Getting the lowdown on the men to impress

Published on Wednesday 16 February 2005 12:25

SCRUTINISING the entries in the Evening News Business Excellence Awards 2005 are four experienced and well-respected figures from the Lothian business community.

John Anderson, below, chief executive and founder member of the Entrepreneurial Exchange, is a passionate believer in entrepreneurship and new venture creation in Scotland, as well as having considerable experience of emerging and high growth companies. He has also worked as an adviser in professional practice, working with many of Scotland’s most exciting growth companies since returning to Scotland from Chicago in 1989 and was instrumental in setting up Scottish Enterprise’s Local Heroes project, based in part on his own MBA thesis, Local Heroes - Scotland’s Entrepreneurial Role Models.

Raymond O’Hare, regional director in Scotland for software titan Microsoft, was previously regional manager of the SME & Partner business in Scotland. He has spent the last 21 years working in the IT industry in Scotland and Ireland and has worked for Digital, ICL and Nixdorf during this time. He originally joined the IT industry in a finance role but went on to head up Microsoft’s Services Organisation for UK Retail Banking and Scotland, and also spent four years establishing Microsoft’s position as an enterprise technology company in the Scottish marketplace.

Jim McFarlane, who has been the chief executive of Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh & Lothians since May 2003, has been a long- standing member of the development agency’s management team, with a focus on strategy, tourism and inward investment. He has led a number of landmark projects in the Capital including the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, the creation of the Exchange financial district, Our Dynamic Earth and the Edinburgh Festival Theatre.

Graham Bell, a serial entrepreneur and business development consultant now working for Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, has started and run four companies in the energy and construction, transport and food sectors and also taught sustainable development in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the last six years, as regional manager of the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust, he has supported nearly 400 business start-ups, adding 13.5 million per annum, and a total of 400 jobs to the Lothian economy.