Global ambition

World’s your oysterTop opportunities for fi rst-time exporters

Anne MacColl’s vision of the future for Scotland’s growing export market

Business Insight

Tuesday May 14 2013

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Tuesday May 14 2013 | the times

Business Insight2

Ambition’s worldwide potentialHow does an emerging company gain a toehold in a far-off market of which it knows little? Are exports the route to company growth? And are they much harder to securewhen recession bites?These are some of the key questions for businesses small and large, particu-larly at a time when the domestic economy is struggling. This issue of Business Insight examines them all. There is no lack of organi-sations able and willing to offer advice, and some of them, such as Scottish Development Interna-tional, and GlobalScot, put forward their vision for the future, and identify where the greatest potential lies. But, as we conclude, in the end success still depends on individual companies, armed with a product, a plan, and the ambition to expand.

Welcome

Inside ...Times Business ForumA panel of experts gets around the table to discuss challenges and opportunities Page 4

Cover storyScottish Development International’s chief executive outlines her vision for our success overseas Page 6

Spanning the globeThe growing network of SDI locations and the markets they are addressing Page 8

Intelligence and imaginationA round-up of some diverse business sectors with the ambition to succeed Page 10

Seize advantage of a global shift

only chilled shipping containers to make sure our beer gets to customers in great condition,” said James Watt, BrewDog’s founder and self-styled ‘captain’.

“Also, as a young company exporting you have to be very careful who you give credit terms to and manage credit tightly. You need good companies to work with, ones that want to sell your product, but also buy into what you believe in as a company and are in it for the long term.”

On support, he said: “SDI in particu-lar has been fantastic over the past three years. We’ve only been able to grow so quickly overseas because of the help we’ve had from them in funding a few of our overseas initiatives and through the great network of overseas offices where you can get advice and support. We’ll definitely continue to use SDI as we con-tinue to grow our business over the next few years.”

With a new £7 million eco-brewery recently opened in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, BrewDog has the capacity to meet that growth in demand.

Sweden, its top export market and Scandinavia as a whole is important to the company, said ‘Watt. “China, Brazil and Japan and some other Asian markets are also strong for us.”

Dog Digital (‘Dog’), the award winning Glasgow and London digital marketing agency, is pursuing a strategy to become a global business and has invested heav-ily to establish an Asia headquarters in Singapore.

“We turn over roughly four to five million pounds a year and are looking at growth moving into double digit per-centages while we hope that 25 per cent of our business will come through the Singapore office in the next year or so,” said Gerry McCusker, managing director. “We’ll also be looking at other places, in-cluding the Americas.”

Experience in selling to overseas mar-kets has taught Dog how each market has its own nuances. “That’s particularly the case for cultural aspects such as the use of social media,” said McCusker.

For example: Dog’s online campaign for the UEFA Europa and Champions’ leagues. “Particularly with the Europa League campaign on Facebook, we saw huge differences in how the different na-tions used social media,” said McCusker.

“In some countries, like the Philip-pines, there’s huge penetration of mobile technology but not so many desktop PCs. In the UK you can talk to many demo-graphics across multiple platforms, but when you cut some of that out, the mar-ket shape can be quite different.”

Acquiring such knowledge has posi-tioned the company as an agency that can deal with international businesses wishing to promote itself in different con-tinents.

His thoughts on exporting: “It’s not just the cash involved. There’s a lot of time, head-space and planning needed. For ex-

ample, never underestimate challenges involved in operating two main business-es with a seven or eight hour time differ-ence between them and 14 hour flights.”

In Singapore, Dog wanted to grow a team that was the Asian version of what it has in the UK, rather than a branch office. This involved a significant propor-tion of local hires including the compa-ny’s Asia managing director, Selene Chin, who is well networked in Singapore so that BrewDog was a player from the out-set rather than the new guys in town who had just got off the aeroplane.

“SDI and Scottish Enterprise (SE) have worked with us at key points in our inter-national journey,” said McCusker.

“They worked with us to create a strat-egy workshop and planning time where we formulated our company vision. We

Independent Scottish brewer Brew-Dog opened a bar in Sweden last month and marked a new mile-stone in the company’s emerging export success story. The water-ing hole in Stockholm is the first overseas bar for BrewDog, but it has deals in place to open others in Japan, Brazil and India before the end of the year to extend its

brand, and raise awareness and drive sales of its beers.

With BrewDog beer now selling in 38 countries, turnover in 2012 was £10.7 million and exports accounted for 62 per cent while growing in line with a stellar 95 per cent increase in overall sales.

It is just the kind of success story involving a Small and Medium Sized (SME) business that Scottish Develop-ment International (SDI), the interna-tional Trade and Investment arm of the Scottish government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, likes to hear.

It is also a case study to encourage oth-er SMEs to take the plunge into export-ing during Export Week which is running across the United Kingdom from now through May 17 with a focus on high-growth markets.

These opportunities reflecting global economic shifts from west to east include Brazil, Colombia, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mex-ico, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singa-pore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

In making sure that Scotland has a wide range of events during the week, SDI has worked closely with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the UK government agency that spearheads Export Week as a key part of a national export challenge to encourage SMEs to look abroad for growth. The Scottish events are detailed online at www.sdi.co.uk/exportweek.

The National Export Challenge aims to boost the percentage of SMEs that ex-port, from around 20 per cent in 2011 to 25 per cent or more. Moreover, the Scot-tish government has set an ambitious target to increase the value of Scottish Exports by 50% by 2017.

Exporting is a daunting challenge for any company, not least for SMEs, and public sector support is almost universal-ly seen as essential. SDI, UKTI and other partners help companies plan strategies, make trade visits, develop networks, and enjoy continuing support overseas through SDI offices, some shared with UKTI.

These efforts are well evidenced in some of the most impressive stories from Scotland. BrewDog gauged from the start that overseas markets for its style of beers were more developed than domes-tic ones, but nevertheless faced consider-able hurdles.

“It’s a logistical challenge as we use

This month’s National Export Week has the potential to allow Scottish SMEs to exploit new opportunities for their goods and services in a rapidly expanding world marketplace. Rob Stokes takes stock of potential business

Martin Keith and James Watt, the founders of BrewDog have proved their bottle as exporters

Business Insightthe times | Tuesday May 14 2013 3

Scottish Development International

Scottish Enterprise

Scottish Enterprisewww.scotentblog.co.uk

Scottish Development International @ScotDevInt

Scottish Enterprise @ScotEnt

Scottish Enterprisewww.facebook.com/scottishenterprise

Scottish Development Internationalwww.youtube.com/user/SDItv

Make new global connections

BLOG

The word is out ... to the worldIf communication is the glue that binds groups and societies together, Clyde Broadcast is doing more than its share for the world. And it’s doing so with the voice of experience — almost literally.

For the roots of what is now a major supplier of radio stations to the world are still deep in Scotland’s west country, where in 1973 Radio Clyde began broadcasting in Glasgow before moving to its current Clydebank home and HQ in 1984.

Having enjoyed a great local recep-tion from these beginnings — and grown accordingly in confidence — it branched out with the name Clyde Broadcast intent on spreading its expertise not only to its own business advantage but to the social cohesion of less well-equipped societies around the globe.

As a manufacturer of audio equip-ment for the broadcast industry since 1980 Clyde is unique in also being a system integrator, offering genuine turnkey installation services for radio stations of all sizes. Its experts can install a broadcast suite for as little as £5,000.

Not surprisingly, customers are increasingly spread across the globe, says the company’s sales director Brian Rowan: “We are now doing business in Africa, India, Europe, Australasia and even America. I don’t think there’s a continent where we haven’t delivered a commercial broadcast radio station.

“We have seen a great level of growth in Russia, and India is coming on very

strongly. A recent major project was the installation of 16 radio stations for Africa and, with these now completed, the same customers have come back for another 14.”

