A GIN company boss and the CEO of a tidal power firm are two of the new members who have been appointed to a body designed to boost Scottish exports.
Marcus Pickering, the co-founder and director of Edinburgh-based Pickering’s Gin, has joined the advisory group, along with Simon Forrest, the CEO of tidal energy company Nova Innovation.
They are among eight new members of the minister trade board – which has been set up in part to advise the Scottish Government on “long-term strategic, economic and environmental issues”.
The Scottish Government is seeking to have exports make up 25% of GDP by 2029. The latest figures however saw Scottish onshore goods exports decrease by 1% – although this was less than the 8% drop recorded for the UK as a whole.
Welcoming the new members to the board, trade minister Ivan McKee said the Government was “absolutely determined” to work with business and “do all we can to boost export growth”.
McKee said: “Expanding our exports is absolutely essential in the wake of Brexit and the damaging effects on our economy of being taken out of the European single market, which is around seven times larger than the UK market alone.
“As set out in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, we want Scotland to benefit from a strong, green and thriving economy.
“I look forward to working closely with the board, their innovative ways of working will be vital in helping inform on the best ways to meet our aims.”
The other new board members are David Currie, group CEO of technology company Proserv, Gillian Docherty, chief commercial officer at the University of Strathclyde, and Richard Knox, managing director of battery manufacturer Verlume.
Also joining are Dr Sarah Lynagh, commercial director of Fios Genomic, which provides bioinformatics services and data analysis, Gary White, senior director with Strategic Site Solutions, and James Varga, CEO of DirectID, a global credit and risk platform.
