The creation of the new agency is a fundamental opportunity. My answer to John Mason’s question would be to say yes on all three points, but I would say that, would I not?
In the past, we have had a problem with access and reach and the availability of markets. We have a geography of many small communities that are not themselves economic drivers, and that has been difficult for business start-ups. The region has more businesses per head than elsewhere in Scotland, and they do not normally come through the public sector. We need to think about how we count them. The main sectors in the region are traditional, with long-established supply chains, and in a low-wage economy people do not have the ability to start up new businesses.
Without digital, which is now coming, access to markets—especially as one moves further west—has been almost impossible. The situation with businesses became almost a self-fulfilling prophecy—dumbing down took place over a period of years. In recognising that we want the agency to be everywhere, in every community, with all the partners present, we have an opportunity to be where the young entrepreneurs are. The R100 digital connectivity programme will enable our businesses in the creative industries and in new industries to connect. If we make those connections, it will be like the moons aligning at once. If that happens, why would people whose market is Scandinavia, for example, not want to live in a beautiful place like the south of Scotland?
The agency can provide significant capacity in that respect. The councils have done what they can, but our business start-up teams contain less than a handful of people. If we have everybody working in every community in one large connected partnership team, we will start to pick out the people with skills and attract entrepreneurs to come to live here. Why would Tesla not want to build its products here? We are the green lungs—we sit between the central belt and the northern powerhouse. Why would a green company not want to locate itself here, if we can provide the skills and the technology? The enterprise agency can bring together connections in that respect.
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