KPMG aims to grow its share of the SME market

Sir Chris Hoy and George Clooney will attend the Scottish Business awards. Picture: Michael Gillen

Accounting giant KPMG has thrown its weight behind the first Scottish Festival of Entrepreneurship as it seeks to strengthen its presence in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) arena.

The “big four” firm said the event, part of the Scottish Business Awards to be held in November, was an “ideal platform” to recognise the achievements of Scotland’s SMEs.

KPMG’s head of enterprise in Scotland, Phil Charles, said: “it’s important for us to foster growth in the sector to make it as easy as possible for companies to scale up – making that all-important transition from ‘S’ to ‘M’ and beyond.”

The accountant has already teamed up with initiatives such as business accelerator Entrepreneurial Spark to nurture the next generation of business leaders, such as Morag Pavich, founder and managing director of Mo’s Cookie Dough.

Pavich said: “It has been phenomenally helpful to have access to KPMG mentors to help create and challenge our growth proposition particularly around developing robust financial projections.”

The Scottish Business Awards, founded by Josh Littlejohn, take place on 12 November at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. Guests at the Festival of Entrepreneurship will hear from keynote speaker Sir Chris Hoy, while Hollywood star George Clooney is due to attend the evening ceremony.