The company’s expansive ambitions have been supported at every turn by the experts of Scottish Development International — and managing director Phil Collins is unstinting in his apprecia-tion of their fruitful introductions work. “They have been absolutely fantastic,” he says. “I can’t sing their praises enough. As an organisation and as individuals, they have been quite superb. I would strongly advise any Scottish company with international ambitions to talk to them as a priority.”

Seize advantage of a global shift

then looked at international strategy and they provided consultancy support. SDI and SE have allowed us to accelerate growth. Working with the GlobalScots has allowed us to network with estab-lished business players and introduced us to key players in the Asian market that have led into pitches. You can’t ask more than that, but SDI also has a local pres-ence in the Singapore market that can help you to open doors and we are con-tinually working that.”

GlobalScot is a world leading dias-pora network established by Scottish Enterprise. It has also been useful to UK translation company Lingo24, which was founded in Aberdeen in 2001 and is now one of the fastest-growing translation companies in the world.

Lingo24 has continental hubs in Ed-

inburgh, London, Timisoara (Romania), Panama City, the Philippines and New Zealand, customers in some 50 countries, and also helps clients make money from multilingual material through channels such as foreign language internet mar-keting (FLIM), website and product lo-calisation, and revolutionary translation technology.

Lingo24 did £7 million in sales last year and has grown around 30 per cent annu-ally for two years, according to founder and managing director Christian Arno.

“Businesses of all scales can start to see if they can generate international sales at very low cost using our free web-based tools,” he said.

“We’re covering the globe to source translators, service clients and sell more into regions where growth is quicker and there’s more opportunity than in Europe.”

Lingo24 has received significant sup-port from SDI through matched funding, advice, and connections. For example, when Arno was looking to develop the Americas market, some of the firm’s trav-el costs were 50 per cent funded.

“We also received advice on the best regions for us to visit and I tapped into

the GlobalScot network for advice from expat Scots who were keen to see people from the old country do well. Their in-sights really help and they give their time freely.”

New technology due to be incorpo-rated soon will allow Lingo24 to scale up more rapidly to exploit opportunities and to increase profitability, Arno said.

One such tool is branded Coach. It is partly a translator’s workbench and part-ly a learning-management tool for young translators moving through the system.

“It allows us to translate at lower cost by dividing up tasks that would have previously been done by one relatively expensive person,” Arno said. “It also lets us control quality tightly to a level between, say, Google Translate and pro-fessional translations that come at very different price points.”

From his perspective, those businesses who really address international markets and understand the foreign language internet can make significant inroads. “Those who get it, really get it,” he said. The sentiment could equally apply to ex-porting in general.

Working with GlobalScots has allowed us to network with established contacts that have introduced us to key Asian players

Christian Arno says new technology will help scale up Lingo24’s operations

Phil Collins of Clyde Broadcast

Tuesday May 14 2013 | the times

Business Insight4

Business Forum

International ambition key to Scotland’s prosperity

Scotland’s exports have either slumped or are boom-ing, depending on which fig-ure you happen to stumble across. According to the lat-est quarterly Index of Man-ufactured Exports, the vol-ume of goods sold overseas have slumped by almost 3 per cent over the past year,

whereas the latest Scottish Global Connec-tions survey, based on value of sales rather than volume, showed exports had shot up to almost £24 billion in 2011. But whether boom or slump, the Scottish government has set an ambitious target of a 50 per cent increase in the value of international ex-ports by 2017.

In terms of representing Scotland abroad, how good is government and what more could it do to help?Martin Johnson said that HIE always found Scottish ministers to be very sup-portive and always responded favourably to any request of help from them. Describ-ing the 50 per cent increase in the value of exports target as ‘bold’, he pointed out that ministers are not only supportive of export support agencies, by attending trade mis-sions overseas and other activities, but also of individual exporting businesses.

Craig Clark mentioned that a recent trade mission to California organised by UKTI and SDI had helped him better understand the infrastructure that the gov-ernment has around the world to support businesses exporting from the UK.

“I work closely with David Willetts, the UK government minister for universities and science, and see that there is a drive to grow exports and there are people within the support network who are not career politicians but have a lot of business expe-rience,” he said.

“I think that some exporters expect something different from government whereas I see government as being almost

departments, which wasn’t the case a few years ago.”

Commenting that Scottish finance minister John Swinney had recently vis-ited the Far East for the second time so far this year, Francis noted that ministers were keen to develop strategic alliances with certain parts of the international community to create frameworks that enable Scottish companies to gain access to export markets quicker.

“These are some of the new models we’re beginning to see coming into play; international collaborations are going to be a real way forward for some sectors,” he said.

Operating in a global market, is being Scottish-based immaterial, an advantage or a drawback?Clark found that being in Scotland was an advantage because most of his customers, no matter where they are in the world, are English-speaking and most European documents for his sector are written in English.

“Much of our business is done in the US and a lot of problems with their ex-port control due to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) has made them wary of doing business overseas, which is an advantage to us because it means that we can sell more readily to customers all over the world,” he said.

“I find that our customers like Scottish people and want to do business with Scot-tish companies and I do find that is an ad-vantage for us.”

Whilst making the point that for any company to succeed internationally it must have a great product, priced competitively and which fills a gap in the market, Francis stated that SDI is building a backdrop prop-

osition around Scotland’s exporting sectors that can make life easier for exporters.

“The Scottish element is really impor-tant in whisky and, in food and drink, the whole notion of premium and provenance adds a valuable backdrop,” he said.

“When we look globally at our key sec-tors, we can identify those markets that, for the sector as a whole, represent good oppor-tunities and we can then invest some of our own energy in making sure that we have in-market resources in those key markets.”

Has e-commerce made attendance at overseas trade fairs and exhibitions less important or do they go hand in hand?Clark revealed that his was the first space company in the world to have an online shop where customers from around the globe, including NASA, have bought satel-lite parts using a credit card.

“Whilst it’s important for us to make sure that we’ve got substantial information on our website, we also want to meet the customer face to face,” he said.

“The very first thing I did after estab-lishing the company was to take a stand at a conference in Japan and we got one of our first contracts from that. You can’t just rely on the internet to communicate the brand.”

Ros Donaldson agreed that trade fairs are important. “It’s about looking in the whites of somebody’s eyes and building that relationship,” she said.

“The internet, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, you can do it all, but there’s no substitute for actually sitting in a room talking with your customer, whether it be about the product you are selling or what they had for lunch that day; it’s that rela-tionship that’s important. That’s where the trust and the loyalty will build from and I

The latest Times Scotland Business Forum met to discuss the challenges and opportunities for Scotland’s smart exporters. Graham Lironi listened to a passionate debate

Martin Johnson and Steve Bracken discuss the rising value of exports

like another customer — I need something from government in order to benefit my company and I will treat achieving that goal as achieving a sale, whereas some companies seem to think that they will just put their hand out and they will be given something, which is completely the wrong way of going about it.”

Steve Bracken noted that Alex Salmond has been extremely supportive of the Food & Drink sector, recognising that Salmon is the largest food export from Scotland.

Neil Francis said that the government’s strategic commitment to increasing ex-ports is very strong.

“If Scotland is going to succeed and grow then we have to become an interna-tional Scotland,” he said.

“While that means understanding what’s happening globally in terms of in-ternational trade, many of our exports are generated by companies which have in-vested in Scotland, so the trade side and the investment side are just different sides of the same coin.”

He also noted that the international network of embassies, consulates and SDI’s own growing office presence give a fantastic footprint across the globe.

Acknowledging the Scottish govern-ment’s export target, Ron Archibald noted that the UK target for exports is £1 trillion by 2020, which represents slightly more than double last year’s figure.

