MSPs' economic vision gets thumbs up from top business brains

23 August, 2006
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Top business gurus and leading entrepreneurs got their chance to grill parliamentarians when they pitched their vision for the Scottish economy on Wednesday as part of the 2006 Festival of Politics.

Watch again in the video archive.

MSPs Christine May, Jim Mather, Murdo Fraser, Jamie Stone and Shona Baird faced a tough panel of experts when they took part in the debate entitled Could you Make a Fortune in Scotland?.

Making up the panel scrutinising their efforts were (pictured left to right) Rachel Elnaugh, star of the BBC's business talent show Dragons' Den, top chef and owner of the award-winning Oloroso restaurant Tony Singh, co-founder of Caledonia Contracts Amanda Boyle, and Scots entrepreneur Chris Gorman OBE.

All five MSPs agreed it was possible to make a fortune in Scotland during their pitch - and covered issues as diverse as renewable energy, vocational youth training, infrastructure improvements and climate change.

The clear winner of the debate was Jim Mather, SNP, who received the unanimous backing by the panel of entrepreneurs.

Speaking of Jim's win and the difference in business attitudes between England and Scotland , Chris Gorman OBE, said:

"Based on the presentation today I liked Jim's view. I love Scotland, I chose to be here but there's a fundamental difference in as much as although Scottish people help each other, they have a much bigger risk aversion and much less confidence."

Summing up her experience of the debate, Rachel Elnaugh (pictured right) said:

"I found it absolutely fascinating to hear the debate up in Scotland and I found Jim's pitch the most convincing.

"He offered real incentives for business to be based up here - it's about creating the environment and conditions for business to flourish and the fastest way to do that is to offer them incentives."

The debate was facilitated by BBC economic editor and Dragons' Den presenter, Evan Davis and chaired by Co-convener of the Parliament's Cross-Party Group on the Scottish Economy, Alex Neil MSP.

Background

Holyrood's award-winning Festival of Politics offers an extended programme of events to suit all ages and interests. Last year's critically acclaimed inaugural event proved so popular the Festival has been extended from three to four days, has more than twice the number of events and includes the World Press Photo Exhibition - held for the first time in Scotland.

Rachel Elnaugh, star of BBC business show Dragons' Den, founded her first business Red Letter Days in 1989 at the age of 24 and grew it into a market-leading company with an £18million turnover. The company ran into well-publicised difficulties in 2005 and was eventually bought out by fellow 'dragons' Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis. Rachel is now involved in various other business projects due to launch later this year.

Scottish-based entrepreneur Chris Gorman OBE acts as a mentor on Channel 4's Make Me a Million programme and has headed several successful ventures in both retail and technology businesses. His current business interests include Datastore, Quintessentially and purple-lounge.com. He is also Vice Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Exchange and is a Patron of YouthWorks and Governor of the Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama. He received an OBE for his services to business in June 2005.

Edinburgh-based Tony Singh is the Head Chef and co-founder of the Oloroso restaurant . He has gained considerable experience working in some of Scotland 's most famous restaurants including The Royal Scotsman train, The Balmoral Hotel, Martins Restaurant and HRH Royal Yacht Britannia. Tony has received a number of awards for his culinary skills and in 2000 he was awarded the prestigious title of ITV Chef of The Year.

Amanda Boyle co-founded Caledonia Contracts Ltd, a Dundee-based contractor specialising in shopfitting and commercial interiors, nine years ago. Her clients include Lakeland , Oddbins, Starbucks, Vision Express and Schuh and the company has a turnover in excess of £4million. She was awarded the first Scotland 's Woman of Achievement 2005 and, in 2006, the Institute of Directors awards for Female Director of the Year and Non-Executive Director of the Year.

Evan Davis is the economics editor of the BBC and presenter of the popular BBC2 business-reality show, Dragons' Den. Before joining the BBC in 1993, he worked as an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and at the London Business School .

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