As part of outreach for Converge Challenge and ensuring coherence and collaboration, we have been working on a visit for a few months (in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise, University of the Highlands and Islands, Create, Enterprise Campus, The Royal Society of Edinburgh and SMART Scotland) to the University of the Highlands and Islands. So, last week we delivered an Entrepreneurial Roadshow in Orkney College (16 Feb), Inverness College (17 Feb) and Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS) in Oban (18 Feb).
We were supported in our planning by Jacqueline McGuigan and Morven Cameron of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, who are both really committed to the idea of commercialising research and spreading the word on enterprise development. That’s not to underplay the effort from UHI – particularly Joe Irvine, Head of Knowledge Transfer, who is such an enthusiastic promoter of schemes enabling enterprise and researcher development.
I don’t know if you were following us on twitter (@ConvergeC), but the trip went a wee bit like this……
First stop – Orkney: “Spellbinding, invigorating, relaxing and welcoming” *
We had a great time in Orkney – getting there was a wee walk in the park, with Flybe doing their stuff - not only getting us safely onto the island, but also giving us caramel wafers with our coffee to show us the true meaning of Island hospitality. The welcome at Orkney College was amazing, with budding entrepreneurs asking questions, testing their ideas and seeing what support they needed to access to drive the ideas further forward. Very inspiring stuff, and it was brilliant that the Assistant Principal, Jo Laidlaw, was there to show her support for the enterprise agenda. Watch this space for some really interesting businesses over the next few months and years!
So, we were on a roll, and headed for the airport to catch our flight to Inverness to make sure we were all rested, revived and raring to go for our session at UHI Inverness College on Wednesday morning. However, the weather had different ideas. Our flight to Inverness was cancelled just as we were checking in, as the weather in Sumburgh in Shetland meant that the incoming flight could not take off and would be unlikely to be able to that evening. We had 3 choices…..
- Head to Edinburgh and then get a flight back up to Inverness – too far!!!
- Risk that the flight would take off on time the next day to allow us to get to Inverness College in time to meet the waiting hoards - too risky!!!!
- Or…
- Fly to Aberdeen and get transported to Inverness by road – at least we’d be there so could make sure it would go ahead
Day 2 – Inverness: “This thriving city” **
So, option 3 is what we did, and a very, very long taxi ride (courtesy of Flybe) meant that we were up and at ‘em on Wednesday 17th in Inverness College. We were joined in our session by UHI Create, who had run their annual Business Ideas competition across UHI partners for staff and students in the autumn of 2015, culminating in a final on 18 November 2015.
There was a throng of excited individuals in the room, and that was just the presenters! There was a star turn from Converge Challenge alumnus and current RSE Enterprise Fellow, Alasdair Mort, who shared that his one tip for any budding entrepreneur would be to “take your time, and don’t give in to pressure to do things on others’ timescales”. He also re-enacted the emotions evoked by delivering his 60 second pitch at the Ready Steady pitch event, by standing on a chair and imitating a clock ticking behind his head! It definitely demonstrated the pressure and thrill of pitching to over 150 people! Jonathan Simpson from SMART Scotland presented on how SMART can support R & D in the business once it is incorporated.
Again, great ideas coming through, so watch this space!!
Day 3 – Oban: the ‘Gateway to the Isles’ and the 'Seafood Capital of Scotland'***
There was a long and beautiful drive to Oban to prepare us for meeting the guys at SAMS, who are doing really exciting work surveying marine environments. Joining us in the session was Margaret Letham from SMART Scotland and Ian Bryden, Depute Principal for Research at UHI. What the roadshow tried to achieve, and I think, did achieve, was to demonstrate the breadth of support that is out there to support entrepreneurial staff and students in Scottish Universities. I think it also showed how we are trying to join up the dots, so that any one door entered can lead to a whole corridor of options for people to choose from. Under grads, PhD students, academics and staff from the UHI partner Colleges got a glimpse into the opportunities they might have and will hopefully grab them with both hands.
As we were leaving SAMS, it snowed. We didn’t bring the weather with us, but what we did bring, hopefully, was some inspiration and the idea of what’s possible……#ScotlandCANDo
*Courtesy of http://visitorkney.com/
** Courtesy of https://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/inverness-p236801
***Courtesy of https://www.visitscotland.com/info/towns-villages/oban-p235801