“From a UK government perspective, I’ve been aware of a much more concerted effort across Whitehall of trying to pull together the interests of various export

Business Insightthe times | Tuesday May 14 2013 5

don’t know that there’s any getting away from that.”

Francis suggested that the mix of ecom-merce with in-market activity comes from having a clear strategy and understanding of what your objectives are and what your market looks like.

“We do exhibitions, missions and learn-ing journeys — and it’s all part of the in-market activity and, depending on the characteristics of the market, product and sector, that kind of mix has to be custom-ised and specific to what you’re trying to do. Often people think that if they go to an exhibition they will meet a new customer and sign an order there and then — but that very rarely happens.”

Donaldson agreed, observing that budg-ets typically have to be signed off by vari-ous management layers before a decision is made — rather than at a trade fair.

“You might have a few ladders to climb and a few doors to open before you get that signature,” she said.

Iain Weir agreed, suggesting that, rather than securing sales, an important part of exhibitions is to build relationships over time.

“Business doesn’t happen quickly — it takes time. You have to attend trade shows and knock on the door, often over a num-ber of years, before you build up the trust and the relationship, then all of a sudden the business really starts to take off,” he said.

“I think the days of expecting to come home from a trade show with a full or-der book are gone. From our perspective, e-commerce is part of the overall market-ing mix that allows access to more infor-mation and in certain markets allows ac-cess to purchase — and social media offers areas where you can continue to build your Ron Archibald and Iain Weir ponder government support and tariffs

relationship and get your brand and per-sonality into the marketplace.”

Bracken pointed out that, once a com-pany takes a presence at a trade show, it needs to maintain it: “Because if you don’t appear one year, or if your exhibition stand is smaller than it was the previous year, then customers assume that you’re in dif-ficulty — so you have to give it a lot of thought.”

Elaine Ferguson noted that, for SMEs, getting out on the ground at various trade fairs and exhibitions around the world can be a challenge, whilst acknowledging the importance of doing so.

“Our technology is for an emerging market so we generally make our sales in a face-to-face situation so that covering the ground is really important, as is having lo-cal market knowledge,” she said.

Have companies in Scotland been pushed into exporting due to a depressed domes-tic market?Weir suggested that the recession has pushed exporting in the whisky industry, which is now looking to drive value more than volume – the biggest market by value is the US and by volume is France

“Whisky sales in the UK are down 12 per cent, but export-wise we are doing

fantastic business, maybe not in southern Europe, but we’ve been able to shift that stock elsewhere, to Asia, South America and other emerging markets. The industry has very much looked outwith traditional markets to continue to drive and develop.”

Francis added that, despite the well-documented economic difficulties of the southern EU countries, Scotland’s exports to the EU are actually up by 15 per cent, suggesting that exporters are continuing to find growth in the EU.

How does an SME tackle the challenge of entering a new market with a different culture?Willie Stewart explained that there are a number of ways of entering a new market, such as contacting SDI and UKTI, which have in-country experience of all the op-portunities available, online research and the GlobalScot network which connects exporters with Scots abroad with estab-lished networks of useful local contacts throughout the world.

“It’s very important that, if you develop a relationship with a partner or agent in a new market, that you go and visit in per-son,” he said. “But before you do any of that, you’ve got to do thorough market re-search and develop a market analysis plan that lays everything out.”

What are the barriers to exporting?Ironically, the fact that companies are ‘busy doing business’ can often mean there’s simply not enough time to focus on research and strategy, as the main focus is being on the frontline with customers. Ar-chibald added, “securing talented people with the requisite skills and expertise” and “navigating the volume of support can ap-pear overwhelming.” Not all support avail-able will apply to every company, which is why it’s important to speak to the agencies directly. Francis added: “We are working with non-exporting companies to build capacity, capability and ambition through our Smart Exporter programme. We’re also working with over 2000 companies on their growth strategy with the aim of build-ing a truly international Scotland.”

Back row, left to right: Ron Archibald, Elaine Ferguson, Craig Clark, Martin Johnson, Iain Weir, Steve Bracken, Neil FrancisFront row, left to right: Willie Stewart, Magnus Linklater, Ros Donaldson

Around the table�� The Business Forum was chaired by Magnus Linklater CBE, columnist for The Times Scotland, who was joined by:�� Neil Francis, International Trade & Investment Director, SDI�� Ron Archibald, Director of Tradeshow Access Programme, UKTI �� Martin Johnson, Area Manager for the Inner Moray Firth, HIE �� Willie Stewart, GlobalScot�� Iain Weir, Marketing Director, Ian Macleod Distillers�� Ros Donaldson, Business Development Manager, Tidalfire �� Craig Clark, Managing Director, Clyde Space�� Elaine Ferguson, Finance Director, Biopta�� Steve Bracken, Business Support Manager, Marine Harvest

JAMES GLOSSOP fOr thE tiMES

Exporting the gift of romance They surely wouldn’t have been the first to note a general need for higher-quality Scottish giftware but design entrepre-neur Lyndsey Bowditch and former journalist Gillian Crawford were bold enough to do something about it.

Inspired by love of Scotland’s history and heritage, they formed a business partnership, called their Edinburgh-based company Tartan Twist, and proceeded to follow their vision to create a range of luxurious, affordable and authentic Scottish gifts.

That was in 2008, and things hap-pened super-quickly thereafter. In the same year their enterprise won Best New Product at Scotland’s International Trade Fair — a huge boost for a firm hardly off the launchpad, for although the pair had been thinking expansively, the show generated a surprising degree of global interest, with orders from North America and Japan.

Further developments confirmed the world to be highly receptive to “roman-tic, dramatic and authentic” sterling silver necklaces, pendants and bracelets “inspired by Scotland’s windswept islands, desolate beaches and rugged mountain landscapes”.

Not the least of these developments were the showcasing of their products at The Gathering and Year of the Home-coming in 2009, and being nominated Jewellery/Accessory Designer of the Year 2010 at the Scottish Fashion Awards.

While capitalising on the reputation enjoyed by Scottish goods in the US, they were encouraged to undertake vital customer research on exporting. Gillian said: “Last year we undertook a six-week Smart Exporter programme through SDI that allowed us to put together a blueprint for overseas expansion. We knew we had a product with a strong export potential but were aware we had to plan our international growth in an organised and structured fashion, follow-ing our blueprint and identifying and focusing on our key target markets.

“Working with SDI, we learned to approach such markets in a methodi-cal manner, breaking them down into manageable sections, researching them thoroughly before visiting and building up contacts. The support we’ve received has been invaluable.”

For more information on the Smart Exporter trade skills programme visit:www.sdi.co.uk/exporttraining

Tartan Twist takes style overseas

Elaine Ferguson emphasises face-to-face contact in doing business overseas

Tuesday May 14 2013 | the times

Business Insight6

Cover story

A flame-haired car-toon warrior prin-cess has certainly proved a strong ally in selling brand Scotland recently. With Scottish export sales increasing to £23.9 billion last

year, there is clearly much to be positive about. However, when it comes to in-creasing our global competitiveness, Anne MacColl, the chief executive of Scottish Development International (SDI), agrees some business sectors could do with a lit-tle of that warrior spirit … because in the pursuit of success, they are going to have to become a lot more Brave.

The term “passionate” is often attrib-uted to MacColl, when assessing her ap-proach to the job of promoting Scotland globally, but “fervent” may be nearer the mark. This is no way a criticism; the SDI chief has the kind of determined optimism about Scotland’s economic potential, commitment to collaborative working, and utter belief in our ability to deliver, that at once dazzles and inspires.

Just before taking over at the helm of SDI more than two years ago, MacColl was the organisation’s director of opera-tions for Europe, the Middle East and Afri-ca (EMEA), and crucial to securing online retail giant Amazon’s £60 million invest-ment in Edinburgh and Dunfermline. At the time, Allan Lyall, vice-president of European operations at Amazon, said its decision to base such a major expan-sion in Scotland against stiff international competition, was not only because of the talented workforce available, but also the “impressive professionalism of Scottish Development International.”

