Watch: Business club expansion to help north-east companies through pandemic recovery
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From today, businesses in the north-east of will be able to sign up for free to a new and ambitious initiative aimed at enhancing productivity in the region.
After the success of pilot projects in Edinburgh and Glasgow over the past year, Productivity Club Scotland has launched a new project specifically aimed at businesses in the north-east.
Businesses supporting the project include Aberdeen Harbour who have endorsed the new club in a video published today urging businesses to sign up at www.productivity.scot.
Productivity Club Scotland, a project funded by Scottish Government and delivered by SCDI, is now expanding and launching three new clubs to help SMEs in north-east Scotland, Highlands and Islands and the South of Scotland.
The video includes Michelle Handforth, chief executive of Aberdeen Harbour, and Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation along with other business leaders from across Scotland.
Productivity Club Scotland provides an opportunity to unite businesses to take advantage of new resources to drive innovation, productivity, sustainable development and economic growth during the challenging times post Covid-19.
The clubs encourage peer-learning between enterprises and facilitate cross-sector advice, experience and knowledge on how to improve the productivity and resilience of Scottish businesses.
More than three-quarters of businesses involved in the initial pilot in Edinburgh and Glasgow said membership had helped them build useful business connections and more than 72 per cent expected to see improvements in their business productivity as a result.
Nearly nine out of 10 current members are either small or medium enterprise, making it ideal for companies of all sizes to benefit from the networking advantages that the new clubs will offer to improve the performance of their business going forward.
The first event for the north-east club will take place on December 10 with more details to be announced shortly.
SCDI programme manager, Ashleigh McCulloch, said: “We are excited to be able to announce the expansion of this fantastic programme, ensuring more of Scotland’s businesses can access a Productivity Club in their region that reflects the realities of local and regional economies and supports the development of an economy which works for all”
“Disappointing productivity have been a worrying feature of both the Scottish and wider UK economy for the past decade and this has only been exacerbated by the lockdown activity as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"What we know from speaking to our members is that collaboration and sharing of information during this time as been invaluable to support businesses and navigate through the current landscape”
“We would urge as many businesses as possible to sign-up for free at www.productivity.scot and harness the knowledge and experience of other members in this unique peer to peer community.”
Michelle Handforth, chief executive of Aberdeen Harbour, said: “Productivity Club Scotland has been formed to attract talent and new business development opportunities to Scotland.
"It brings the ability to network and have peer-to-peer reviews to improve productivity. It is ahead of its time and very appropriate for the opportunities and challenges that we face.”
