Chamber and committees

That is very helpful. Better broadband in Thornhill might also be a good thing.

I want to follow up on your previous point. Was it easy for you to know where to go to get support? Was that a struggle in itself? There are many different organisations out there, and there are many different funding mechanisms. Was it easy to find out what was available? Is the barrier what is available or knowing where to go to get support?

I now come to Paul O’Keeffe from Thomas Tosh. Is there sufficient support? What additional support would benefit your company?

Finally, can I just—

We have already touched on how we stand in Scotland when it comes to access to finance. Are there any countries that Scotland could learn from? Simon Crichton mentioned the pioneer fund in the Netherlands. Are there other examples?

I am sure that you could mention many more examples. Thank you. Do David Ovens or Fraser Sime have anything to suggest?

Fraser, do you want to add anything about whom we could learn from?

I ask John Ferguson the same question.

Do not worry—I am very much on to that issue.

Obviously, your business is quite unique. I confess that I have eaten cakes and been to film nights and exhibitions there. Your focus is very much on bringing people physically into your building, and you cannot replace that online. Is that a particular challenge, particularly in a rural area, given the fact that you are basically asking people to travel to your business in an area in which public transport is largely not an option? Do you see that as a barrier to reducing the overall carbon footprint for the business?

The message from businesses is not about the number of different schemes; it is about having a one-stop shop to go to. No matter how many agencies are behind a single portal, businesses want to go to one place to get the information regularly. The issue comes up a lot.

What also comes up is the issue of awareness. The FSB told the committee that its members felt that the main economic agency, Scottish Enterprise, was not visible enough during the pandemic. In fact, the quote it gave us was:

“We were in the middle of a crisis. Scottish Enterprise was not there.”

Do you think that is a fair reflection? Why do you think the FSB is saying that?