Of course, the role of SDI, and that of MacColl, is not just to attract investment, but to help boost trade and export glob-ally, by raising the aspirations and ambi-tions of more Scottish businesses.

“It’s about saying what can we do to help Scotland grow better, further and faster,” says MacColl. “The answer has to be international, through the develop-ment of both indigenous and inward in-vestors. This has to be a good thing for Scotland. Every year SDI works hard to achieve high performance in helping in-ternational trade and export and bring-ing in international investment, and in this past year we’ve created jobs and in-creased the value of Scottish exports to the rest of the world.

“We’re very engaged globally, and al-though the economy is still tough with difficult pockets such as Spain, Greece and Portugal still suffering in a global sense, there are positive signs. The Euro is starting to recover, and in Asia we have some of the biggest opportunities to make transformational change.

“My job is making sure organisations know and understand the support they can access and that international com-panies coming here know and under-stand what the benefits are. Scotland has put a clear marker down — we are part of a global business community where, for a small country of 5.1 million people, we more than hold our own. However,

there is no room for complacency in trade and investment, we have to work really hard in close collaboration with all agencies to deliver more transforma-tional change.”

Change has begun. Scotland’s oil and gas industry has witnessed a 14th year of growth in supply chain exports and Scot-tish firms are now active in more than 100 markets across the world, and figures show international activity accounting for almost 50 per cent of total sales.

“The achievements by the oil and gas industry have been very significant but

there are other elements to Scotland’s en-ergy story,” says MacColl. “We have fan-tastic natural energy, and although our renewables development is nascent it is more than finding its feet. International companies such as Gamesa, Mitsubishi, and Samsung have all announced plans to invest in Scotland to develop renew-able technologies. Our oil and gas sector is a mature and highly professional world class industry, but the way in which we continue to develop that globally is cru-cial. There are challenges, with growing competition in some countries where

The chief executive of SDI explains her vision of promoting Scotland on the world stage to Ginny Clark

there have been discoveries; however challenges can also be seen as opportuni-ties. We are saying to countries such as Ghana, Australia and Brazil, that we have the professional expertise and experience that is also of great value.”

Scottish food and drink exports, mean-while, reached £5.31 billion in 2012, the second highest on record, according to SDI, with whisky accounting for around 80 per cent of that after a record 12 months where values reached £4.27 billion.

“Food and drink exports have done fantastically well over the past five years,”

rOB StOthArD fOr thE tiMES

Looking upward but no room for complacency

It’s about saying what we can do to help Scotland grow better, further and faster

Business Insightthe times | Tuesday May 14 2013 7

WE SPEAK FLUENT EXPORT.

The move from national to international business is

an exciting step which can signifi cantly grow your business.

At Smart Exporter, we can help you boost your profi ts in UK

markets and beyond. Discover your export potential with

our free resources and export training.

Visit www.sdi.co.uk/exporttraining or call 0800 019 1953.

Smart Exporter services are funded and delivered by Scottish Development International (SDI) in partnership with Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE), Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

says MacColl. “Scotch whisky is loved all around the world, and exports have in-creased by 87 per cent over the past 10 years. The global retail value of Scottish farmed salmon has also surpassed £1 bil-lion, which is a massive jump. Our salm-on and seafood, together with whisky, are all high value niche products, and are not only in demand across Europe, but also increasingly in emerging markets.”

Breaking the food and drink export markets down shows a changing pat-tern over the last year. The US has now overtaken France as Scotland’s top market, growing by 12.5 per cent to £817 million, beating France at £675 million. Singapore has also soared up the rankings to No.3 with exports of £340.5 million, with whisky accounting for £339 million of that. The £5.31 billion total for food and drink exports in 2012 was a 1.4 per cent drop on 2011, although an increase of 18 per cent on 2010, with that slight decrease ex-plained in part by the problems in some European countries. Yet exports did in-crease in Germany, up by 16 per cent, and parts of Eastern Europe, with Estonia, for instance, up 28 per cent.

“The broad picture is upward but we have to be aware of the challenges,” says MacColl. “There is a bit of difficulty with the eurozone, but the main challenge is helping exporters to lift their eyes and look at Asia. Last November we had a trade mission to Tokyo and Shanghai, and some of the people we took had real trepidation about going and had never boarded a plane to sell their businesses before. When I spoke to them at the end of it, they said how transformational the

trip had been, putting them in front of buyers for hotels and restaurants where their products were very well received.

“Perthshire company The Scottish Deli had already started supplying langous-tines and lobster to Japan three months before the trip but after meeting their im-porter in Tokyo, the company has tripled its next order and added another five top-end fish and shellfish products to its ex-port range to Japan. It’s just a small snap-shot of what happened in one week, but just imagine what can still be achieved.

“My message is: ‘If you’re not export-ing, why — and what can we do at SDI to help overcome any barriers?’ Some of the barriers are more about perception. Some companies say to me it’s too difficult to think about trading overseas because of language and other differences, but I’d say it’s more risky right now for many produc-ers to stay here rather than to look at Chi-na, India or Brazil. They need to turn that risk on its head, and if they want to sur-vive they need to think about exporting.”

Last year SDI opened seven new international offices. Some — such as Ghana, Brazil, Stavanger and Calgary — point very spe-cifically to oil and gas opportuni-

ties. However, SDI is also looking to place Scotland strategically, where the gaze of the world will be, for example, Brazil during the 2016 Olympics and the 2014 World Cup.

For MacColl, it’s all about seeing op-portunity — and grabbing it. For Scotland to do that most effectively, she believes we still have a job to do in developing

our collective international mindset. She certainly sets a good example, having set up home near Toulouse, in France, in 1999, where she worked with Chambers of Commerce across the country, before moving to Madrid to work with business consultancy Soluziona.

“I do think as a country, we could do better,” she says. “My son and daughter are lucky enough to speak French and Spanish — and English with a Scots ac-cent! I’d love to see more young Scottish people embracing an international mind-set. This can be about languages or ex-ploring the world from different angles, to study, see job opportunities — to look beyond Scotland. I recently spoke to some young people at Balfron High School, fo-cusing on why there are five good rea-sons to learn another language, not just for communication, but also to widen

your world , to help you see things differ-ently, to understand another culture, and to understand the opportunities available through living in a different country. If you can understand and embrace a cul-ture, then doing business is easy.

“Look at the success of Glasgow com-pany Aggreko, why wouldn’t a young Scottish engineer want to go and work for them in Brazil — or to Edinburgh com-pany MESL Microwave who now export more than 70 per cent of their products? I’m very passionate about the importance of an international mindset, and if we can help the younger generation see these possibilities are within their grasp, that has to have benefits for the Scottish economy.”

Despite her optimism, MacColl is still aiming for that “transformation”, and is quite clear that she — and Scotland —have a lot of hard work ahead.

“While the value of exports has in-creased, the number of exporters is not increasing at the rate we need for trans-formational change. Every company, whether product or service, should be thinking about international trade as a given, in their nuts and bolts strategy for the future; if not a given, then where do they want to be in five years’ time?

“Come and talk to us, look at some of the services we offer — missions, exhibi-tions, courses, workshops, business plans. We can put companies in touch with staff in our global offices who understand markets, just ask how we can help and see what opportunities it offers.

“Many companies need to be a bit braver, as many successful Scottish com-panies already have been.”

Multinational skillsAnne MacColl was appointed the chief executive of Scottish Development International (SDI), the international Trade and Investment arm of the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enter-prise, in December 2010. She joined SDI as the Regional Head for Southern Europe in 2005, becoming the organisation’s Operations Director for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region in 2007, based in Paris.

