The new initiatives are aimed at enhancing productivity in Scotland and will be used as a tool to help businesses recover from the economic crisis caused by COVID-19.

Productivity Club Scotland is funded by the Scottish Government and is being delivered by SCDI. The clubs are launching after the success of pilot projects in Edinburgh and Glasgow over the past year.

The new clubs have been launched today with a video of businesses describing the success of the pilots and what will be most helpful in the new areas. The video includes Michelle Handforth, chief executive of Aberdeen Harbour; Chris Gaffney, finance director of Johnston’s of Elgin and Gwilym Gibbons, chief executive of The Crichton Trust.

Signing up to a club is free of charge and can be done here. The first events for the North East and South Scotland events will take place on 10 December and on 11 December for the Highlands & Islands. More details will be provided on the website shortly.

Productivity Club Scotland provides an opportunity to unite businesses to take advantage of new resources to drive innovation, productivity, sustainable development and economic growth during the challenging times post Covid-19.

The clubs encourage peer-learning between enterprises and facilitate cross-sector advice, experience and knowledge on how to improve the productivity and resilience of Scottish businesses.

More than three-quarters of businesses involved in the initial pilot in Edinburgh and Glasgow said membership had helped them build useful business connections and more than 72% expected to see improvements in their business productivity as a result.

Nearly nine out of 10 current members are either small or medium enterprise, making it ideal for companies of all sizes to benefit from the networking advantages that the new clubs will offer to improve the performance of their business going forward.

Ashleigh McCulloch, SCDI programme manager, said: “We are excited to be able to announce the expansion of this fantastic programme, ensuring more of Scotland’s businesses can access a Productivity Club in their region that reflects the realities of local and regional economies and supports the development of an economy which works for all.

“Disappointing productivity have been a worrying feature of both the Scottish and wider UK economy for the past decade and this has only been exacerbated by the lockdown activity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. What we know from speaking to our members is that collaboration and sharing of information during this time as been invaluable to support businesses and navigate through the current landscape.

“We would urge as many businesses as possible to sign-up for free and harness the knowledge and experience of other members in this unique peer to peer community.”

Ivan McKee MSP, minister for trade, investment and innovation, commented: “We are extremely pleased with the remarkable success our Productivity Club pilots have enjoyed in their first year, with well over 1,000 members connecting together to start improving business performance across Scotland.

“It is with some excitement that, in collaboration with SCDI, we are now establishing new pilots in North East Scotland, the Highland & Islands, and the South of Scotland. I wish the Clubs and all their member businesses every success in helping drive productivity growth across Scotland.”