Ex-Skyscanner boss appointed as Scotland first chief entrepreneur officer

Former Skyscanner chief operating officer Mark Logan has been appointed as Scotland’s first chief entrepreneurial officer.

The two-year post will mean Mr Logan will be a senior adviser to the start-up nation programme, which was set up to deliver the entrepreneurial recommendations in the Government’s recent 10-year economic strategy.

The appointment was announced by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes during a visit to Inverness Creative Academy.

She told the PA news agency: “The chief entrepreneur is one of the most exciting announcements since the publication of the national strategy for economic transformation and I’m delighted that Mark Logan has accepted the role.

“His job will be to build a network of support for start-ups and scale-ups in Scotland, ultimately to drive economic growth.

“Our ambition is to ensure that Scotland’s economy grows faster than it has and we know that high growth businesses will drive high growth in the economy.”

With one of the major considerations for any new business being initial funding, the Finance Secretary stressed the importance of private investment.

“The whole point here is that there needs to be a network of support, financial support is one form of support, but it’s not just about public funding.

Mark Logan joined Skyscanner as chief operating officer in 2012 until its acquisition in 2017. He is professor of computing science at the University of Glasgow. Picture: David Boni

“Public funding is important and also through our enterprise agencies we provide grant support, loan support.

“The change we need to see is targeting that more effectively at the businesses with the most potential to grow.

“But the other part of this is ensuring there is private investment too – we know that private investment exists but it’s about joining and building that bridge between the sources of private finance and the businesses that have the investable propositions to go and develop.

“We have the opportunity, through the national strategy and through Mark’s appointment, to make sure that is more joined up and businesses know where to go to access either private investment or public investment.”

As well as a bridge between businesses and private investors, Mr Logan said he sees himself as someone who will use the post to help steer policy decisions in a way that will help small businesses grow.

He added: “I see my role, partly, as being that facilitator but also being a focal point to work with many great agencies and individuals we have in the country.”