The North East Scotland (NES) Business Academy returned this week with the first in a quarterly series of events designed to support SMEs across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
Held at the Village Hotel in Kingswells, the event, titled PLAN, focused on helping founders and business owners set stronger foundations for growth by making better early decisions across marketing, finance, legal and business coaching.
Attendees heard first hand from the NES Business Academy collaborators, bringing together experts from Blackadders LLP, Prospect 13, Hall Morrice and ActionCOACH to share practical insights from their own business experiences and the challenges they have supported throughout their careers.
The event explored the importance of clarity at the early stages of business, from understanding customers, pricing and cashflow, to putting the right contracts, protections, priorities and positioning in place before growth accelerates.
Attendees also heard from Elementz CEO Jason Brown, who shared his personal account of shaping the company into a £3 million-plus business in less than two years.
(L-R): Leanne Hill, Suzi Low, Louise Smith, Gillian Donald, Jason Brown, Cerri McDonald and Dr Brenda Hector. Credit: Prospect 13
Commenting on the event, Jason said: “Building a business at pace is exciting, but it also means making big decisions quickly and often with imperfect data. What I have learned is that clarity is vital. You need to understand the market, listen carefully to customers, build the right team around you and be prepared to adapt when the plan changes.
“Events like NES Business Academy are valuable because they give founders access to practical, joined-up advice at key stages when decisions made can have a real impact later. If sharing my own experience helps even one business owner think differently about their next move, then it has been a very worthwhile conversation.”
Cerri McDonald, Founder and CEO of Prospect 13 and NES Business Academy collaborator, said: “PLAN was created because the early stages of building a business can feel overwhelming. Founders are making decisions they have never had to make before, at speed, and across every discipline.
“We brought NES Business Academy to life to bring integrated expertise into one room. We want founders to learn and aim to create a safe space for sharing and connecting as it can be a lonely place running a growing business.”
The next quarterly business academy event, titled CONTROL is due to take place on 19th November 2026 and will focus on helping growing businesses create more consistency, structure and control.