Scotland Alumni National Conference 2026

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09:30 Breakfast and registration 

Tea, coffee, and networking.

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10:00 welcome address

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10:10 Building opportunity, clarity, and credibility after the Help to Grow: Management course

What does sustainable growth look like after the Help to Grow: Management Course? In this keynote, alumnus Gerry Docherty will share how Circulus has evolved since he completed the programme by redefining its purpose, strengthening its brand, and creating new opportunities for growth.

Drawing on Circulus’ rebrand, B Corp certification and clearer sustainability proposition, Gerry will explore how strategic thinking, external support and strong networks helped shape the company’s next chapter. His story offers practical inspiration for SME leaders looking to sharpen their direction and take confident steps towards long-term growth.

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10:45 Culture Compounds: the 3-question check for business growth 

The way your team communicates, collaborates and responds to pressure can become one of your greatest strengths – or your biggest barrier.

In this keynote, leadership expert Gemma Atkinson will introduce a simple three-question framework to help SME leaders understand whether their culture is enabling people to perform at their best or quietly holding the business back. Through the lens of Safe, Seen, Supported, you’ll explore how culture influences communication, engagement and performance, assess your own organisation’s culture, and leave with practical actions to build a stronger, more resilient business.

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11:15 When is investment the right tool for growth and how do you become investment ready? 

Growth doesn’t always require investment, but knowing when external funding could help accelerate your ambitions is an important decision for any business leader.

In this panel discussion, Scottish SME leaders and funding specialists will explore how to assess whether investment is the right route for their business, what funders and investors look for, and how to prepare before starting those conversations. The panel will share practical insights on building a strong business case, understanding your numbers, demonstrating commercial potential and creating a clear strategy for sustainable growth.

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12:00 Lunch

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13:00 Workshop session 1

Generating and converting leads for Scottish SMEs

Finding new customers can feel unpredictable, but sustainable growth comes from having a clear and repeatable sales process. This session will help SME leaders identify the right prospects, recognise opportunities and build confidence in moving leads from first conversation through to conversion.

You’ll learn how to:

• Define your ideal customer profile and focus time and energy on the prospects most likely to convert.
• Spot buying signals, qualify opportunities and move the right prospects from interest to proposal.
• Negotiate, close and follow up so that sales conversations feel clearer, more confident and more valuable for both sides.

Empowering your people through job crafting

This workshop introduces job crafting – a practical approach that helps employees and managers make small changes to how work is designed, creating more meaningful roles, stronger engagement and better performance.

You’ll learn how to:

• Understand what job crafting is and how it can help employees manage demanding work, access the right support and feel more engaged in their roles.
• Learn how to identify opportunities for job crafting by looking at tasks, workload, development needs, autonomy, feedback and support. 
• Leave with ideas for supporting teams to use job crafting as a route to stronger engagement, wellbeing, performance and innovation.

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13:50 Movement break

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14:00 roundtables

You will have the opportunity to join a facilitated roundtable discussion on a topic that matters most to you. Select your preferred discussion themes via the registration form.

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14:50 movement break

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15:00 Workshop session 2

Using AI for SME Marketing 

AI can save time, but only when it understands your business, your customers and your brand. This practical workshop will help SME leaders move beyond generic AI-generated content and learn how to use AI more strategically from creating stronger marketing ideas and campaigns to repurposing existing content and improving everyday marketing activity.

You’ll explore how to:

• Give AI clearer information about your customers, offer and brand voice, so marketing content sounds more specific, useful and recognisably your own.
• Use existing business material, such as reviews, enquiries, emails and past content, to generate campaign ideas, plan content and create stronger marketing assets.
• Leave with practical ways to repurpose content, spot and edit common “AI tells”, assess which tools are worth using, and introduce AI consistently across your team.

Exporting with confidence: finance, cash flow and getting paid 

This session will help SME leaders understand how to prepare for overseas opportunities, manage the financial realities of exporting and make more informed decisions when taking their business into international markets.

You’ll learn how to:

• Understand the cash flow cycle of an export order, from securing the work through to getting paid.
• Explore how export finance, insurance and guarantees can help reduce risk and support international growth.
• Hear first-hand insights from a Help to Grow: Management alumni who has successfully exported as a Scottish SME, and learn what to consider before pursuing overseas opportunities.

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16:00 LEssons learned and Closing remarks

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16:30 Doors close

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Please note: speakers, timings or format of our events may change due to circumstances beyond our control. We will inform delegates of any changes at the earliest opportunity.