Adviser Profile

Name	MCEWAN, Gary
Expertise	High Growth Business start-up Project Management Entrepreneurship Programme Development Management Development Entrepreneurship Training Business Development Commercial Strategies

Career Summary

A serial entrepreneur, Gary entered the business world immediately after leaving school. During the next 8 years, a grounding in entrepreneurship saw the development of a capable businessman. The resulting new start business in 1992 "Associated Freight Training" gained Gary the title "UK Entrepreneur of the Year 1993". This was followed up a year later with the "Most significant growth award 1994".

Since the trade sale of the company in 1996, Gary has been involved in a number of pioneering development activities that have seen the honing of his skills and the maturity of his management capabilities.

A regular contributor to television and radio, Gary is now considered a leader in the fields of economic development, commercial strategies, inclusion policy and entrepreneurship.

May 1996 - Now

Post trade sale Gary began operating as a business adviser on behalf of Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire in their "First Business" programme. This role developed with the formation of the "High Growth Team" in 1998. Working with new start high growth companies to ensure they made the best possible start. This role also involved advising the University of Paisley on their commercialisation opportunities. Through Maitland Associates, Gary began working with High Growth start ups in Fife in May 1999. April 2001, Gary takes over the project management of the High Growth activities in Renfrewshire.

Also during this period, Gary project managed the "Business Growth Programme" on behalf of the CEDA project in Castlemilk. This programme looked after 10 local high growth companies. Gary also managed the "Urban Regeneration Programme", which was developed to assist urban funded community businesses become self sustaining and commercially viable. The result was the successful establishment of 3 fully commercial organisations employing over 100 people.

July 1997

Worked with the British ambassador in Paraguay on behalf of the Scientific Exploration Society and sponsored by Renfrewshire Enterprise. This involved working for 3 weeks in the remote Chaco region of Paraguay developing an economic regeneration strategy for the areas decimated by poverty.

Additional Information

Gary is a Director of Equitygap Ltd, the largest syndicated investment network in the West of Scotland. This work has helped to developed a wide network of funding channels and an in depth understanding of corporate finance. Equitygap will, in the next few months, be opening offices in Birmingham and Dublin to facilitate deal-flow in these regions.

Gary passed through the SE Premier adviser assessment centre and was contracted as a Professional Mentor on the programme. This work involved the formative assessment of those giving business advice in the network and has exposed Gary to the best practitioners using best practice who are operating in the network.

Gary has been working with IBP (premier adviser) on a new programme "High Impact Business Advising", an assessment centre designed to accredit the best practitioners of business advising across the UK. This is a step up from premier adviser and will be geared towards High Growth Start-up and Account Management.

In the summer of 2002, Gary was selected as an adviser in the National High Growth Team operated by SE National.