Before this, she lived and worked for two years in Madrid and also for three years near Toulouse, France, as a manage-ment consultant to the French Chambers of Commerce network, and as part of a national private Spanish consultancy, Soluziona.

Born in Oban, MacColl first gained a degree in French, Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Glasgow, then an MBA at Strathclyde Graduate Business School.

Tuesday May 14 2013 | the times

Business Insight8

International network

“Perception of time is different too. It can take longer to get things done and meetings may not start on time.”

The world’s sixth largest economy has returned to growth, if not quite at the rapid rates seen in recent years, but the underlying fundamentals make tempting reading for exporters. Brazil is the fi fth largest country in the world with a popu-lation of around 185 million people. GDP per head is higher than in India or China.

“There’s a large number of people mov-ing out of poverty into the middle class,” Sartini said. “There’s also a lot of wealthy people. They are forecasting one million millionaires in Brazil by 2020. There are rising opportunities for imported foreign consumer goods such as Scottish food and drink. Brazil was the fastest growing market for Scottish whiskies last year.”

Scottish exports to Brazil were worth £435 million in 2011, making it the coun-try’s 13th most important overseas mar-ket. Most of that was food, drink, and energy services sold into the booming oil and gas industry.

Other opportunities include creative industries, electronics, vehicle compo-nents, textiles, biosciences and medical devices, and chemicals. Massive infra-structure projects are in train: Rio will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.

“Many companies need to improve their workforce, so there will be lots of opportunities for training companies and

colleges,” Sartini said. “They are talking about a number of new hospitals being built, which implies a good number of new medical devices to be bought. The whole healthcare market is forecast to grow 35 per cent per year over the next 10 years.”

Some 40 Scottish-based companies known to be operating already in Brazil include Hydrasun, Wood Group and Ca-ley Ocean Systems. Others will be back for follow-up or fi rst visits on an SDI or-ganised trade mission in June.

“The main reason for being in Rio is on the back of the oil and gas opportunities,” said Sartini. “Many of the international oil and gas companies — Petrobras (the Brazilian national oil and gas company) in particular — have their headquarters here and much of the future oil and gas developments will be off the coast.”

It is very early days, but Sartini is al-ready thinking about how SDI may cover more of Brazil. “There is a lot of work to be done in Rio but I am thinking that if there is enough demand after a year, then we could perhaps also have someone in São Paulo, which is the business centre of Brazil for fi nance and industry.”

The World Cup and Olympic Games spell opportunity for IT and services companies as much as construction.

While Scotland’s expertise in oil, gas and whisky are well understood in Brazil, there is work to be done raising aware-ness of other strengths, Sartini said

Time zones no obstacle to success of new exports

SDI has been expanding its network of overseas of-fi ces providing valuable in-country intelligence, advice, support and net-working opportunities.

The expansion is evi-dence of the Scottish gov-ernment’s economic strat-egy which sets a target to

assist an increase in the value of Scot-tish exports by 50 per cent by 2017 and to support growth companies to extend their exports, particularly into fast grow-ing markets.

Scottish international exports in 2011 (excluding oil and gas) reached £23.9 bil-lion, £1.6 billion more than in 2010. The top fi ve destinations are all in Scotland’s traditional markets: 1, the US; 2, Nether-lands; 3, France; 4, Germany, and 5, Bel-gium. However, potentially faster growth prospects are seen in emerging econo-mies.

SDI is now based in 16 countries out with the UK and has been ploughing resources into opening up high-growth markets for a wide range of Scottish SMEs and sectors.

The women and men who staff these bureaux are at the sharp end, where eve-rything that SMEs may have learned through free training support from SDI’s Smart Exporter programme is put to the acid test in alien business environments.

To hear about opportunities fi rst hand, Business Insight caught up with the SDI executives with oversight of two of the newest offi ces, one in Asia, the other in Latin America: Rooma Bussi, SDI direc-tor for north and east India, and Nicola Sartini, senior business development manager at SDI’s Paris offi ce, who will manage the new offi ce in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from next month.

Bussi’s bailiwick now includes the new SDI offi ce in Hyderabad, South India, which opened in February to add to ex-isting agency presences in New Delhi

and Mumbai in the world’s second fastest growing economy behind China.

Bussi said that Hyderabad would“expand and further mutually benefi t col-laboration between Scotland and India, to share knowledge and expertise to sup-port economic development goals of both countries”.

The percentage increase in the num-ber of Scottish companies targeting India to expand their businesses and grow is higher than for any other Asian country.

“We saw a 30 per cent annual increase in 2011-12 in the number of companies wanting our support to work in India and there might be many others who would work independently in the market,” Bussi said.

In February, SDI said it expected that the 2012-13 total would be 25 per cent higher again. Scottish companies who have offi ces in South India includeCarbon Masters, Peak Scientifi c and Clintech International.

Life sciences, ICT, business services, education and the renewable energy sec-tors are key targets for these, Bussi said. There is strong growth in the knowledge-based sectors in South India and the new SDI offi ce gives Scotland its own eyes and ears there for the fi rst time.

Comfort factors for doing business in India include the widespread use of English as the language of business, and the stable political and legal system. SDI advises getting to grips with the impact of regionalism, culture and business eti-quette in order to do business in India. SDI offi ces are well placed to advise on such aspects.

Understanding cultural differences are also a major factor in getting the best out of doing business in Brazil, said Nicola Sartini, who will shortly be managing SDI’s new offi ce at the British Consulate in Rio de Janeiro.

Sartini, who has spent the last fi ve years with SDI in Paris, France, said: “You need good relationships to do business with people, but it’s perhaps even more important in Brazil. They like to get into really personal discussions about aspects of your life — family, holidays — that is how people interact. It takes time to gain trust here. It’s not like you have a good product, have a meeting then sign a deal.” Professional and social life is very inter-linked.

We saw a 30 per cent annual increase in the companies wanting our support to work in India

Scottish Development International’s worldwide presence is pivotal to growth in a range of exciting overseas markets, writes Rob Stokes

Smart Exporter programme is put to the acid test in alien business environments.

To hear about opportunities fi rst hand, Business Insight caught up with the SDI executives with oversight of two of the newest offi ces, one in Asia, the other in Latin America: Rooma Bussi, SDI direc-tor for north and east India, and Nicola Sartini, senior business development manager at SDI’s Paris offi ce, who will manage the new offi ce in Rio de Janeiro,

Bussi’s bailiwick now includes the new SDI offi ce in Hyderabad, South India, which opened in February to add to ex-isting agency presences in New Delhi

of doing business in Brazil, said Nicola Sartini, who will shortly be managing SDI’s new offi ce at the British Consulate in Rio de Janeiro.

Sartini, who has spent the last fi ve years with SDI in Paris, France, said: “You need good relationships to do business with people, but it’s perhaps even more important in Brazil. They like to get into really personal discussions about aspects of your life — family, holidays — that is how people interact. It takes time to gain trust here. It’s not like you have a good product, have a meeting then sign a deal.” Professional and social life is very inter-linked.

– Rooma Bussi

Business Insightthe times | Tuesday May 14 2013 9

after a recent Scottish textiles visit to the country.

“Brazilians have not really been aware of Scottish textiles,” Sartini said, “so there is a need to raise awareness of what Scot-land can offer in the market. This will be an important part of our work.”

