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GLASGOW BUSINESS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012


CONTENTS/PRESIDENT


Varry McMenemy, President president@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


Another year of event success


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We are nearing the end of another great year for the Chamber, and looking to the future I can only see more good things. Over the last 12 months our team has been busy highlighting Glasgow’s business success – from engineering to whisky, renewables to tourism, retail to education. There has been an increasing focus on high-level event and influencer occasions, led by our Deputy Chief Executive Richard Muir and his team. In the last year, our flagship


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Glasgow Talks series has included such major speakers as International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh, British athletic legend and Olympics commentator Steve Cram, former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson, BBC Economics Editor Robert Peston, ScottishPower Chief Corporate Officer Keith Anderson and cities expert Greg Clark of the Urban Land Institute.


The Behind News


Chamber news Glasgow news Partner news Member news New members


Events Training


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Past and forthcoming events 18 Glasgow Talks


20 Glasgow Business Awards 46


Features Looking to the future


Work needed If you build it...


City ready for business World class


Go green to save


Rise of the green machines


Column BIG talks


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Cover image: Scott Grier, newly retired Chairman of Loganair and recipient of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Award for Lifetime Achievement 2012


the Scenes series of events took Chamber members to such places as the new Commonwealth Arena and the St Enoch Centre. But perhaps the biggest result came in the aftermath of a visit to Barlinnie Prison. Following the visit, a Chamber-backed advisory group launched recommendations to help ex-offenders find and keep employment. The first CROWD, a very different


sort of event for the Chamber, was rapid fire, with all the atmosphere of a fringe festival – and I’m pleased to say there was a very positive response from a survey of attendees, with 120 Chamber members sharing stories of business success and challenge from 16 Glasgow companies. The aim was that virtually anyone


from within our membership could take up a speaking slot, and talk about an issue, a specialism, a challenge, or an inspiration. By the time you read this, CROWD II will have taken place.


In March, we welcomed some of the digital industry’s biggest names to the Think Digital Scotland 2012 event held in the Lighthouse Gallery. The event was a tremendous success, further illustrating our commitment to encourage growth in the sector. In October, as part of our business engagement work with the City Council on a new City Centre Action Plan, the Chamber held a conference. The event attracted more than 100 delegates, who heard from a high-profile panel of speakers and a selection of workstream representatives from different sectors. It was designed to include


views from outside the city, and we welcomed Professor Valentino Castellani, former Mayor of Turin and President of the Organising Committee for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics; cities expert Greg Clark; plus Rod Holmes, former Chairman of the Mersey


Partnership. Last but not least was


the Glasgow Business Awards,


the most successful ever. The winners show us how Glasgow is changing, where it’s doing well and who is creating the wealth that we all rely on. SgurrEnergy, who won both


the Glasgow Business Award for International Trade, sponsored by Glasgow Chamber, and the Bank of Scotland Award for Most Outstanding Business, is an example of Glasgow’s increasing claim to be a major renewable energy industry hub. I was especially pleased to present


the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Award for Lifetime Achievement for an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to business in Glasgow to Scott Grier, newly retired as the Chairman of Loganair. So a year to remember, with more


to come in the next 12 months. I hope to see you at many of the events to come in the New Year.


Glasgow Business . 3 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


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