Sarah Deas resizedFrom Sarah Deas, Chief Executive, Co-operative Development Scotland

The eyes of the world will be on Scotland in 2014 as we host the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and Homecoming. It’s a fantastic opportunity to showcase our country on the global stage.

Whilst we wish our sportsmen and women every success, 2014 is much more than medals – it’s a catalyst for regeneration, innovation and sustainable economic growth. An opportunity to build international business relationships, demonstrate our capability to host major events and present Scotland as a leading tourism destination. 

Commonwealth-Games-2014For Co-operative Development Scotland it’s an opportunity to shine a light on the positive contribution that co-operative and employee ownership models are playing in the Scottish economy. Working with the Supplier Development Programme, we’ve been helping businesses to tender together to compete for Games related procurement contracts – capacity building that will have long term legacy benefits. 

One co-operative that will play a key role in helping visitors discover the best places to stay, eat and drink is the Merchant City Tourism & Marketing Co-operative. The Merchant City will be a hive of activity during Games time, including hosting the venue for high profile business events. 

Another co-operative that should benefit from the growth in tourism is the Scottish Mountain Bike Consortium. Set up to increase the range and quality of mountain bike experiences, it aspires to make mountain biking the ultimate family-friendly adventure activity.

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Scotland is leading the way in the adoption of innovative business models. The coming year offers an excellent opportunity to leverage this success. Businesses that are already successfully exporting, such as employee owned Tullis Russell, Clansman Dynamics and Scott & Fyfe, are well placed to use the flexibility and power of their business model to seize new opportunities for growth. 

As Scotland ‘Welcomes the World’, hopefully you too are considering what 2014 could mean for your business. Are you capturing this once in a lifetime opportunity to profile your business and build international relationships? 

Wishing you a successful 2014

Best wishes

Sarah