website to learn more or visit our partnership page to learn about how to provide support and enquire about joining The Collective!

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Case Studies News

Can Do Partners collaborate to deliver online Inclusion & Awareness workshops

Introduction: Stephanie Anderson works at Scottish Enterprise (SE) as a Project Manager for Entrepreneurial & Ecosystem Development. Working on everything from infrastructure and large development projects to casual business advice and supporting sectors with international opportunities, SE supports economic development plans across the central belt and the Northeast of Scotland.

Stephanie and her team work with company founders and businesses to develop their entrepreneurial and leadership skills, supporting them to build successful companies of scale. As part of their remit, they were responsible for the delivery of a series of Inclusion Awareness Workshops in March 2021.

Collective: Scottish Enterprise procured several business support organisations in January and February, to support the successful delivery of the workshops. They appointed three partners who each believe in the Scotland Can Do mission: AAI Employability; Tree of Knowledge; and Social Investment Scotland, all of which came together to form the series.

Falling under the overarching umbrella of Inclusion and Awareness, the eight half-day online interactive workshops were centred around various topics to help entrepreneurs and leaders increase their knowledge, understanding and skills around inclusion, diversity, equality and sustainable business practices.

Working together to support one another with complementary skill sets and areas of expertise, AAI Employability, Tree of Knowledge, and Social Investment Scotland collaborated to deliver the sessions about impactful entrepreneurship and how to use business for good.

The sessions created a safe space for people who genuinely wanted to make changes for the better within their business with themes ranging from disability and neurodiversity in the workplace; inclusive leadership; inclusive recruitment; purpose; resilience and personal impact to ways in which attendees could improve their leadership skills.

Stephanie Anderson comments:

“This project was delivered on quite a tight time scale, but we didn’t need to do a lot of prep work for it because our partners completely understood what we were working to achieve. We were all ultimately looking to achieve the same outcomes and, by working together, we were not only successful but we were also able to amplify it to a much wider audience.”

“In terms of being more inclusive, if we were just promoting this around the Scottish Enterprise network, we wouldn’t have been able to provide this opportunity to everyone in Scotland. When AAI and Social Investment Scotland put it out to their network, we connected with completely different pools of talent and businesses. This approach gave us the opportunity to engage with different audiences that might not have worked with Scottish Enterprise in the past.”

Impact: Stephanie continues,

“Generally the businesses who attended the workshops had between £50k and £500k turnover, however, to ensure we were more inclusive, we opened these up to everyone on a first come first serve basis. There was a real mix of attendees, and we used the sessions to pilot the demand out there in Scotland, especially since the pandemic.

“We also opened them up to companies that had staff on furlough creating an opportunity for them to keep their knowledge up to speed. The response was overwhelming and the feedback that we have received so far has been amazing. We asked people to list their top three takeaways and highlight whether there were specific things they were going to change or embed in their business following the sessions.”

“I think that the more that Scottish businesses are aware of diversity and inclusion issues – which some will have never dealt with before – the better armed they will be with information and the more confident they will be about what makes a good business.

“Just learning what these mean in practice will support business owners in creating a fairer, welcoming society. That is not just government-speak – it needs to be threaded through every business. If this culture is built-in as they grow, that is going to have a huge impact. If all these young companies can shape themselves with a business model which puts fairness and equality at its core, that will provide a great springboard for growth.

“In terms of the wider impact, we are hoping to see more diverse teams with people from different backgrounds being employed within businesses. That will lead to more innovative businesses in Scotland, with faster growth potential and better economic performance. While achieving this ultimate ambition is further down the line, these are small changes that will lead to greater innovation.”

Kieran Daly, Head of Market Building at Social Investment Scotland, feels this project established a strong platform for future partnership work with Scottish Enterprise. He commented:

“Our organisation offers investment, courses and business support to charities, social enterprises and mission-led businesses.

“This collaboration with Scottish Enterprises enabled us to support mission-led businesses and the wider business community to explore the relationship between investment and investee, as well as the range of debt and equity products in the market. Central to this was exploring the multiple benefits of environment, social and governance-driven investment, and how investing ethically can increase profitability. Looking at start up and scale up investment, we explored how to make approached to investors and ensure businesses find the right investors to suit their long-term strategy.”

Nick Murray, Enterprise Engagement Lead at AAI Employability, also highlighted the benefits of the collective approach to this project, saying:

“The most powerful thing about this collaboration was the genuine buy-in from Scottish Enterprise to allow those closest to these inclusive business practices to deliver things in their own way. Projects like this not only empower the businesses who attend, but also strengthens trust and transparency within the Scottish business ecosystem.

“AAI delivered six out of the eight events in this series, covering topics including neurodiversity in the workplace, cultural competency and ethical recruitment. We made a conscious effort to target businesses outside of our ‘purpose-driven echo chamber’, and were delighted to be oversubscribed for all of our workshops, with excellent feedback from those who attended.”

