Meet Susan Campbell, Keynote Speaker
Susan Campbell, Director – Market Creation (Place), at Scottish National Investment Bank joined the Scottish National Investment Bank’s Investment Origination Team in November 2020, where she led investments focusing on the Place Mission for three years. She now leads the Bank’s market creation work in Place, working with others across the public, private and third sectors to explore new and innovative investment models to address place-based inequalities.
Prior to joining the Bank, Susan worked on the Scottish Government’s Building Scotland Fund and as part of the team preparing for Bank launch. Susan brings significant public sector and housing experience, having spent over 16 years in roles within the Scottish Government, Scottish Housing Regulator and in a community-based housing association.
The Summit is billed as: Growing Perth and Kinross: Unlocking Business Growth Through Skills, Investment and Collaboration. What do you hope emerges from the discussions on the day?
I'm really looking forward to meeting delegates from across a variety of organisations and seeing what conversations unfold on the day. We often talk about the importance of partnership, but events like this Summit really create the space to bring different perspectives together, share ideas and allow us the chance to learn from one another.
Perth and Kinross is an area with lots of diverse strengths, and I hope that the Summit gives attendees the opportunity to identify practical opportunities to build on those strengths and to leave with new connections.
In your opinion, what is the single most significant challenge facing Scottish business today? And the biggest opportunity?
One of the biggest challenges is the level of uncertainty businesses are having to navigate in the current economic climate. Businesses are navigating changing market conditions, economic pressures, workforce challenges and rapid technological change, which come at a time when important long-term decisions are being made across a variety of sectors. Whilst this can make it harder for businesses to invest with confidence, this also presents the opportunity for them to innovate and adapt. If we can find ways to come together and help ambitious businesses and projects grow and scale, there is real opportunity going forward.
You will be talking to delegates about the national investment perspective, connecting this to the opportunities for Perth and Kinross. How does business investment help unlock future growth?
The Bank has recently published its latest Investment Strategy, setting out how we intend to invest our capital going forward. At the Summit I’ll be talking about this national picture, how it aligns to opportunities for Perth and Kinross, and considering what this might mean for attracting investment.
Investment is what allows ambition to become reality, providing businesses with the resources they need to develop their expertise, as well as giving them the opportunity to enter new markets and create jobs for the communities they operate within. Good investment means that businesses are empowered to think long term and pursue innovative opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach.
You are developing the Bank's market creation work in Place, working with others across the public, private and third sectors to explore new and innovative investment models that address place-based inequalities. How does this work influence growth at the local level?
My role within the Place team at the Bank has a real focus on identifying areas where our investment has the potential to deliver both commercial returns and meaningful impact for communities, with a specific focus on understanding why existing markets may not yet be functioning effectively. I engage with partners across the public, private and third sectors to help drive innovative investment models which are designed to unlock opportunities and attract new sources of capital.
At a local level, this work can help accelerate investment into priorities such as housing and regeneration. The investments that come about as a result go beyond the commercial metrics of the project itself, as a key impact return and objective of our Place Mission is to transform communities, making them places where everyone thrives. By addressing barriers to investment and crowding in private capital, we can support a more inclusive style of growth, which tackles place-based inequalities and looks to strengthen the long-term resilience of local economies.
About the Scottish National Investment Bank
The Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) is Scotland's development bank, launched in November 2020 to deliver patient, mission-impact investment to the Scottish economy. It provides long-term capital, including both debt and equity, to businesses, projects and communities across Scotland.
It's guided by three missions: net zero (addressing the climate crisis through a fair, sustainable economy), place (transforming communities into places where everyone can thrive), and innovation (scaling up technology and productivity).
The Bank also aims to encourage additional private capital to invest alongside it, backed by £2 billion of Scottish Government funding.
