Scottish companies reach out to Europe

Thousands of Scottish companies have set their sights on innovating and increasing trade in Europe over the last two years according to economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise.

Companies have tapped in to the support from the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) which provides Scottish businesses with a range of information on doing business, finding collaborative partners and increasing their competitiveness in Europe.

Supported by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Highland Opportunity Limited and the European Commission, EEN has seen over 1,500 additional companies access their services during 2011 and 2012.

Highlights include:

• 630 Scottish companies at EEN events to help them build their capacity to innovate or internationalise
• 1337 enquiries from Scottish companies looking to build their business across Europe
• 553 companies participated in transnational partnering events in Scotland and with partners in Europe
• Scottish companies secured 50 transnational partnership agreements in Europe.

Caroline Gray-Stephens, head of enterprise europe network Scotland, said: “More and more companies are looking to internationalise and despite economic challenges, Europe continues to be a prime market for growth.

“Taking the first steps to break into a new market can be daunting but these latest figures show Scottish businesses are up for the challenge and are actively seeking opportunities to increase trade with Europe.”

A highlight in the EEN calendar coincided with Mobile World Congress last month when Scottish companies travelled to Spain for the world’s largest mobile technology event and took part in a dedicated EEN business partnering event and participated in 47 business to business meetings. As a result, a number of non-disclosure agreements were signed and there are promising prospects for a number of partnership agreements.

Last month’s Scottish Life Sciences Awards in Edinburgh also saw more 125 companies participating in over 300 business meetings at a special Life Sciences Scotland Partnering event.

The life sciences event brought together innovative biotech, medtech, pharma, e-health and service providers looking for collaborative partners from across Europe including Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland, the UK, and the U.S.

Ayrshire-based Medical Device Company Ltd (MDC) is one of Scotland’s innovative life sciences businesses that achieved success in overseas markets with support from EEN.

Founded in 2004, MDC provides a number of organisations and independent inventors with expertise in designing and developing medical devices such as emergency trauma catheters, cardiac surgery tools, and vaccine inhalers.

Jerry Donnan of MDC said: “We don’t have the personnel or the resources to engage directly with big European companies or foreign clients and it was becoming clear we needed to understand the rules and regulations when embarking upon business partnerships in Europe.

“Enterprise Europe Network has enabled us to move beyond the UK market and has provided MDC with advice on regulations, tax and financial information that affects doing business in the EU.”

As a result of collaborating in Europe, MDC is now part of the Zurich-based Euro SkinGraft project, which could revolutionise the techniques of forming skin grafts for burns patients. The company also plans to build more partnerships throughout Europe and is in active negotiations with several new potential partners.