April 2011
What’s your No.1 priority from the new Scottish Government?
Mike Wilson, Managing director, Subsea Ecosse
Changes in the law to ensure the actions of companies called in as administrators are assessed independently. It appears at the moment as if administrators have far too cosy a relationship with the banks - as preferred creditor the banks nearly always hire them - and the only concern seems to be to recoup the money owed to the banks – nearly everyone else can whistle.
I would also like to see legislative changes to ensure that a proportion of anything which is realised goes to the small companies which suffer in these circumstances and may well face collapse themselves.
Time and time again liquidators sell the assets back to the people who have been at the heart of the failed business only for them to fail again. If that changed then more money might then be available for businesses trying to develop.
 Staurt Brown, Head of Renewable Energy, Maxwell Brown
Avoid simplistic, protectionist thinking about the energy industry. Political rhetoric too easily slips into oil or coal or wind or wave.
I’m delighted with the EU target to generate 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020. There is a critical role here for the new government. Schemes such as feed-in tariffs and renewable obligation certificates have provided a great starting point.
To really spark substantial progress, government must introduce a structure to make these ambitious targets a realistic goal for Scottish companies. The key is cohesion. Government can encourage and incentivise us to truly act as a global energy industry. There are incredible opportunities for collaboration between renewables and oil and gas. We must be encouraged to share staff, technology and money, business models, operations and maintenance practices. This way we avoid reinventing the wheel and act as the energies industry.
 Alan Dick, Partner, Facilitators International
I’d like to see more effective wealth creation in Scotland which will see the balance of reliance switch more to the private sector than our current dependence on the public sector. This is key to stem the loss of skills and knowledge that is an outcome of the current post-recession phase and it’s also essential for economic growth for future generations. It would also allow us to fund the public sector which our society is demanding. The public sector must continue to make itself more effective and give better value for money by improving alignment of staff with the delivery of client needs.
At Facilitators Quality Management we not only focus on the management of quality but also the quality of management, the latter being something Scotland needs to significantly improve to remain competitive in a fast changing world.
 Euan Mowat, Regional Manager, Mason Evans Partnership
Our No. 1 priority would be to get the construction industry moving again. It has been an extremely difficult few years with the economic downturn and every industry has felt the pinch, none more so than the construction industry. It is such a major employer nationwide, from architects, engineers and consultants to bricklayers, plumbers and joiners. Government must put more pressure on banks to ease the burdens on developers and small businesses and increase lending for new developments, while the planning process could be streamlined to be more efficient and less costly.
Feasibility studies and site investigations should form the early stages of any development. Our new office in Aberdeen aims to assist developers and property owners by finding practical and cost effective solutions to any ground related development constraints, optimising land value and improving efficiency and profitability of development.
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