Scotland’s next generation of business leaders raise the flag

Many of the fellows have left successful jobs to take part in the inaugural Saltire Fellowship programme, which combines world class teaching with experiential learning both in Scotland and the USA.

The programme will develop Scotland’s future business leaders by giving them first-hand experience of some of the world’s greatest companies and latest business thinking. It has been specifically designed for the needs of Scottish growth companies in collaboration with Babson College in Boston, the world’s top ranked business school for entrepreneurship.

The Saltire Fellowship has been developed by the SaltireFoundation, which was set up with support from Scottish Enterprise and the influential International Advisory Board. It aims to identify individuals who can make a difference to Scotland’s economic future and provide them with invaluable opportunities to work with some of the world’s key business players.

Each of the fellows will attend an initial 16 week placement at Babson, before undertaking placements within both large blue-chip organisations overseas and small high-growth entrepreneurial ventures in Scotland.

Crawford Gillies, Chairman of the SaltireFoundation added: “The SaltireFoundation’s ambitious programmes are aiming to create a Scotland where in the future international business success is the norm. We want Scotland to be a place with an abundance of management talent to transform our high potential businesses into scale companies playing on the global stage. The fellowship programme is absolutely integral to this vision through its creation of entrepreneurially-driven individuals, ready to enhance Scotland’s commercial success.

“The participants in the inaugural Saltire Fellowship programme have given up their jobs to take part in the programme, a significant step at any time, but even more so during the current economic uncertainty. Their commitment to Scotland’s future and the part they want to take play in it is absolutely outstanding, and I am confident that they will prove to be some of our most talented business leaders in the future.”

Iain McDougall, 39, who was a programme manager at BSkyB, is leaving behind his wife and three young children to take part in the programme.

“I looked at a number of other international opportunities such as executive MBAs, but nothing matched the exceptional opportunities the Saltire Fellowship programme offered, both in terms of attending one of the world’s leading business schools and gaining real experience in an internationally recognised blue chip company.”

Lesley Sutherland, 37, was quality and procurement manger at Biopta until undertaking the fellowship programme.

“The opportunities the Saltire Fellowship gave me far outweighed any risks in leaving my job. I am keen to set up my own company someday and think the opportunity to attend a top class education institution – particularly with 13 other likeminded people – is an exceptional opportunity.”