SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT APPOINTS ITS FIRST CHIEF ENTREPRENEUR

The Scottish Government has appointed Mark Logan as its chief entrepreneur, achieving one of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation’s (NSET) commitments.

The new role is aimed at ensuring entrepreneurship is embedded in the economy, and that partnerships with industry and investors are prioritised and strengthened.

Logan will be in post for an initial term of two years and will act as a senior advisor to the Start-up Nation Programme, which was established to deliver the NSET recommendations on entrepreneurship and the remaining recommendations of the Scottish Tech Ecosystem Review (STER).

He will also support the work of the forthcoming Stewart Review of women in enterprise.

Logan’s new remit includes engaging with Scotland’s existing community of start-up founders and the small business community to ensure that policy development and implementation is focused on meeting the needs of business.

He will be responsible for ensuring that entrepreneurship is instilled in the education and skills systems with clear routes established to setting up a business, supporting increased diversity and inclusion in business start-up and scaling and acting as a public advocate for the Start-Up Nation Programme.

His duties will also be to advise ministers on an entrepreneurial first approach within the public sector and advising on the longer-term structure and focus of the role, based on learning accumulated during the first term.

Logan commented on his appointment saying: “I am looking forward to building upon my existing role with the Scottish Government, working in partnership with our business community to boost entrepreneurialism across the economy.

There are so many innovative, creative enterprises across Scotland, and part of the task ahead is to provide the best possible environment in which they can thrive. A still greater opportunity is to free the untapped entrepreneurial potential of our people, and to ensure that every citizen has equal access to that opportunity.”

Logan has been instrumental in the success of multiple start-ups, including as chief operating officer of Skyscanner. He was selected as chief entrepreneur following consideration of evidence on a list of professionals with a proven entrepreneurial background.

Announcing the appointment during a visit to the Inverness Creative Academy, Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “Mark Logan will be a brilliant asset to the Scottish Government; we’ve already drawn on his expertise in developing the STER report and enhancing Scotland’s tech credentials.

Now we are ready to take this to the next level and ensure entrepreneurial thinking and skillsets are enshrined in the curriculum and across the public, private and social enterprise sectors.”

She added: “As we look beyond the pandemic we must be ready to seize the economic opportunities that come with achieving net zero and becoming a fairer country.

The National Strategy for Economic Transformation is clear – embedding an entrepreneurial mind set across the economy will be key to achieving our economic goals and I look forward to working closely with Mark on this.”