The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth - with support from his Cabinet colleagues - hosted a series of small business breakfasts across Scotland in 2009. Building on already extensive engagement with business, the aim of the programme was to provide an update on the Government's comprehensive economic recovery programme and crucially learn more about their experiences of the recession and their views on what more the Government can do to ensure Scotland and Scottish business are able to emerge from recession stronger than before. These events were organsied in partnership with key local and national agencies with each event following a consistent format and using a set of 10 core questions. |
Programme |
|
| Registration & Breakfast |
| Welcome and introduction - Cabinet Secretary or Minister. |
| Economic Overview - Office of the Chief Economic Adviser (OCEA) |
| Open Forum - Cabinet Secretary or Minister |
| Summing up and closing - Cabinet Secretary or Minister |
Ten core questions |
| Experience of the downturn |
| What problems - if any - have you experienced with the availability and cost of credit? |
| What changes have you see in your domestic and/or export markets? |
| What new opportunities have you seen coming out of the current circumstances - for example, exports from a lower value of the pound? |
| What has been your company's experience of the downturn to date? What are the particular challenges of your sector / this part of the country in the downturn? |
| What change do you expect in the next 6 months? And how are you managing risk factors? |
|
| Public sector response |
| How aware are you of public sector support? How can the public sector better publicise the support available to companies and individuals? |
| What support have you received from the public sector that has been particularly helpful to you at this time? |
| What forms of public sector support should be increased or enhanced? |
| What forms of public sector support should be reduced? |
In what - if any - areas do you feel that public sector as a whole could have a more joined-up? |
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Summaries of the discussions from the business breakfasts can be found below:
Business Breakfast - Cumbernauld
Business Breakfast - Dumfries
Business Breakfast - Dundee
Business Breakfast - Glenrothes
Business Breakfast - Highlands
Business Breakfast - Paisley
Business Breakfast - Stirling