That said, Sartini expects to continue working together with UKTI who are also based in the British Consulate and who have until now provided support on the ground, for example for oil and gas missions. “Being co-located with them demonstrates that we want to work to-gether. We want to complement what UKTI does as a partner organisation. ”

Other SDI offices in high-growth mar-kets of recent years include:

Calgary: in 2012, this became SDI’s sec-ond Canadian office after Toronto, which hosted the SDI organised trade mission to the USA and Canada in April; Canada is a top 20 export market for Scotland, worth around £320 million; SDI assists more than 50 Scottish firms annually to develop and grow business in Canada; Calgary’s province, Alberta is the fastest growing province in Canada and has a booming oil and gas industry, innovative R&D, and strengths in life sciences and creative industries, a good fit with Scot-land’s strengths

Dubai: works alongside UKTI from the British Embassy in this go-ahead, diversifying Middle East economy; cov-ers Gulf Cooperation Council countries

(GCC), e.g. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait; opportuni-ties include sustainable buildings and clean technology; infrastructure design engineers and architects; oil and gas; financial services including fund and investment management; education and training in line with rapid popula-tion growth and 65 per cent of the GCC population being under 25. There is an SDI organised trade mission to UAE and Qatar in September this year.

China: Three SDI offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong testify to the importance that the Scottish Govern-ment sets on developing exports to the world’s fastest growing economy, and which is on course to become its larg-est; key opportunities include financial services, renewable energy, life sciences and biotechnology, enabling technology and creative industries, education, food and drink niche markets, textiles niche markets.

Taiwan: the 24th largest economy in the World; globally third in design pat-ents and lags only the US, Japan, and Germany in Invention Patents, so is a good partner for Scottish SMEs to de-velop technologies and products for the global market; opportunities include elec-tronics and semiconductors, displays and lighting, communications and software, financial services, renewable energy, life sciences and medical devices, education, and food and drink.

South Korea: An SDI office in Seoul advises on potential in an economy where generally rising demand for ener-gy resources, infrastructure, technology and goods and services creates partner-ing opportunities, particularly in renew-able energy and life sciences. Many Ko-reans enjoy imported high quality foods and drink, with Scotch whisky a firm favourite. Other opportunities include chemicals, electronics and wellness tech-nology.

Singapore: the SDI office works in partnership with the Scottish Business Associations of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, a fast-growing region; key op-portunities are in life sciences and bio-technology, financial services, Scottish luxury products (textiles, food and drink), and education. 750 British companies are based in Singapore, including the re-gional headquarters of Scottish product or services groups. The office also advises on high growth and high potential mar-kets in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Other SDI overseas offices are in: Aus-tralia; Denmark; Norway; France; Ger-many; Japan; Russia; USA (Boston, Chi-cago, Houston, New York, San Jose).

Scheduled SDI organised trade mis-sions include: Brazil, June 2013; Turkey, September 2013; China, September 2013; UAE and Qatar, September/October 2013; India, February 2014; Africa, Febru-ary 2014.

It was barely three years old and still focused on domestic work when its rapidly expanding customer base earned Probe Test Solutions Limited (PTSL) Lanarkshire’s Best New Business Award 2012 — a moment that coincided with the fielding of more and more enquiries from abroad.

How to respond? As a leading supplier of test hardware solutions to semicon-ductor customers, its directors realised that potential for expansion in Russia and Eastern Europe was enormous and, despite lacking experience in this market, boldly decided to pursue such international development — but to seek expert help in adopting a strategic approach.

Enter Scottish Development Interna-tional in the shape of international busi-ness executive Brian Price, who worked closely with the firm to help form its strategic action plan. Also, the SDI office in Moscow proved invaluable, provid-ing introductions to Russian contacts and organisations while overcoming language and cultural barriers.

The firm also received a contribution towards travel and attendance at trade shows in Russia and Eastern Europe, which enabled executives to follow up leads and contacts. And there was funding support to employ an Interna-tional Manager for Hire (IMFH) — an industry expert with 20 years’ experi-ence who thoroughly researched the market, identifying the logistical issues surrounding shipping in and out of Russia, as well as potential pitfalls such as non-payment, product certification and the general business culture.

“Funding support has enabled us to visit Russia twice during the one-year project, and we are about to secure the first order for £100,000 with several more in discussion,” says the com-pany’s European sales manager Jordan Mackellar. “The support allowed us to hit the market at the right time, just as significant investment was going into our potential customers in Russia. Without SDI’s phenomenal support we might have been slower to market and missed this fantastic opportunity.”

He added: “It certainly helped us to expand more quickly by offering the right combination of funding, advice and other support.”

This project has indicated an esti-mated increase in sales opportunities of £1 million over a three-year period, and PTSL is now working on a similar project for the US and European markets.

£435mValue of Scottish exports

to Brazil in 2011

£1.6bnIncrease in Scottish

international exports 2010-2011

£320mThe value of the growing Canadian export market

to Scotland

To Russia with test solutions

PTSL’s operations director, Gordon Stirling and European sales manager, Jordan Mackellar, with the Award for Lanarkshire’s Best New Business 2012

Tuesday May 14 2013 | the times

Business Insight10

On the face of it, none of them have much in common. But university edu-cation, bionic hands, sand man-agement and Harris Tweed are just four exports

— featured here — that are enhancing Scotland’s name around a world that once expected harder stuff from us, and not just whisky; muscular Clyde-built ships were what made the country’s glob-al name similarly robust.

Those great steel leviathans may now be in decline but that reputation for quality lives on, according to experts in the field who see a ready acceptance of Scottish know-how wherever they have a spread-the-word job to do.

Education is a cogent case in point. A good Scottish schooling was historically seen abroad as well worth aspiring to, and the legacy of that is certainly a big plus for those now extending the branches of our modern tertiary education tree to far-flung places.

HERIoT-WATT UNIvERSITy

Example: the capital’s widely respected Heriot-Watt University. With over 34 per cent of its Scottish-based students at its campuses in Edinburgh, the Borders and Orkney coming from overseas, it tradi-tionally enjoys a distinct cosmopolitan flavour that sits well with its outgoing ambitions and growing reputation for world-class education.

Currently delivering Heriot-Watt de-gree programmes outside the UK to around 14,500 students in 150 countries, Heriot-Watt’s strong international profile is justified by the quality of its education and research, links to business, and thor-ough preparation of graduates meeting the needs of global industry.

It was the first university to establish a campus in Dubai International Academic City — in 2005. Invited by the govern-ment because of its strengths in engineer-ing and reputation for quality, it now has 3,300 students at its Dubai Campus on programmes in a diversity of disciplines such as engineering, management, the built environment, textiles design and fashion. Students come from the Unit-ed Arab Emirates, the Gulf region and beyond.

Malaysia is also circled conspicuously on the Heriot-Watt world map. Creating a new campus in Putrajaya is an impor-tant milestone in the university’s grand plan, providing access to world-class education for students across South-east Asia. The state-of-the-art campus. which has an exceptional range of fa-cilities is due to open in September 2014, and is expected to reach its full capacity of 4,000 students by 2018.

“We aim to develop it as a major cen-tre reflecting our activities world-wide,” says Professor Andy Walker, senior depu-ty principal. “Such expansion of interna-tional activities is crucial to our long-term strategy … and Scottish Development In-ternational has been enormously helpful in pursuit of this ambition; indeed it was instrumental in bringing us the specific opportunity for the Malaysian campus.

“Subsequently, to aid its development, SDI provided market survey resources and even project management assistance. It has given us a helping hand in all sorts of ways.”

ToUCH BIoNICS

Of course, helping hands can come in a more literal form. Such as the “i-Limb Ultra” prosthesis with its moveable-digits solution for people with missing fingers.Touch Bionics is the enterprising Scot-tish company making and supplying such products to a grateful 4,000 people around the world, and its latest growth figure of 17 per cent, largely attributable to 95 per cent of sales being overseas, suggests it’s a very focused exporter.

“Yes, we export almost all our pros-thetic hands,” says Ian Stevens, the chief executive officer based at Livingston, the firm’s global headquarters boasting about 50 staff. It also has similarly-staffed operations in the US, which accounts for 70 per cent of sales, helped by a reimburse-ment environment that permits funding of such advanced prosthetic devices.

