| Scottish Gaelic:Iomairt na h-Alba | |
 Scottish Enterprise logo | |
| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 1 April 1991; 34 years ago (1 April 1991) |
| Type | Executive non-departmental public body |
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Headquarters | Atrium Court,Glasgow,G2 6HQ |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent department | Scottish Government |
| Key document |
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| Website | www |
Scottish Enterprise (Scottish Gaelic:Iomairt na h-Alba) is anon-departmental public body of theScottish Government which encourageseconomic development,enterprise, innovation, international andinvestment in business. The body covers the eastern andcentral parts ofScotland[1] whilst similar bodies,Highlands and Islands Enterprise andSouth of Scotland Enterprise, operate in north-western and southern Scotland, respectively.
The body is a successor in part to the wide-ranging Scottish Development Agency which was established in 1975.[2] The first Chairman of the SDA wasSir William Gray formerLord Provost ofGlasgow.[3] and the first Chief Executive was Dr, later Sir Lewis Robertson.[4] The first year of its operation was 1977/78 with its functions described here in its first Annual Report 1978.[5]
Scottish Enterprise was created on 1 April 1991 under the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990.[6] That act dissolved the Scottish Development Agency (SDA), created in 1975 and the Highlands and Islands Development Board forming Scottish Enterprise alongsideHighlands and Islands Enterprise.[7]: 62
Scottish Enterprise was created with a structure of Local Enterprise Companies (LECs). Initially these were Limited Companies with boards led by local businesspeople, but from 2000 they became wholly owned subsidiaries of Scottish Enterprise[8] and were subsequently wound up.[9]
International trade and investment armScottish Development International was established in 2001 by merging the export promotion agency, Scottish Trade International (STI; 1991–2001) and the foreign direct investment and inward investment agency, Locate in Scotland (LiS; 1981–2001). It is jointly operated by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise.[10]
On 1 April 2008, the skills function of Scottish Enterprise moved out of the organisation to the newly formedSkills Development Scotland.[11]
Lena Wilson became the Chief Executive in 2009. She had previously led Scottish Development International.[12]
Lena Wilson left Scottish Enterprise in October 2017 after she was awarded aCBE for her contribution to Scotland in 2015.[13] Wilson had also lead the government's "Scottish Oil & Gas jobs taskforce" whose task was completed in 2017.[14] She had received criticism from theScottish Parliament over taking a paid, non-executive directorship with the multinational product testing and certification companyIntertek.[15] Wilson had been paid £214,000 a year and she was replaced by Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive ofScottish Canals, who was offered £168,000. Steve Dunlop was still one of the top paid civil servants in Scotland.[16] Dunlop resigned in 2020 and Linda Hanna became the interim CEO in the same month, with Adrian Gillespie taking over as CEO in June 2021.[17]
Scottish Enterprise has around 1,100 staff based in ten offices across the UK, and offices in a further 20 overseas countries.
Organisational structure consists of a board headed by chairman, Willie Mackie to oversee fulfilment of the objectives established by theScottish Government and an executive leadership team responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.[18] The leadership team consists of:
Scottish Enterprise is anon-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, although it also raises part of its budget from other sources such as property rental and disposal of assets. The Scottish Government's draft spending plans for 2018/2019 allocated £256 million to Scottish Enterprise andScottish Development International.[19]
Scottish Enterprise works with a range of other local, national and international strategic partners, from industry and the public sector to help deliver its wider range of services and sector-specific support across international trade, innovation, investment andgrowth.
These include:
Scottish Enterprise's international interests are supported byScottish Development International, the international arm of Scotland's enterprise agencies.
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