Gavin Oattes, Managing Director of Tree of Knowledge added his thoughts on the value of collaboration in the project, saying:

“The way we work is changing and bringing people together to collaborate on this project successfully blended many different experiences, skills and ideas in order to truly make a difference and inspire all those taking part.

“I wish I had the opportunity to take part in this type of project when I was starting out in business.”

Social Enterprise is looking to deliver further workshop sessions over the coming months. For the latest news and updates on upcoming sessions follow them on Twitter, Linked In, Instagram or Facebook.

To find out more about the support AAI EmployAbility, Tree of Knowledge and Social Investment Scotland can offer, visit their websites below:

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News Opinion

Female founders essential to economic recovery

Scottish innovation and entrepreneurship has been put to the test since the onset of the pandemic. With many sectors being severely impacted by two nation-wide lockdowns and ongoing social restrictions, we have seen many businesses forced to adapt and focus their efforts on new markets, while a number of start-ups have also emerged to leverage opportunities created within the adversity of Covid-19.

During this time we’ve seen some great examples of collaborative working to promote innovation across a range of businesses, including those which are women-led.  With support from the Women’s Business Station and its wider network, Dundee-based businesswoman Audrey Glen pivoted her focus from her wedding and events business, which was severely hit from the early onset of the first lockdown, to a new virtual Admin/PA company, Audrey Virtual Assistant, which she launched last summer.

Companies like these, being set up by inspiring and enterprising women, not only demonstrate the resilience of Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem but are also an essential aspect of our future economic growth.

Women owned businesses currently contribute £8.8bn to the Scottish economy (Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES), 2021) and it’s estimated that helping more of them succeed could add a further £13bn in economic value and create over 300,000 jobs (WES, 2021). As the Scottish Government reported last year, closing the existing entrepreneurial gender gap and helping create more female-founded businesses could result in economic growth of up to 5% as well as 35,000 new jobs.

Increasing the level of female-founded businesses has also been a key focus for the UK Government. In 2019, Alison Rose reported on her Treasury-commissioned independent review of female entrepreneurship which shed a light on the barriers faced by women in starting and growing businesses and identified ways of unlocking this untapped talent. In response to her report, the UK Government announced a plan to increase the number of the nation’s female entrepreneurs by 600,000 by 2030 with a series of phased steps being taken in collaboration with industry to help achieve this ambition.

Extra support for female entrepreneurs is more vital than ever given the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on women, especially those in lower income households. Women are more likely than men to work in sectors such as hospitality, retail, leisure, tourism and travel that have been most affected by lockdown restrictions. Changing work patterns, due to home schooling and increased caring responsibilities, have also taken their toll on women who have been found twice as likely to give up paid work to care for children, elderly relatives and ill family members during the Covid crisis.

Women’s Enterprise Scotland have launched the Women’s Business Centre as a free digital resource to help women bring their business ideas to life and flourish as business owners. Since launch the site has supported hundreds of women to start up with practical support and inspiring stories.

The Resilience and Recovery report, based on data from Beauhurst’s Covid-19 Business Impact Tracker, cited a continued equity funding gap between male and female-led companies last year. It reported that just 13 per cent of total equity investment in 2020 went towards female-founded start-ups. Where investment was made, it tended to be for smaller amounts even though research shows that once female-founded businesses have received an initial investment, they are just as likely to raise additional rounds of funding compared to male-founded firms. Mint Ventures is a new business angel investment club on a mission to enable more women to become investors and support diverse teams so more female founders can access capital.

Jackie Waring, Founder & CEO Investing Women Angels & AccelerateHER comments,

“Increasing investment in female founded companies in Scotland is an imperative for the future health and growth of our economy.  At Investing Women, 90% of our investment has backed female founders leading often pioneering scientific and medical breakthroughs and ground breaking technologies. We have such incredible female talent here in Scotland; it’s time for transformational change in the level of investment we make in that talent and the depth of ‘readiness’ support we give to these founders whose innovations improve health, lives, the environment and Scotland’s international competitiveness.”

There is clearly an opportunity to reset the business landscape in Scotland beyond the pandemic and support women by promoting a can-do attitude within an entrepreneurial society. This is where the Can Do Collective has a significant role to play, by demonstrating ways in which collaborative working between Scottish female-led businesses can help to inspire others, nurture a stronger entrepreneurial spirit and ultimately accelerate economic growth.

The Can Do Collective has established itself as a driving force for post-COVID recovery plans across the nation. Working in close collaboration, the Can Do Collective is a community of 70+ enterprise support organisations whose mission is to build a world-leading entrepreneurial, innovative and creative society.  Can Do Partners such as Association of Scottish Businesswomen, Women’s Business Station, Women’s Enterprise Scotland, Investing Women and Business Women Scotland, among others, will continue to focus on how Scotland can further promote female entrepreneurship across the nation.

