Accountancy agency Johnston Carmichael has assembled a tech advisory board together with a few of Scotland’s most senior figures within the sector.
The group – which incorporates seven exterior advisers – incorporates entrepreneurs, enterprise leaders and traders to assist its shoppers entry recommendation on reaching progress.
It’s going to present the present in-house crew with steering on technique and supply, and also will straight join group members with shoppers and contacts of the agency.
A key ambition of the panel is encouraging homegrown companies to develop internationally, in accordance with a press release from the agency.
Among the many recruits is Polly Purvis, former director of agritech enterprise Clever Development Options and former chief govt of ScotlandIS.
She is an energetic board member, with roles together with director of Edinburgh Science Competition and board member of Converge Problem, which works with universities to help spin-outs.
Additionally enlisted is Giles Hamilton, chief govt of Inverness-based life sciences enterprise ODx Improvements, who has served as board member to greater than 50 world organisations and held ministerial appointments within the UK and Scottish Governments.
One other appointment is Alisdair Gunn, who heads up Framewire, an advisory apply for tech and digital start-ups, who was additionally a founding father of the Turing Competition and is presently main the event of Glasgow’s digital sector as a part of the Glasgow Metropolis Innovation District.
Others within the group embrace:
- Hazel McIntyre, a advisor monetary director and adviser with a background in fundraising, acquisition and disposals, whose earlier roles embrace chief monetary officer at Present Well being and Lomond Capital.
- Grant Smith, board member at The Knowledge Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for knowledge and AI, and advisor to 3rd sector organisation ONE Digital & Entrepreneurship.
- Les Gaw, a non-executive director and early stage adviser, who can also be chairman of safety enterprise Decide Safety and chief govt of monetary software program agency Contigens.
- Brendan Waters, company finance advisor to tech companies together with Fan Duel and Canine Digital, in addition to being a founding father of Cruachan Advisory.
The exterior specialists are joined by Shaun Millican, companion and head of know-how and life sciences at Johnston Carmichael, and Andrew Holloway, company tax director and the pinnacle of the agency’s entrepreneurial taxes crew.
The agency already acts for a spread of firms within the tech sector, from start-ups to worldwide corporates and is a sponsor of occasions together with Future X’s Start-up Summit and Scottish Edge.
Scotland’s digital financial system is estimated to be value £7.5bn to Scottish GDP yearly. Throughout the nation, the tech sector employs 100,000 and in accordance with analysis carried out by ScotlandIS, one third of corporations anticipate to develop following the pandemic – notably in cloud companies, digital connectivity, distant working and digital well being options.
Millican stated: “From working at dwelling to distant education, know-how has turn out to be a really vital a part of all of our lives over the previous 12 months and its significance to recovering and rising our financial system can’t be over-stated.
“We need to guarantee companies working within the sector, no matter their measurement, have entry to the help required to assist them develop and contribute to the nation’s future success.”
Purvis stated: “The previous 12 months has demonstrated that lots of the conventional limitations to worldwide growth are actually drastically diminished, with an growing vary of dependable know-how instruments enabling lengthy distance enterprise to be carried out remotely, and enabling groups to work successfully from areas across the globe.
“We sit up for working with firms which have bold plans for internationalisation. With increasingly Scottish corporations seeking to dip their toes in world waters it’s a extremely thrilling time for the Scottish tech ecosystem.”
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