Scotland’s chief entrepreneur pledges sharper focus on rapidly scaling firms

She announced her three priorities at the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference at the University of Strathclyde’s Technology and Innovation Centre in Glasgow, taking part in a keynote session with Professor Eleanor Shaw OBE and Sir Tom Hunter.

Stewart said she will prioritise closer engagement with founders and the private sector, launching Scotland’s largest annual startup and scaleup survey and working directly with entrepreneurs to shape services around their needs. She will focus on tailored support for scaleups – designing interventions that support scale-ups to access new talent, capital and markets. And she pressed for better measurement of performance and impact – introducing consistent reporting to track progress and provide a transparent picture of Scotland’s entrepreneurial health.

Stewart said: “Scotland has made real progress towards becoming a first-rate startup nation. That foundation is essential – without a strong pipeline of promising new companies, there can be no scaleups. The next stage is to ensure these firms have the support they need to break through and grow at pace. That is a critical pathway to becoming a leading entrepreneurial economy.

“We have to ‘follow our founders’, supporting them from the spark of a new idea right through to rapid international growth. Scotland has world-class entrepreneurs, and many are the economy’s unsung heroes. We should celebrate and acknowledge their achievements whilst making sure nothing holds them back from growing.

“Our entrepreneurs have the talent and ambition to compete on the world stage. Our job is to remove barriers, connect them with the right support, and make Scotland one of the best HQs to build and scale a business. That is my aspiration.”

Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister, said: “Scotland can be proud of the progress made in recent years in building one of Europe’s fastest-growing entrepreneurial economies. That success is down to the talent and drive of our founders, alongside the support of many partners across the ecosystem.

“Ana Stewart’s plans will take that progress to the next level by focusing on how we help more of our companies to grow. Her emphasis on working closely with founders and listening to their needs is exactly the right approach and the Scottish Government is fully committed to backing her vision.”

Sir Tom Hunter said: “Scotland needs a laser focus on building scaling businesses. Why? If we double the number of scaleups from the estimated 675 today, we’d create around 75,000 new high value jobs; that drives economic growth.

“Ana has the talent and skill to deliver on this agenda and I, as well as many others, will support her on that journey.”