Bronwen Thomas, Digital Projects and Marketing Manager at Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES) comments,

“By working together to enable women to start up and thrive in business we can build back better and close widening gender gap in enterprise participation to create a significant boost for the Scottish economy.”

Hazel Jane, Convener of the Can Do Collective, comments:

‘We must ensure that the impact of the pandemic serves as a catalyst for positive change, which includes increasing the level of female-founded businesses in Scotland – not simply to readdress the disproportionate impact that Covid has had upon women but also as an effective means of rebuilding the Scottish economy long into the future’

Find out more at www.cando.scot

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News Press Releases

Quarter of a million Scots entrepreneurs set up business in 2020

Written by The Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Strathclyde

A quarter of a million people in Scotland were setting up or running new businesses in 2020, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey has found.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Scotland 2020 (GEM) report estimates that 7.3% of the Scottish population – 247,000 adults – were actively engaged in setting up a business or already running an enterprise established in the last three-and-a-half years. A further 5.7%  – 194,000 – were entrepreneurs running more established businesses.

Around 60,000 young people in Scotland, or 13% of 18-24 year olds, were early-stage entrepreneurs, the highest rate among the home nations. Entrepreneurship among people under 30 years old in Scotland has steadily grown from being the lowest in the UK at 3.5% in the 2007/09 period.

GEM measures rates of entrepreneurship across multiple phases in the general adult population. In 2020, nearly 140,000 people from 46 economies across the globe were surveyed, with 2,019 responses from Scotland, making it the world’s most authoritative comparative study of entrepreneurial activity.

The study found that Scotland had similar rates of total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) to other nations within the UK, mainly because Scotland held steady in the face of the pandemic while early-stage entrepreneurial activity in England suffered a significant decline from 2019 rates.

The Highlands and Islands region had the highest proportion of 18-64-year-olds in early-stage entrepreneurial activity (8.7%), followed by South Western Scotland (7.4%), Eastern Scotland (6.9%) and North Eastern Scotland (6.5%). In North Eastern Scotland, there has been a significant decline in the TEA rate from 2019 (8.7%) to 2020 (6.5%), while the rest of Scotland held steady despite the pandemic.

Around 5.3% of adult women in Scotland were trying to set up a new business or running a young business in 2020 compared to 9.3% of men – a rate that has changed little over the last decade and makes the gender gap in Scotland the highest amongst the home nations.

Further, there is a significant gender difference in reasons for trying to start a business with 62% of men citing the building of “great wealth or a very high income” as a key motivation compared to only 51% of women. In contrast, 76% of female early-stage entrepreneurs in Scotland, compared to 57% of males, indicated that a key reason they were trying to start a business was “to earn a living because jobs are scarce”.

Following previous trends, the TEA rate of the white ethnic population in the Scotland in 2020 was lower than that of the non-white population, at 7.05% compared to 12.95% respectively. However, the TEA rate for the non-white ethnic group was lower than the rate in 2019 (16.8%), while it remained comparable for the white ethnic group. This suggests that amid the higher rates of entrepreneurial activity among ethnic minorities, there is greater precarity too.

In Scotland, contrary to the trend in the wider UK, both the most deprived quintile and the least deprived quintile reported similarly high TEA levels, of around 9%. The most deprived 20% were thus just as likely to start a business as the wealthiest 20% in Scotland in 2020.

Dr Samuel Mwaura, lecturer in the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and co-lead of the GEM Scotland study, said:

“Despite the pandemic, there were around 250,000 entrepreneurs that were actively trying to set up a business in 2020 in Scotland, helping keep entrepreneurial activity on a par with 2019.

“Historically, we know that new businesses play a vital role in the recovery from major crises, however in 2020 immediate and sustained efforts to mitigate the coronavirus crisis prioritised more established businesses to the neglect of startup entrepreneurs.

“Many of the 250,000 startup entrepreneurs in 2020 will thus not have accessed much needed support and our findings suggest that thousands have thus had to delay the operationalisation of their new businesses. It is likely that many of these businesses will never see the light of day.

“We also found significant regional disparities among the four regions of Scotland, each with unique strengths and vulnerabilities. This means that different regions have different needs and tailored support is required. It is encouraging to see regional support infrastructure develop, such as Aberdeen City Region, and the new South of Scotland Enterprise.”

Dr Sreevas Sahasranamam, co-lead of the GEM Scotland study, said:

“Our findings on rates of entrepreneurial activity among young people under 30 in 2020 gives us a lot to both celebrate and draw lessons from.

“The success of this group has come from substantial investments in well-integrated national programmes such as The Prince’s Trust, the Bridge to Business programme for schools and the Scottish University Scale-Up Consortium, among others.

“Many individual universities in Scotland are also making entrepreneurship a more strategic priority internally for their students and graduates while also taking a greater role in supporting the wider ecosystem, such as Strathclyde’s partnership with Glasgow City Council, Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurial Scotland to create the Glasgow City Innovation District.

