Boss aims for gold standard

Jun 12 2007 By Alistair Gilmour, The Journal

The man who led one of the North-East's biggest media companies has become the first boss of a big new organisation which helps the region's small businesses. Alistair Gilmour met Alastair MacColl.

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It is clear from the outset why the Scots managing director of a Teesside media business has been picked to run Business Link North East. Alastair MacColl is bright, confident, personable, ambitious, focused and down-to-earth.

These are all qualities needed for a man at the head of the biggest small business support organisation in the region, and one which takes on the work done by a number of smaller local operations. "A lot of people have asked me why I've stopped running newspapers to join Business Link," says Alastair, the former managing director of the Gazette Media Company, publishers of the Evening Gazette in Middlesbrough, sister paper to The Journal.

He adds: "During the six years I was with the Gazette I was closely involved with the regeneration of Tees Valley and I realised what potential the whole region has. This represents a real opportunity to make a real difference and to totally transform the regional economy.

"I've got two boys aged nine and seven and, not only have we made a home in the area, I'd been in regional newspapers for 20 years in such glamorous places as Hull, South Wales and Gloucestershire, and just shy of six years in Middlesbrough, but we're passionate about providing a future for them and have them grow up in a region that's confident, and a region where they can make their futures."

The freshly-scrubbed Business Link North East has morphed out of four separate identities - Business Link Northumberland, Business Link Tyne & Wear, Business Link County Durham and Business Link Tees Valley.

After a long tendering process, a consortium calling itself the Coalition For Ambition - led by prominent North-East figure Paul Callaghan and made up of the local Business Links and the North East Chamber of Commerce - signed a contract with regional development agency One NorthEast and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), to deliver the Business Link-branded service - worth at least £30m over five years.

The North-East is the only part of the country where the regional development agency and the LSC have managed a joint procurement process to ensure the best possible outcome for businesses in its region.

Alastair says: "For an awfully long time, the North-East maybe lacked ambition, but I think that's changed.

"I've seen a change in the six years I've been here and now we're a really ambitious, confident region and I think we've made a great deal of progress.

"Having said that, there are well-documented challenges and, if the region is going to meet those challenges, we're going to have to have a higher-quality, consistent business support service because, as it stands at the moment, our business stock per head of population is only 59% of the UK average.

"Our productivity rates are only 80% of the national average and we also have challenges in and around skills. I think the creation of Business Link North East gives us the opportunity to contribute and overcome some of those challenges. Quite simply, our role is to focus single-mindedly on the economy of the North-East by creating the best business support network in the best region of the UK."

Business Link North East is due to move into their ultra-modern new headquarters in Seaham, County Durham, in the autumn.

Alastair says: "Business Link North East is an independent organisation with a largely private-sector board - a formidable blend of skills that I think is a massive advantage.

"Our aim is simply to help businesses through their key growth stages - help to starting businesses, helping businesses navigate some tricky areas, and continually helping established businesses to grow, develop and evolve."

The full senior management team has now been appointed - Nicki Clark as director of operations, Jonathan Lamb as director of marketing, Louise Shillinglaw as director of HR, Chris Bramley as director of corporate services, and Jo Boaden as director of information.

Alastair adds: "We are building something that will help to transform the economy of the North-East in a very positive way.

"I'd love to say it will be an absolutely seamless transition, but this is a very big change and we have a lot to do.

"However, we have realistically achievable plans and a clear sense of purpose.

"There is a real big dividend here - a more vigorous, more productive economy, greater prosperity, more jobs and more wealth for people in the region.

"This is an organisation that acts, speaks and behaves like a business - just what the business community needs.

"This isn't about a bit of tweaking or a bit of shuffling, we've been there before. This is fundamental repositioning of our service - a new structure and new ways of working.

"That requires a substantial organisation and we're not going to shy away from that.

"We're going to act responsibly, with care, and we're quite clear about what we want to achieve.

"I hope we're building something that can become the gold standard for business support, not just in the UK but across Europe, and not just for today and tomorrow, but for the next decade and beyond."

The Business Link North-East Board is made up of:

* Siobhan Bales, managing director, The bgroup, Newcastle.

* Chris Beaumont, partner, Clive Owen & Co Chartered Accountants, Darlington.

* Barbara Dennis, managing director, P3 Coaching, Newcastle.

* Paul Callaghan, chairman, the Leighton Group, Sunderland.

* Jackie Fisher, principal and chief executive, Newcastle College.

* Mark Henderson, chief executive, Northumberland County Council, Morpeth.

* Geoff Hodgson, managing director, Till Services, Newcastle.

* Nigel Hudson, director, Technology Services Group, Newcastle.

* John McCullagh, director, Marske Machine Company Limited, Middlesbrough.

* Jane Nolan, chief executive, Shark Group, North Broomhill, Northumberland.

* Terry Owens, partner, G&T Developments, Stockton.

* Martyn Pellew, group development director, PD Ports, Middlesbrough.

* Jo Ray, managing director Small Business Division, Sage, Newcastle.

* Dianne Sharp, managing director, Mechetronics, Bishop Auckland.

* Nigel Wilson, business development manager, Canon UK, Gateshead.

* Lucy Winskell, partner, Sintons Solicitors, Newcastle.