SCOTLAND’S £14 billion food and drink sector is to be the focus of a major event held in London.
The Invest in British Business event is being held by The League of Angels, an exclusive global investors club based in the capital, at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on Tuesday February 5.
Hundreds of influential guests are expected to attend including Prince Michael of Kent, several foreign ambassadors, prominent business owners and senior UK Government representatives.
The day will feature sessions on investment strategy, SEIS funding, access to SME capital and UK imports and exports. Among the speakers is Adam Hardie, partner and head of food and drink at Johnston Carmichael, Scotland’s largest independent accountancy and business advisory firm who will put Scotland’s growing food and drink industry centre stage and highlight the opportunities for investment.
He said: “Scotland is renowned internationally for its rich natural larder, with Scottish food and drink accounting for a quarter of the UK sector and growing twice the rate of the rest of the industry across the UK.
“As the sector grows it continues to attract some extremely talented and ambitious entrepreneurs offering exciting new products with the potential to achieve success on the world stage.
“By showcasing the sector, we hope to meet UK and overseas investors with an appetite for Scottish food and drink.”
The Scottish food and drink industry has ambitious plans to double the size of the sector to £30bn by 2030.
Food and drink has been Scotland’s best performing sector in recent years, with record export figures of £6bn achieved in 2017.
In addition to the country’s traditional food and drink including beef, salmon, Scotch whisky and soft fruits, Scotland is becoming increasingly known for its craft gins and beers.
The value of gin exported overseas from Scotland has been calculated at over £400 million.
The focus of the 2030 strategy is to build on Scotland’s worldwide reputation as a land of food and drink, but it also aims to make it easier for food and drink businesses to access support.
Despite the sector’s success, many producers seeking to grow find it challenging to obtain the necessary funding.
Johnston Carmichael has extensive experience in advising food and drink companies of all sizes including many of Scotland’s most successful privately-owned companies.
The firm regularly uses its network to make introductions with other business leaders and investors in order to help their clients achieve strategic growth.
It recently created a digital food map of Scotland which is describes as “a unique visual tribute to Scotland’s food and drink sector and to highlight how many of the world’s most celebrated foods hail from the country”.
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