“These initiatives provide fantastic case-studies of best practice that is working for young people that can be suitably adapted to address the issues we continue to observe in entrepreneurship among women and ethnic minorities as well as the regional disparities.

“Another related trend we noted was the highest entrepreneurial activity within Scotland’s most deprived quantiles, suggesting a case of entrepreneurship being seen as an emancipation tool.

“It was very encouraging to note that despite the pandemic nearly half the early-stage entrepreneurs in Scotland saw new opportunities, which augers well for an economic recovery.”

Sean McGrath, Chief Executive Officer, Entrepreneurial Scotland, said:

“These are eye catching and hugely-reassuring figures. They support the view that individuals who have an entrepreneurial mindset are key players in the economic recovery. 

“Against all the odds and in the midst of a health crisis the like of which none of us have ever lived through before, it is deeply encouraging to learn that so many individuals are either engaged in business creation or running one.

“This is undoubtedly good news and comes at a time when people everywhere are endeavouring to drive Scotland’s economy forward and out of the difficulties caused by the pandemic.”

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Blogs News

Katy Brown, Co-Founder of Skylark Works

Katy Brown Co-Founder of Skylark Works

Introducing new Partner Skylark Works ….

Hi Katy, welcome to Can Do! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?:

I’m the co-founder and MD of purpose-led consultancy Skylark Works. I’m a committee member for Philanthropy Impact, supporting the growth of philanthropy and social investment across the UK and Europe. I’m also a crisis volunteer with Shout, the UK’s crisis text service, and a volunteer management consultant with Inspiring Scotland and The Cranfield Trust.

I’m passionate about purposeful work, social impact and impact investing. And I’m always looking to use my experience to connect the commercial world with meaningful purpose and genuine impact.

About Skylark Works:

In a nutshell we help businesses do good and charities do business. We’re a purpose-led consultancy and Oxford University spin-out offering:

  • Philanthropy and social impact advice for businesses and HNWIs
  • Strategic planning, delivery support and coaching for charities and social ventures

What motivated you to become a Scotland Can Do Partner?

I think it’s time to rethink growth. Business is no longer just about profit but about how we help our people and planet too. The Covid crisis, the climate emergency and social inequality are profound and pressing problems that can only be solved if we harness the huge potential of entrepreneurs, innovation and enterprise. It’s about leading on purpose, focusing on sustainability and delivering on impact. The need to do this is unavoidable and urgent. Together, we can help make it happen.

How do you contribute to the Scotland Can Do ambition; for Scotland to be the most entrepreneurial and innovative society for all?

Our goal is to support businesses, social enterprises and charities to be more effective, resilient and sustainable – and in doing so, to make an even greater impact. We always try to bring together diverse perspectives and voices from across sectors to think about things differently and find innovative solutions. We hope that through our support, we can play a small part in helping to foster an innovative and entrepreneurial culture here in Scotland.

If you would like help to deliver real social impact, find out more about Skylark Works.

Just for fun …. What is the most true stereotype of Scottish people or Scotland?

They’re a friendly bunch! And I’m not sure you’d find macaroni pies south of the border…

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Blogs News

Can Do Community reports more progress as Scotland continues to transition to a brighter, post-COVID future

News - Can Do Collective
WRITTEN BY BILL SHAW, FOUR PR

Passionate about demonstrating how collaborative working between Scottish businesses can help to accelerate growth and nurture entrepreneurial spirit, The Can Do Collective continues to be a driving force as Scotland relaxes many of its COVID-19 restrictions and focuses on economic growth.

Once again collaborations involving our partners as well as other organisations and individuals are making an immense impact on the wider business community. Scotland has endured significant challenges over the past 18 months but by working together, sharing ideas and innovation we are showing greater strength and resilience in our ability to progress our economy and collective wellbeing.

Hazel Jane, Entrepreneur Engagement Manager for Tech Nation and Convener for The Can Do Collective comments; “Once again the great work of our partners is contributing to making Scotland a Can Do nation. As we emerge from what we hope will be the worst of the pandemic and set our sights on rebuilding a strong, resilient economy, it’s fantastic to see more collaborative initiatives that are delivering social and economic benefits through entrepreneurialism.”

Can Do Partners appointed to new Scottish Government economic transformation body

A number of Can Do Collective partner organisations are represented on the newly appointed Scottish Government Advisory Council, a body which will focus on delivering economic transformation across Scotland by maximising its full entrepreneurial potential.

Sean McGrath, CEO of Entrepreneurial Scotland; Jackie Brierton, CEO of GrowBizScotland; Lynne Cadenhead, Chair of Women’s Enterprise Scotland; Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal of the University of Glasgow and his colleague Professor Graeme Roy, the university’s Dean of External Engagement have all been named to the new body. They join a number of leading entrepreneurial, business, and academic figures including Chris van der Kuyl, Founder, owner and chairman of 4J Studios; Dame Sharon White, Chair of John Lewis Partnership; Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, University College London; and Cllr John Alexander, Chair of Scottish Cities Alliance and Leader of Dundee Council.

