Back in a room with people, patter, and unique perspectives

Tuesday this week saw Scottish Business Network bring members and friends together in London for some physical networking for the first time in over 18 months. In the big open halls of London Scottish House Christine Esson, London Relationship Ambassador Jonny Downie and I hosted an evening of networking, insights and catching up.

Liz Barclay provided the entertainment for the night as she was interviewed by Christine Esson talking about her new role as the UK Small Business Commissioner, but also about her journey leading up to that – including work with the BBC, Citizens Advice Bureau and early dreams of being an actress. ?What I expected to be a discussion about how the role of UK Small Business Commissioner supports SME’s, lent more into the experiences Liz has had throughout her career which has led her to this position and why she fights for the needs of Small and Micro businesses.

Small businesses have always had to face the challenges of late payments, long payment terms & outstanding invoices but Liz and her team are passionate about addressing this issue on a large scale. They are looking to speak to as many Small and Micro businesses as possible to see if the pandemic has affected this issue – and most importantly how to solve it in the long term.

Aside from the interview we had the return of face-to-face networking, something that had always been core to Scottish Business Network. I couldn’t help but feel galvanized by seeing everyone chatting as if they had all seen each other just last week – although that may be because being welcomed virtually into people’s homes has given us all an added sense of connection.

We spent a lot of time over the summer getting feedback from members and brainstorming about what events are going to look like for us going forward. Hosting physical gatherings in London and Scotland had always been a core part of what we did, but we have seen our reach broaden in the global lockdowns so physical events could restrict access to people in the wider SBN Community.

In order to ensure our events are as inclusive and accessible as possible, while providing the experiences members want, we will be hosting Physical, Virtual and Hybrid events going forward.

• Virtual events will continue to be hosted on online platforms, such as Zoom, and will connect all members online.
• Physical events will take place in one location, recreating the face-to-face networking we have missed over the last 18 months,
• and our Hybrid events will bring people together in person in multiple regional locations, and online, to truly bring our global community together and make meaningful connections.

Not everyone will be able to come to Edinburgh to meet SBN members, not everyone will feel comfortable travelling to London for a night of networking, and not everyone is in a position to travel city to city to make meaningful connections – we aim to provide connecting opportunities for anyone and everyone in our membership, and we hope these event formats will facilitate that. ?

We are back in London, Glasgow and Virtually on September 21st as we host the first of our Hybrid events – you can learn more about that, and all the events we have coming up, at www.sbn.scot/events.?

But until then, check out the interview with Liz on the SBN Podcast Series very soon!