Paula Skinner

Earlier this year, Harper Macleod was appointed to help Glasgow City Council (GCC) drive business growth among city’s SMEs. The firm, recognised for its work with entrepreneurs and SMEs across Scotland, was one of a panel of consultants chosen by GCC to provide advice to SMEs through the authority’s Business Growth Consultancy Framework, which aims to deliver sustainable growth and improve business start-up and survival rates.

The new fund has been created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Harper Macleod’s specialists will deliver services related to business structuring, growth and financial management. The available advice will cover a large cross-discipline area of support such as commercial or customer contracts, investments, agreements among founders, intellectual property advice and advice relating to lease arrangements or arrangements with funders. 

Paula Skinner, lead partner of the team which advises the city’s SMEs, said: “This new programme reshapes the way businesses in Glasgow are supported and that is absolutely vital in the current situation. Provided fully funded specialist support from advisers such as ourselves can be a lifeline for these businesses and we’d urge anyone who thinks they could benefit from the programme to apply.

“We have helped hundreds of SMEs to scale-up their operations and we know the challenges that they face at any time, not least in the middle of a pandemic. However, Glasgow is still one of the most business friendly cities in the UK and we know that the city’s businesses will play a huge part in our economic recovery and can continue to grow and develop with the right support during this time.”

The fund programme is now live and information on what help is available, who is eligible and how to apply, can be found here.

R3 IoT, the Glasgow-based IoT satellite connectivity business, has used the fund to access support from Harper Macleod.

Allan Cannon, CEO and co-founder of R3, said: “As a business that is well placed to scale-up during this difficult time due to the nature of our technology, the support we’ve had through the Growth Fund has been invaluable to us. Paula and the team at Harper Macleod have been able to assist us with commercial and employment contract issues, and also work related to the investment we need to take the business to the next level.

“Our tech allows people in a diverse array of sectors to have Internet of Things connectivity no matter where they are based – which is more important than ever especially in areas such as healthcare and energy. It’s fantastic to be given this support in the current economic climate.”

The Glasgow Business Growth Programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through Scotland’s European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) programmes and is delivered by the Business Growth team within Economic Development.