The Advisory Council supports an ambitious 10 year National Strategy to drive Scotland’s economic transformation as the country recovers from COVID-19 and transitions to a net zero economy. Advisory Council appointees will help shape this strategy, which is expected to publish late autumn. Drawing on their extensive experience and contacts, members will use their insight to bring forward bold ideas that will transform the economy. People across Scotland are also being encouraged to share their views on how the country can work together to deliver greater, greener and fairer prosperity.

The new body is chaired by Economy Secretary Kate Forbes MSP. She said: “As we emerge from the pandemic, we must work together to seize Scotland’s potential and build an economy for everyone by delivering greater, greener and fairer prosperity.

“The pandemic has led to fundamental shifts in sectors such as retail, and changed the way many businesses operate with more online trading and remote working. We need to build on these innovations and guide our economy to the industries and opportunities of the future.

“I want to thank the members of the council for agreeing to play such a crucial role in the development of our bold and ambitions 10 year economic strategy. Starting work to deliver this key strategy was a 100 day commitment of this Scottish Government and I am delighted we have been able to secure the support of so many leading experts.”

Glasgow collaboration produces innovative eco enterprise ideas

Can Do Partners The Melting Pot and Glasgow Caledonian University, working in collaboration with Glasgow City Council, have just completed their Nature-Based Enterprise accelerator programme, the first of its kind.

The partnership programme, which demonstrates an ideal model for collective working, kicked off earlier this year bringing together Glasgow City Council’s Connecting Nature project with The Melting Pot’s Good Ideas programme. With additional support provided by Glasgow Caledonian University, the Glasgow City Council’s Centre for Civic Innovation was formed to develop what has become Scotland’s first nature-based accelerator pilot programme.

The aim of the pilot was to support a number of Glasgow-based entrepreneurs who were keen to use nature as part of a product or service that would also support the aims of the Council’s recently adopted Open Space Strategy (OSS). The OSS seeks to enhance Glasgow as a place in which to live, work, and invest by improving health and wellbeing of the city’s residents as well as its flora and fauna and to enhance its resilience in addressing environment-related issues such as climate change.

The Nature-Based Enterprise accelerator programme was a major success. The programme was overwhelmed with applications which produced a huge range of innovative enterprise ideas including food growing and supply projects, eco-tourism, nature-based arts and culture, educational activities, and sustainable floristry.

The partners will be staging their Nature-Based Enterprise Launch on 2 September where they will showcase how the programme has been encouraging more local and resilient nature-based economies, to create more green jobs, and help Glasgow achieve its net-zero targets. The virtual event will also allow participants to pitch their ideas and will provide a platform to connect directly with the group to explore future opportunities or potential partnerships. More details can be found here

Edinburgh Innovations AI Accelerator returns

An accelerator programme run by Can Do Collective partners Edinburgh Innovations, the University of Edinburgh’s dedicated business service provision, has once again reopened to support ambitious AI (artificial intelligence) start-ups. 

The AI Accelerator aims to help emerging companies developing this innovative form of technology to maximise their entrepreneurial ambitions. Following its latest round of applications which closed in early August, the programme will start on the 22nd September 2021 and run until March 2022. It offers a tailored support package for AI scaleups from across the globe providing access to the University of Edinburgh’s top academic and commercial expertise, a dedicated Accelerator Manager, and 1-2-1 support. Companies involved in the programme can also access a grant to fuel their growth.

In last year’s AI Accelerator, a five-month programme based at the Bayes Centre, 15 trailblazing companies successfully secured £6.27m in investment. Among those who took part and secured international recognition from the programme were BioLiberty, Neeuro, Reath, and MyWay Digital Health.

Exploring the ‘Art of Possible’ in Business Innovation

Early this summer the Art of Possible event series made a welcome return, staging two successful events in June and July, Business by Design and Leading Change in the Digital Age.

Business by Design featured a panel of diverse creative leaders – from the Royal Shakespeare Company and UWS to Iso Design and Dimension Studio – who are leading the adoption of next generation immersive and interactive technologies across a range of areas including entertainment, fashion, marketing, healthcare and more.  An interesting discussion ensued on how the disruption caused by COVID-19 has provided a springboard for the mainstreaming of human-centric, immersive technologies across businesses of all sizes – from start-ups to the tech giants – enabling new possibilities and experiences for customers and employees alike.

Meanwhile, Leading Change in the Digital Age, explored how leadership and mindset are critical for creating the right conditions to grow a thriving business of inspired people, empowered by tech.  The session heard from digital transformation experts This is Milk and case study insights on GAP Group’s pioneering app supporting workforce mental health and the tech-enabled transformation of ACS Clothing into a circular fashion enterprise.

A common theme emerging from both events was the critical need for leadership and human innovation (embracing diverse minds, multiple disciplines and collaboration) combined with the right tech, to enable the realisation of new and enduring solutions impacting people, planet and the bottom line.

