Scottish Business Network (SBN) is a non-profit organisation based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. SBN is led by Chair Russell Dalgleish and aims to connect the

Scottish diaspora The Scottish diaspora consists of Scottish people who emigrated from Scotland and their descendants. The diaspora is concentrated in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland and to a lesser extent A ...

and support international business connectivity from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It organises Scottish International Week, a series of international events that promote trade, exports, and internationalisation opportunities for Scottish companies by facilitating connections with the diaspora.

History

The history of Scottish Business Network (SBN) dates back to 2008 when Russell Dalgleish was inspired by an art event in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

organised by Antony Gormley. Dressed in a kilt and playing

Scottish music Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, often known as Scottish folk music, which remained vibrant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. Traditiona ...

, Dalgleish reflected on his Scottish identity and his lack of connection to Scotland while in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Motivated by this experience, in 2016, Russell Dalgleish and former Scottish Enterprise executive Christine Esson founded SBN to connect Scots in the UK capital. SBN's initial focus was to host monthly events in London, featuring Scottish firms such as Appointed, to engage with senior Scots, stimulating commercial activities. Later, SBN set up "soft landing" support centres in London and

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, providing facilities and local network access to help Scottish companies expand. Additional events were held in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and Dubai. The organisation also introduced a digital platform developed by

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

's VeryConnect and a consultancy service aimed at helping Scottish businesses enter new markets. In 2017, SBN received a small grant from the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

and

Scottish Enterprise Scottish Enterprise () is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government which encourages economic development, Business, enterprise, innovation, international and investment agency, investment in business. The body covers the eastern ...

to support sustainable economic growth in Scotland. In February 2021, SBN established an office in the United States to enhance support for Scottish companies in North America and to facilitate trade between the regions. Previously, in 2020, the organisation appointed Ian

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

as the

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Tom Thomas in India, and Fraser Grier in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Since its founding in 2016, the network has evolved to include 48 voluntary ambassadors across 22 countries, focusing on facilitating global business connections for the Scottish diaspora.

References

{{reflist Organisations based in Edinburgh