We might be looking to the light at the end of the recession but, according to Strathclyde University, the Scottish economy will remain stagnant for 2010.

Recent figures also show Scotland will take longer to recover from the recession because we over-rely on our public sector.

That's one of the reasons Strathclyde Uni itself is fighting back to ensure we make the most of our ever-emerging, dynamic private sector.

Their emphasis on funding and mentoring entrepreneurship and innovation was plain to see when I returned to my old stomping ground a fortnight ago.

I was honoured to give the keynote speech at their Enterprise Awards 2009 because I'm in very illustrious company as a Strathy graduate.

Fellow alumnus Sir Tom Hunter generously donated some of his personal fortune to his old uni in 2001 to found the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship so Scotland has a hub for innovation on the world stage.

The centre is open to students across the University, so anyone in the faculties of arts, engineering or science can - and do - learn how to commercialise their ideas and gain an upper hand in business.

Statistics would have us believe that entrepreneurialism isn't Scotland's bag.

Supposedly we are the second least enterprising part of Britain with a business birth rate one-third lower than the UK average.

But while investment in new business has dropped in the rest of the UK, funding for our start-ups last year doubled.

Scotland has a very good infrastructure to support innovation and start-up business.

We're tailor-made for entrepreneurialism because, unlike most countries where investment is managed by the state, Scotland has a working partnership between the public and private sector.

Scottish Enterprise, the country's main funding agency, works with communities of 'business angels' - networks of private investors prepared to pump money into start ups.

Scottish Enterprise will match private funding with public money in a scheme where risk is shared and investment is spread across the board.

Since 2003, Scottish Enterprise has invested £90million and brought in £193million of private money.

We might have a smaller sector in terms of financial size but we're a hugely more profitable enterprise arena than the rest of the UK so the statistics are talking rubbish.

We're a small country and punching above our weight.

With networks of entrepreneurs, private and public investment and training centres funded by the generosity of home-grown billionaires like Sir Tom, we're an ambitious country looking to get to the heart of world innovation.

Sir Tom's Centre works with the Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Network which was set up in 2005.

Now, after just a few years, over 60 companies across all sectors have emerged from the partnership.

Strathclyde companies MLS UK have commercialised research into Wind Turbine Control, whilst green energy company SGS use digital technology to make the electrical grid more efficient.

Ohmedics Ltd is at the head of pioneering medical techniques and has the potential to save the health sector millions.

These are to name just three of dozens of successful, investable, viable businesses all nurtured by the university and its infrastructure.

They have quickly become appealing investment models for private funding under the Scottish Enterprise scheme.

 

 

Scotland is pigeonholed too easily for the unsavoury things in life but it amazes me how we can so often be overlooked for our proud heritage and entrepreneurial spirit.

We have always punched above our weight. The world forgets we invented the steam engine, the television, radio, penicillin, Harry Potter, the calculator... I'd bet green money it was a Scotsman who invented the wheel!

The Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and the successful networks created by Strathclyde are valuable links in the chain for the next generation.

Our youngsters can craft their skills here in Scotland knowing that we have a fair system and a network which encourages and supports innovators and entrepreneurs.

We're a small country but it's thrilling to see the way our successful people and institutions put something back to help the next generations get ahead.

Attending the Strathclyde Enterprise Awards 2009 just solidified it for me: we're doing something right as a nation and it's great to see.

This year's standout business for me was engineer Brian O'Reilly's Energy Egg - a device that switches off household appliances automatically, saving on bills and energy consumption.

Brian's Egg joins a list of businesses that have been given the opportunity to reach the world thanks to the Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Network, The Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and the great business infrastructure our public bodies have created for our dynamic young inventors to thrive.

 

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