The next event on 26 August will feature LEGO, the V&A Dundee and leading SMEs to discuss design thinking as a lens to solve business challenges in human centred and innovative ways. Curated specifically for ‘innovation-ready’ and the ‘innovation-curious’ SMEs, this year’s Art of Possible will spotlight experts (from Scotland and beyond) leading purposefully and harnessing digital tech across different business dimensions – from financing to workforce creativity – to build resilience and reimagine their future.

Speaking about the Art of Possible series for 2021/22, Dr Susie Mitchell programme director of Glasgow City of Science and Innovation said: “We’re delighted to be delivering our feeder series for the Can Do innovation Summit, Art of Possible, for the 5th year running. Connecting innovators, entrepreneurs and knowledge experts, we want to curate a friendly and informal space that inspires and supports greater tech adoption and collaborative innovation in SMEs to enable business survival, resilience and growth.  The evaluation of our last series showed that 80% of our attendees said it would make them think about collaborating on enabling tech and 70% made useful business connections that would be followed up. Art of Possible feeder events have reached 900 attendees over the last two years.”

About The Can Do Collective

Funded by The Scottish Government and supported by a dedicated team within independent charity Entrepreneurial Scotland Foundation, The Can Do Collective is a connected community of enterprise support organisations and leaders on a mission to build a world-leading entrepreneurial, innovative and creative society.

If you’re a Can Do Partner, we’d love to hear from you and share your news! Get in touch and tell us your story via hello@cando.scot

Not a Partner and want to learn more about Scotland Can Do and The Can Do Collective? Learn more here

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Blogs News

We’re Ready To Play Our Part In Recovery

Kate Forbes smiling

Scotland Can Do Partners welcome Scottish Government commitment & “stand ready to help.”

Can Do Partners have welcomed the Scottish Government’s commitment to the role entrepreneurs will play in Scotland’s post-pandemic economic recovery.

The community of entrepreneurial ecosystem leaders & organisations, also known as the Can Do Collective, have responded to remarks made in Parliament by newly appointed Economy Minister Kate Forbes and says it “stands ready to help the collective drive to deliver our recovery”

In her first speech since taking on her Ministerial brief in the new Parliament, Ms Forbes set out the Scottish Government’s plans for economic recovery.

And there was a strong commitment to underpin the work of Scottish entrepreneurs saying they will be the “bedrock” of the recovery as it gathers pace.

Ms Forbes also said the Scottish Government would

“create the best conditions for entrepreneurs to seize the opportunities to produce, to invent, to scale up, and in so doing, create secure and satisfying jobs which pay a fair wage.”

Can Do Collective Convener, Hazel Jane said:

“Our organisations reach thousands of entrepreneurs and their teams every year. We’re uniquely placed to communicate opportunities, make impact and nurture the incredible ideas and talent emerging across Scotland.

“The Can Do Collective stands ready to play our part in this much-needed effort.”

In her speech Ms Forbes went on to say:

“This government is absolutely committed to being pro-prosperity, pro-growth, and pro-business – a true champion for our job creators.

“We recognise the crucial role that industry leaders, businesses, trade unions, economists and other stakeholders will play in shaping and guiding that strategy so, as set out in our ‘100 days plan’, we will establish a new Council for Economic Transformation to draw on their experience and expertise.

“Pioneers and entrepreneurs will be the bedrock of this transformation.”

Can Do Partners also welcomed the announcement in the same speech of a “National Challenge” competition providing funding of up to £50 million to “the project or projects with the greatest potential to transform Scotland.” Full details of this are still to be announced.

Support has also come from Lord Willie Haughey, Executive Chairman of Glasgow-based City Facilities Management Holdings Ltd.

Lord Haughey said:

“Recovery from a pandemic, which has literally turned people’s lives upside down and been a devastating shock for businesses, won’t happen overnight. But I am in no doubt with determination and vision it can be achieved.

“So much is at stake in terms of people’s livelihoods and this call to action is both timely and represents a vital endeavour we can all play our part in. Those with an entrepreneurial mindset will play an important part achieving this goal as we strive to restore our economy and look forward to better days ahead.”

Colin Robertson CBE, Chair of Entrepreneurial Scotland, who are the custodians of the Scotland Can Do programme added:

“This is undoubtedly the biggest challenge facing the country in terms of economic recovery in decades. It is up to all of us to work together to propel Scotland out of the lingering consequences of the pandemic. This will be a true team effort in which everyone has a part to play.”

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Blogs News

It’s On Us To Find The Entrepreneurs Of The Future

photo of ernesto sirolli

Read highlights from the Can Do Collective gathering on 11 May 2021, in conversation with internationally renowned author, speaker and enterprise facilitator, Dr. Ernesto Sirolli.

‘Entrepreneurs are made in bedrooms, not boardrooms,’ so says Dr Ernest Sirolli, the passionate founder of The Sirolli Institute, an organisation focused on finding and growing entrepreneurs from within their own communities.

