Scottish Enterprise () is a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

of 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 ...

which encourages

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

, innovation, international and

investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

in business. The body covers the eastern and central parts of

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 ...

whilst similar bodies, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise, operate in north-western and southern Scotland, respectively.

History

The body is a successor in part to the wide-ranging Scottish Development Agency which was established in 1975. The first Chairman of the SDA was Sir William Gray former

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

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 ...

. and the first Chief Executive was Dr, later Sir Lewis Robertson. The first year of its operation was 1977/78 with its functions described here in its first Annual Report 1978. Scottish Enterprise was created on 1 April 1991 under the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990. That act dissolved the Scottish Development Agency (SDA), created in 1975 and the Highlands and Islands Development Board forming Scottish Enterprise alongside Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise was created with a structure of Local Enterprise Companies (LECs). Initially these were Limited Companies with boards led by local businesspeople, but from 2000 they became wholly owned subsidiaries of Scottish Enterprise and were subsequently wound up. International trade and investment arm Scottish Development International was established in 2001 by merging the export promotion agency, Scottish Trade International (STI; 1991–2001) and the foreign direct investment and inward investment agency, Locate in Scotland (LiS; 1981–2001). It is jointly operated by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise. On 1 April 2008, the skills function of Scottish Enterprise moved out of the organisation to the newly formed Skills Development Scotland. Lena Wilson became the Chief Executive in 2009. She had previously led Scottish Development International. Lena Wilson left Scottish Enterprise in October 2017 after she was awarded a

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for her contribution to Scotland in 2015. Wilson had also lead the government's "Scottish Oil & Gas jobs taskforce" whose task was completed in 2017. She had received criticism from the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

over taking a paid, non-executive directorship with the multinational product testing and certification company

Intertek Intertek Group plc is a British multinational assurance, inspection, product testing and certification company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The ...

. Wilson had been paid £214,000 a year and she was replaced by Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Canals, who was offered £168,000. Steve Dunlop was still one of the top paid civil servants in Scotland. Dunlop resigned in 2020 and Linda Hanna became the interim CEO in the same month, with Adrian Gillespie taking over as CEO in June 2021.

Structure

Scottish Enterprise has around 1,100 staff based in ten offices across the UK, and offices in a further 20 overseas countries. Organisational structure consists of a board headed by chairman, Willie Mackie to oversee fulfilment of the objectives established by the

and an executive leadership team responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation. The leadership team consists of: *Adrian Gillespie - Chief Executive *Jane Martin, Managing Director of Innovation and Investment *Gill McNeill, Chief People Officer *Rhona Allison, Managing Director, Productivity and Business Growth *Douglas Colquhoun, Chief Financial Officer *Reuben Aitken, Managing Director, Energy Transition and International

Finances

Scottish Enterprise is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, although it also raises part of its budget from other sources such as property rental and disposal of assets. The Scottish Government's draft spending plans for 2018/2019 allocated £256 million to Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International.

Partners

Scottish Enterprise works with a range of other local, national and international strategic partners, from industry and the public sector to help deliver its wider range of services and sector-specific support across international trade, innovation, investment and growth. These include: * Scottish National Investment Bank (since 2020) * Skills Development Scotland *

VisitScotland VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board (), is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and ...

* Business Gateway *

Scottish Funding Council The Scottish Funding Council (Scottish Gaelic: '; SFC), formally the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, is the non-departmental public body charged with funding Scotland's further and higher education institutions, inclu ...

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to February 2023. It was responsible for stri ...

Scottish Enterprise's international interests are supported by Scottish Development International, the international arm of Scotland's enterprise agencies.

References

{{Economy of Scotland Development agencies of Scotland

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

1991 establishments in Scotland Government agencies established in 1991 Organisations based in Glasgow Business in Scotland