“Of the rest, there is significant Eu-ropean demand from Germany, Spain, France and Italy; other important mar-kets are Australia, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, India and China — while sales in the UK can’t be seen as especially buoyant, as the products are perceived by the NHS as expensive.”

There are many reasons for “helping hands” being required — accidents, con-genital conditions, sepsis, war wounds — but regarding the last, exports to smaller war-troubled lands are not huge, as wounded soldiers are usually sent to more developed lands for rehabilitation. “For those whose injuries extend to loss of a limb, the prosthetic solution will come afterwards.”

The Touch Bionics product range cov-ers full hands, partial hands and skin covering, the last courtesy of the acqui-sition of US company Livingskin, which provides the lifelike prosthetic coverings for the i-Limb hand. The company’s New York facility is now its primary base for production of this silicone-based “skin”, while general UK manufacturing, re-search and development and administra-tion continue in the Livingston HQ.

Meanwhile — “as exporting is the prime driver for our growth” — trading opportunities are being actively pursued in fast-developing countries by the com-pany that was originally a spin-out from the NHS.

“China, Brazil, India … those are mar-kets we’d like to have a stronger presence in and they’re growing for us at the mo-ment, thanks to the applied energies of Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Develop-ment International and UKTI. They have all been very effective in assisting us with trade missions and key introductions.

“Last summer, helped by SDI staff, we had several events in India and China —

exhibiting and visiting potential distribu-tors — and they also helped to organise industry reports about the actual markets.”

SAND MoNIToRINg SERvICE

It was not originally inspired by the fine coastal sands of north-east Scotland but the rapid growth of Aberdeen company Sand Monitoring Services (SM— from a go-it-alone venture less than a decade ago to 42 heads today — owes much to its two directors, Alistair Moncur and Andrew Kinsler, seeing the North Sea as “our stomping ground”.

But according to Mr Moncur, SMS has significantly widened that ground since its 2004 beginnings, providing a range of sand management and monitoring ser-vices — “notably ensuring compliance with HSE guidelines on sand” — to the oil and gas sector, with field services pro-viding the focus of international growth.

They now supply their quality-control powers to the industry’s practitioners in West and East Africa, the Middle East and South-east Asia, where Malaysia is seen as their latest ground for fruitful development, starting with the opening of a branch office.

But how did these markets open up to SMS? Existing contacts had made the pair aware of new market opportuni-ties there and, while keen to make ap-proaches, as a small company they were under-resourced and needed a coherent strategy to target the would-be customers effectively.

Enter, Scottish Development Interna-tional. Names made available through its

support system helped SMS manoeuvre through challenging business cultures. Contacts in High Commissions and through the GlobalScot network proved valuable not just in providing advice, connections and introductions but also in understanding local cultural differences.

SMS also received funding for overseas trips. Effective strategic planning ensured these were equipped with full agendas and clear expectations.

“The support also increased the num-ber of overseas trips that were possible, which in turn speeded up the rate at which we could enter a market by dem-onstrating commitment to it through face-to-face meetings,” says Andrew Kin-sler.

“The ability to meet the GlobalScot contacts and gain first-hand understand-ing of market challenges was incredibly helpful. The strengths of the contacts we were introduced to certainly fast-tracked our entry into the Malaysian market and ensured opportunities were not wasted by lack of cultural understanding.”

HARRIS TWEED

It’s the most iconic — and domestic — of Scotland’s industries, as Harris Tweed is still woven by local people in their island homes; but its prime movers’ mindset has had to change radically to win back in-ternational respect lost at the mercy of relatively recent fashion trends.

Now, however, the main producer, Harris Tweed Hebrides, sells not just for traditional gents’ jackets but highly styl-ish creations, from tight-waisted ladies’

Developing sectors

From Scotland – all with brains and imaginationTheir appeal has created global demand, but food and drink don’t tell the whole story of our exports. Rick Wilson looks at some newer home-grown developments

The support also increased the number of overseas trips which speeded up entering a market

Business Insightthe times | Tuesday May 14 2013 11

jackets and colourful waistcoats to yellow Kindle covers.

With the help of its switched-on crea-tive director Mark Hogarth, it is conquer-ing the world’s fashionable markets in a way that any super-cool textile industry anywhere would envy. It exports 85 per cent of its product, while 40 per cent of that goes to Japan and much of the rest to the US, Germany, France and Italy – as well as vibrant new markets like Brazil, Russia, India and Korea.

And now Russia. “That’s currently the most exciting target of our promotional efforts,” says Brian Wilson, company chairman and former UK government energy minister. “We’re gradually build-ing a presence in some new markets and Russia is probably the most promising one, where we are hiring a good agent who knows how the market works and is confi dent with all the complications of getting stuff through Customs and so on.

“There’s such a strong potential there. It ticks all the boxes, climatically and in terms of there being a kind of prestige attached to the product that suits such a newly aspirational society.”

The North American challenge is about rebuilding a brand that had an as-sured cachet and high market share there 30 years ago — “something like 90 per cent of all Harris Tweed produced went there — and that was 90 per cent of a much bigger production volume than now, so there’s a real heritage and aware-ness there which we can tap back into.

“What we’ve done is to get top design houses taking up Harris Tweed again, such as Rag and Bone, J. Crew and Cana-da Goose; and when such high-end com-panies use it, the pattern is that main-

From Scotland – all with brains and imagination

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Andrew Kinsler and Alistair Moncur are now adding

Malaysia to Sand Monitoring Service’s global footprint

stream names follow suit,” says Wilson. Chief executive Ian Mackenzie adds:

“Motivated by necessity and vision, we saw it was all to do with image and that the answer was in working with such cutting-edge designers. Harris Tweed had been around for a century and a few years ago was seen as just a fabric for old men’s jackets. Our challenge was to stand that negative image on its head.”

He is also is quick to acknowledge the catalytic role played by Scottish Devel-opment International in the industry’s comeback. “SDI’s help was invaluable, backing up with action its strong com-mitment to promoting Scottish textiles. Its many excellent people in global of-fi ces have intimate knowledge of local markets, talents and tastes. In Russia, for instance, we have been guided towards supplying fabric for inte-rior furnishings.

“Thanks to them, we have been highly visible at endless events for UK luxury goods at British embassies in places like Tokyo, Moscow, São Paulo and Seoul. So they have helped us to achieve our twin aims — the opening up of new markets and the revival of once-strong ones.”

Missions to a wider world of opportunityTwo hundred years after the birth of legendary explorer-of-Africa David Livingstone, Scotland’s adventurous spirit lives on — particularly in the business world. Now the name of the game is trade missions: carefully planned forays into often far-flung countries that off er promising business opportunities.More and more Scottish com-panies are looking to grow their business internationally, taking advantage of exciting opportuni-ties in the traditional export markets of North America and Europe and emerging markets like Asia, South America, the Middle East and Africa.Scottish Development Interna-tional (SDI) can help foster such growth opportunities abroad as its trade missions programme off ers an excellent platform to visit potential export markets, to conduct market research, appoint agents or distributors or visit existing clients.By attending such a mission backed by the SDI — and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) — a business can more easily identify new opportunities in developed and emerging markets around the world.The benefits are many, such as the boosting of a company’s profile with key customers; development of important trading relationships with distributors and other potential partners; the testing of new markets; a chance to conduct market research; the tapping into

cross-sector opportunities; and the launching of new products. Trade missions are a great way to learn more about international markets and help in the develop-ment of an export strategy. How does a mission work? While arranging delegations of Scottish companies from a range of busi-ness sectors keen to visit overseas markets, SDI helps find funding and support for the trip, provides market insights, advice on market-ing in addition to introductions to business contacts in the market.A trade mission usually follows an initial market research exercise — which is vital in identifying appropriate opportunities and providing a snapshot of local market and sector opportunities to maximise the value of a visit.Central to the success of a trade mission is the SDI’s network of

skilled international trade and UK partners based around the world. Their local language skills, market knowledge and extensive political and commercial contacts put them at the heart of the programme that helps Scottish companies become successful exporters.So what’s coming up? There’s a trip to the United Arab Emirates, which will take place between September 28 and October 4 and before that, in June, there’s a trade mission to Brazil.Any Scottish-based company with a business eye on either of these countries is invited to email SDIMissions@scotent.co.uk for further information.

the answer was in working with such cutting-edge designers. Harris Tweed had been around for a century and a few years ago was seen as just a fabric for old men’s jackets. Our challenge was to stand that negative image on its head.”