‘If you go looking for entrepreneurs in your communities, you will find them. And you can teach them.’

Dr Sirolli was speaking to the Can Do Collective, a community of like-minded leaders and organisations working together to enable entrepreneurs of all kinds to flourish.

Dr Sirolli spoke passionately about his experience that successful entrepreneurs are not solely found in prestigious universities across the world. He sees this as a societal challenge we have to overcome.

He states that entrepreneurial support should be treated as a social justice issue. That everyone should have the chance to access support and services dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs of the future. He firmly believes funding should be more widely accessible, allocated to those at the heart of the community, available for local initiatives with potential.

Together the Can Do Partners considered the future of entrepreneurship and the verdict was pretty much unanimous, that properly educating Scotland’s young people in the art and science of entrepreneurship, was vital. Partners also agreed that mentoring and role modelling was key to creating a successful entrepreneurial society. Showing others the way – showing that entrepreneurs were not just found at the top universities but rather could be found in the heart of their communities.

Dr Sirolli agreed, saying that his Institute had worked with teenagers helping them to understand the entrepreneurial skills they already possessed. He acknowledged that not all students were entrepreneurs, which was fine. He shared his experience working with a group of teenagers exploring an entrepreneurial challenge.

The teenagers quickly realised they didn’t possess all the skills needed to launch and run a successful business, but they found other students within the programme who did. Dr Sirolli shared that there are three management skills needed to run a sustainable, entrepreneurial business – Product, Marketing and Finance. He demonstrated that by encouraging each of the students to work within the same skill-set groups to begin with, growing their knowledge and confidence, they were more impactful when they re-joined their skill counterparts to actually run their businesses.

Dr Sirolli then shared his view that humans have always had the capacity to be entrepreneurs. That certain individuals have the capacity to see something first and take advantage of it.

‘In fact,’ he says. ‘It was probably an entrepreneur that got us out of the caves.’

He likens this to human spirit. The passion that some individuals have to see a different future.

And he doesn’t agree that elite competitions are best placed to encourage true entrepreneurialism. ‘With competitions, we are creating eagles’ nests on top of the tallest trees, on the tallest mountains. It is unattainable for the majority. Even Steve Jobs would not have been able to enter these competitions today. We have to strive to create an environment that allows the maximum number of people to play the game. There should be no limit.’ In fact he illustrates this.

‘In the countries we have supported, every time we come into a village looking for entrepreneurial spirit, we have found it. And you should do the same. It’s up to us to find the best of the best of passionate people in our communities looking to transform their lives. It’s all on us.’

He closed by saying that in order to build a sustainable, entrepreneurial society one has to ensure a strong root system. He compared entrepreneurism to a forest. With a strong root system, a forest thrives and continues to grow naturally year after year, century after century. It doesn’t need artificial intervention.

The community is the forest.

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News Opinion Other

International Insight with Andy Stoll

photo Andy Stohl

Social entrepreneur & Senior Programme Officer, Andy Stoll, shares his thoughts and perspectives on entrepreneurial ecosystems and the power of friendship.

Responding to a New Era

In December 2020, Scotland Can Do Partners were honoured to be joined by Andy Stoll, Social Entrepreneur & Senior Programme Officer at the Kauffman Foundation. Andy shared his thoughts and perspectives on entrepreneurial ecosystems and the power of friendship, as we respond to a new era. Reflecting on Scotland he shared..

‘What I found so fascinating was the work that was going on across the entire country right across all of Scotland everybody working together, and how there was the grass roots bottom up and top down more government orientated, government funded work and that the bottom up and top down were coming together. I was so impressed, and I said at the time and still say that I am yet to see another sovereign state country saying we are going to do this across the entire region, in the United States we struggle with even doing it with the US states and you’re doing it across all of Scotland… I’m really impressed and inspired by what you have done.’ – Andy Stoll

Key themes covered in this talk:

  • Creating the environment for collaboration
  • Benefits of mainstreaming entrepreneurship
  • Reinforcing the Scotland Can Do vision and values

Andy Stoll wrote the Kauffman Ecosystem Playbook, leads their EShip summit and has done great work as a social entrepreneur especially in place building at Cedar Rapids.

To learn more, visit Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation | Kauffman.org

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Case Studies News

The Lens & Young Enterprise Scotland Form A Collective Alliance To Recognise & Nurture Intrapreneurial Talent

photo of team in tunnel

Intrapreneurs from Young Enterprise Scotland, social enterprise Columba 1400 and Highland Hospice.

Steve McCreadie, Chief Executive Creator and Founder of The Lens, talks to the Collective about why collective impact, and working in collaboration with others, is helping them and the many organisations they work with to grow, thrive and make a difference.  He also shares insight into a collaboration with fellow Can Do Collective Partner Young Enterprise Scotland, plus Columba 1400 and Highland Hospice.