He is also is quick to acknowledge the catalytic role played by Scottish Devel-opment International in the industry’s comeback. “SDI’s help was invaluable, backing up with action its strong com-mitment to promoting Scottish textiles. Its many excellent people in global of-fi ces have intimate knowledge of local markets, talents and tastes. In Russia, for instance, we have been guided towards supplying fabric for inte-

“Thanks to them, we have been highly visible at endless events for UK luxury goods at British embassies in places like Tokyo, Moscow, São Paulo and Seoul. So they have helped us to achieve our twin aims — the opening up of new markets and the revival of once-strong

A trade mission to the United Arab Emirates is scheduled for this autumn

Harris Tweed is going places fast — including Russia

Tuesday May 14 2013 | the times

Business Insight12

Scotland’s world-class repu-tation for innovation and high quality products con-tinues to ensure that the country retains a highly competitive presence on the global stage.

Increasing numbers of businesses are recognising lucrative opportunities of-

fered by overseas markets.Supporting Scottish organisations to

capitalise on these opportunities is a pioneering organisation dedicated to im-proving Scotland’s standing in the inter-national business community.

The GlobalScot network encompasses over 600 business leaders who freely lend their time and expertise to Scottish firms wishing to develop export functions. The network is also committed to supporting business growth at home.

The 600 plus GlobalScots are all leaders in their own fields, with expert knowledge of the export market. Mem-bership includes; general manager of the Hyatt Regency Dubai & Galleria, John Beveridge; Texas-based Derek Black-wood, head of Americas operations for Wood Group PSN, the largest provider of brownfield services to the oil and gas industry; and former Tesco chairman, Sir David Reid.

The GlobalScot network, established by Scottish Enterprise in 2001 and con-sists of individuals who are either Scot-tish or have a close affinity to the country. GlobalScots are chosen for their senior-ity, experience and track records in Scot-land’s most promising growth industries. Membership is by invitation only.

In addition to giving advice, contacts, assistance and support to organisations overseas, the network also assists SDI and its partners in ensuring that Scotland continues to be a top destination for in-vestment from overseas.

Here Business Insight speaks to oil and gas industry expert, Willy Findlay, and globe-trotting businessman, Angus Rob-ertson, about their contributions to the GlobalScot network.

TRANSATLANTIC SkILLS SET

As a former president of a major US-based engineering corporation, Willy Findlay is aware of the competitive ad-vantages to be gleaned from partnerships with globally-experienced individuals.

GlobalScot Findlay worked his way up the ranks of the oil and gas industry after starting out as an apprentice engineer in Edinburgh. The 65 year old from West Lothian went on to become the presi-dent of Flow Management Solutions, a division of global oil and gas supply firm, Cameron International. The division op-erates as a stand-alone business with a $650 million per year turnover.

Years of experience in setting up and developing businesses in countries including Russia, France, Singapore and the US made Findlay a natural candidate for the GlobalScot network.

Recently retired, Findlay has newly returned to West Lothian, having been based in Houston, Texas, for many years.

His involvement in GlobalScot now spans five years, during which time he’s

supported many Scottish businesses. During his time in the US, Findlay was

able to offer advice directly through his attendance at major trade shows. “Dur-ing the past few years I’ve met directors interested in developing their businesses in the US through my support of Scot-tish Enterprise at oil and gas shows. I’ve been able to offer business advice and contacts,” explains Findlay. “I’ve also at-tended events where I’ve given feedback on areas such as business plans, and help with setting up in the US.

“The role of a GlobalScot includes be-ing a mentor and can also involve being a business angel. There are GlobalScots who hold positions on company boards, and provide financial advice. It’s also about providing a different perspective. You try to help people get an accurate picture of what they’re going into, in or-der to avoid costly mistakes.”

Findlay continues: “It’s very difficult for smaller companies to break into the multinationals without some kind of per-sonal introduction.

“Getting your voice heard is extremely hard — even if you have the best idea in the world. That’s one of the ways the GlobalScot team can help: giving a hand up by ensuring someone is talking to the right person, which can save an awful lot of frustration and time wasting.”

Findlay believes that Scotland has much to offer. “There’s a lot of respect for technology coming out of Scotland right now and there are tremendous op-portunities out there. The North Sea industries are getting stronger. Scotland has experts in both the technical instal-lation of platforms and decommissioning. Renewables is another area I think could become successful, if handled correctly. I think there’s a real respect for Scottish engineering and technology and the big oil firms recognise the North Sea’s track

record. They want our business and tech-nology — it’s now about confidence and getting on with it.”

“It’s not about overnight successes,” he adds, “it’s more about giving small companies some help up the ladder. It is tremendously fulfilling to see companies avoiding mistakes and realising their am-bitions a little bit quicker.”

ASIAN CoNSULTATIoN

GlobalScot Angus Robertson’s involve-ment with the network came almost by default, after decades of promoting his home country overseas.

Dundee-born Robertson returned to Scotland in 2009 after spending more than 30 years with insurance firms throughout the world. Today he works as an independent insurance consultant, providing underwriting development, training solutions and special contract work to firms in the UK and overseas.

Robertson has lived and worked in countries including Nigeria, Saudi Ara-bia, Indonesia and China, for companies including Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA) and Phoenix Assurance.

In China he was actively involved with the British Consulate and British Chamber of Commerce, as well as organising Shang-hai Scots. Through these he was able to assist individuals and companies find their way in the Chinese business world.

“To succeed in places like China you need to learn to work with the local peo-ple and firms, not have them work for you. There’s little point in going out there and expecting things to work the way they do back home. When I first went to Shanghai, with RSA, the city had im-proved immensely over the previous 10 years or so when living conditions were somewhat tougher.

“My Chinese wasn’t great but I knew

Scotland’s GlobalScot network is a vital source of support for new exporters, writes Heidi Soholt

enough to get by — the fact that you were making an effort was appreciated. We socialised with the Chinese, got to know them, and in that way created a good bond. By getting to know your custom-ers you understand their business. Some companies that came out were quite imperious, an approach that didn’t work.”

He continues: “We worked closely with local brokers and organised tutorials and training work-shops. Our efforts worked both ways: we assisted them and it got our name out there as a China-friendly insurance company.”

Robertson believes that there is always an element of risk involved in set-ting up abroad. “There are many exam-ples of where a company has been taken for a ride. You need to do your research thoroughly before you go in. Make sure you know who you are dealing with, ask around about them. If dealing with some-one from the local consulate, find out how long they have been in the area.”

Robertson says that the GlobalScot network can be invaluable. “Even if the person you are talking to doesn’t know your business, they may know someone who does.”

He points to South East Asia as an area where opportunities are emerging. “Also, in places like America the Scot-tish brand has always done well. But it’s not just about the traditional things like shortbread. Products are getting much more diverse.

“Fish farming is a growth area in places like China, where lots are modelled on the salmon farms here. There’s also much exchange in terms of renewables where Scotland has an excellent reputation. The life sciences also have a good name.”

Adds Robertson: “At the end of the day it’s about working hard and taking the time to get to know your market – that way it is possible to succeed.”

Infrastructure

Eye on the world

Willy Findlay, top, and Angus Robertson are providing advice to those new to exporting

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