Collective:

The Lens is a charity built on working in collaboration with others in Scotland – internally and externally – to generate wider reach and create a bigger impact.  An approach very much aligned to the broader ambitions of the Can Do Collective.

Steve explains;

“I am absolutely confident that within every organisation lies a huge amount of hidden talent and ideas that don’t get enough attention. At The Lens, we aim to find a way to work with organisations to release that talent, put it into action on a day-to-day basis to improve people’s lives, find the best ones, and scale them up.

“The principal of intrapreneurship is acting like an entrepreneur inside a large organisation. At The Lens, we have consistently found that the people closest to the problems faced by customers often have the best solutions – but that those ideas rarely make it into reality. Intrapreneurship unlocks that potential. By developing the mindset and skills of intrapreneurs, people, teams and colleagues can become a community of change-makers that inspire and influence others to see and think differently.”

As well as nurturing talent within organisations, The Lens share the Can Do Collective’s mission that connections and collaboration can generate greater results.  Steve says,

“I think one of the beauties of Scotland is that it is a small country which can often mean people are well connected. When you work together, and in collaboration, and you work collectively you can have a much greater impact than if you were to work solely. It is also enormously inspiring to know that your efforts as a single organisation are actually aligned with others.”

Impact:

It was the concepts of both collaborative working and ‘intrapreneurship’, that led to a close alliance between The Lens and fellow Can Do Collective Partner, Young Enterprise Scotland. Steve shares a recent example of the ways in which collaboration between peers within the Can Do Collective ecosystem can lead to real results.

“Geoff Leask from Young Enterprise Scotland approached us, and we partnered to help develop ‘intrapreneurial’ and entrepreneurial behaviours in Young Enterprise Scotland. Our work at The Lens aims to help organisations drive ideas from the ground up.  Geoff and his team were inspired by this and we worked together on a tailored programme, which has led to direct impact and a genuine shift in the way that the organisation listens to and responds to its front-line employees.  They have opened communication between the board and their teams on the ground and have an open forum to allow front line staff to bring forward their ideas for consideration by the board. There’s been a fundamental change in the way the business works, and it is driving results.”

Steve continues;

“We enabled a collaboration between Young Enterprise Scotland, social enterprise Columba 1400 and Highland Hospice.  The three organisations have worked together on our bespoke programme that allows front line staff to bring their ideas forward, develop and test them.  It’s been a genuinely collaborative approach that, in Young Enterprise Scotland, led to an idea that has secured £7k investment for a prototype to develop pathways to digital careers for young women – a concept that was generated by a front-line worker.  Columba 1400 and Highland Hospice also secured investment of £8k and £5k respectively, for ideas to develop Leadership and support bereaved families. A great example of both collaborative working and intrapreneurship at play.”

Young Enterprise Scotland have now embedded this approach into their culture and have shifted their idea generation to help them achieve their mission to improve the lives of young people.

Geoff Leask comments,

“Working with Steve and his team at the Lens a couple of years ago has helped us to recognise and develop the intrapreneurial talent that we have within our wonderful team at Young Enterprise Scotland. Two years down the line we now have our own internal version of the Lens as a part of our business development planning schedule called the ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goals’ (BHAG’s) and are developing three initiatives from the front-line delivery team that will help us to achieve our strategic ambition of ‘Enterprise for All’.”

Further Impact:

Though a charity, The Lens has grown by around 30% year on year and continues to collaborate with businesses across Scotland.  Over the past five years, The Lens has helped more than 200 entrepreneurs, secure one and a half million pounds worth of investment in their ideas – ideas that were hidden and not being acted upon.  And moving forward, they are set to help even more organisations, with the launch of a digital platform, to allow and enable entrepreneurial behaviour inside companies across Scotland.

Some of their key achievements have included helping organisations to increase innovation skills, increase engagement, increase motivation of staff, increase capacity across an organisation, and helping to find ideas that genuinely generate income and save money.

Some additional projects that The Lens have driven forward include;

  • Working collectively with Children’s Hospice Across Scotland on a transformative project to create a new community network of paediatric palliative care pharmacists across Scotland that never existed before.
  • Working with Renfrewshire Council to establish their ‘Interpretive Bank’ – an idea inspired by an employee there who remembered coming to Scotland and what it was like not being able to speak English when she was eight years old. The innovative idea brought together a team for whom English is not the first language, as interpreters. As a result, the council became more accessible to more people, provided employment opportunities and saved up to 60% of the council’s translation budget.
  • Working with Beatson Cancer Care charity intrapreneurs Lisa Stanulis & Gail Richmond, Beatson Cancer Care Charity, worked with The Lens to help them to bring to life BeCalm – personal access to guided meditation and relaxation music that helps patients to cope better with stays in hospital and enables them to take home their own relaxation toolkit.
  • Working with Alzheimer Scotland over three years, to help to deliver new ways of supporting people living with dementia.

Anyone interested in finding out more about The Lens can visit; https://www.lensperspectives.org.uk.