Roundtable Feedback From Inaugural Summit

The inaugural Perth and Kinross Economic Summit took place on Wednesday 9 September 2026, and included speeches from industry leaders, panel discussions and a facilitated roundtable session with 300 delegates from across public, private, and third sectors, as well as education and skills development.

The questions posed to each table were as follows:

Tables 1 to 15: What should we be doing differently now to ensure Perth and Kinross has the people and skills our economy will need in the future?

Tables 16 – 30: What is the one change that would make the biggest difference to your organisation’s ability to grow, invest or succeed in Perth and Kinross?

All Tables: What is one practical action that businesses, the Council, partners or the Perth and Kinross Economic Partnership should take forward following today’s Summit?

Kirsty Easton, Business Growth Team Leader for the Economic Development Team, and event lead, commented, “We were very encouraged to see so many businesses and organisations contribute so openly and constructively to the roundtable discussions.

“We are now considering the feedback with our partners and looking at how it connects with existing activity and priorities, as well as where there may be opportunities to do things differently. I’d urge anyone who wants to stay up to date with actions and progress, to sign up to the Invest in Perth Bulletin where we’ll share updates as they unfold.”

Roundtable Feedback

Business Growth - What We Heard

• Cost of doing business and business confidence
  Rising costs remain a significant concern, including employment costs, utilities and energy, business rates and wider operating costs. These pressures are affecting confidence, investment decisions and the capacity of some businesses and third-sector organisations to sustain or grow activity. Additional feedback reinforced the view that, for some employers, the immediate challenge is survival and maintaining jobs before expansion can be considered.
• Regulation, bureaucracy and ease of doing business
  Planning, regulation, bureaucracy and public-sector processes were identified as barriers. Businesses highlighted the need for processes to be simpler, more flexible and easier to navigate. Additional feedback also raised concern about the cumulative cost of statutory requirements for new commercial property. The wider message is the importance of business-friendly environment and clarity about which barriers can be influenced locally and which require national advocacy.
• Access to business support and opportunities
  Businesses do not always know where to go for information, advice or support. Feedback highlighted better signposting, stronger connections between support organisations and a more joined-up approach. The same issue was raised in relation to skills and employability programmes, which can be particularly difficult for micro and small businesses to navigate.
• Infrastructure and connectivity
  Transport and connectivity were recurring concerns, particularly for rural businesses. Public transport, parking, digital connectivity and wider infrastructure were raised as factors affecting growth. Rural recruitment was reinforced in additional feedback, with transport to work identified as a significant practical barrier requiring collaboration between employers, the public sector and transport providers.
• Investment, finance and conditions for growth
  There was a strong focus on unlocking investment opportunities and connecting businesses to appropriate finance and support. Feedback also emphasised the need to create an environment in which businesses have confidence and capacity to create jobs and invest.
• Collaboration, partnership and leadership
  Businesses repeatedly highlighted collaboration, stronger networks and partnership working. There was support for better connections between organisations and sectors and for a stronger collective business voice. Additional feedback also called for a clear long-term vision for economic prosperity, with business leaders and other stakeholders playing an active role in shaping and owning that vision.
• Promoting Perth and Kinross and changing the narrative
  There was a positive message about being more confident and ambitious in promoting Perth and Kinross, showcasing successful businesses and opportunities and communicating what the area has to offer. Culture and tourism were specifically highlighted as sectors with good career opportunities whose perception among young people could be improved.
• National policy and advocacy
  Some delegates raised issues that sit largely outside local control, including taxation, business rates, national regulation and the balance between environmental requirements and immediate business sustainability. These views should be recorded as participant feedback rather than Council conclusions. A clear request, however, was for stronger engagement with the Scottish Government and advocacy on the issues businesses are raising.

Skills and Workforce - What We Heard

• Skills shortages and recruitment challenges
  Recruitment, retention and skills shortages remain significant barriers. Rural employers face particular challenges in attracting, training and retaining staff. Employers also highlighted the importance of transferable 'foundation' skills, behaviours, attitudes and practical experience alongside academic and technical qualifications.
• Stronger links between business and education
  A clear and recurring message was the need for stronger relationships between employers, schools, UHI Perth, further education and the wider skills system. Businesses want greater opportunities to engage with education and help young people understand current and future industry needs.
• Earlier engagement and greater visibility of careers
  Businesses highlighted the importance of making careers more visible and engaging young people earlier. This includes businesses going into schools, young people experiencing workplaces and stronger promotion of the breadth of local careers, including opportunities in culture and tourism.
• Work experience and practical exposure
  Meaningful workplace experiences, placements and practical exposure were strongly supported. One practical suggestion was a different model of careers fair centred on real employer engagement and experience rather than a traditional information-only event.
• Simplifying the skills and employability landscape
  Additional feedback described the current skills and employability offer as confusing, particularly for micro and small enterprises. Suggestions included improved employer engagement, clearer coordination and potentially an online route or portal that makes programmes and opportunities easier to navigate.
• Infrastructure that enables people to work
  Transport, particularly in rural areas, was identified as a skills and employability issue as well as an infrastructure issue. A partnership approach involving employers, public bodies and transport providers was suggested to explore practical ways of helping people access workplaces.
• Education models and future skills
  Delegates suggested learning from international education models and giving greater weight to transferable and non-academic skills. One table proposed exploring a substantially different secondary-school model. This is a more radical participant suggestion that would require national policy consideration rather than a local commitment.
• Employers as part of the solution
  The feedback recognises that responsibility does not sit solely with schools, colleges or the public sector. Employers need to engage with young people, provide opportunities, promote careers and help shape the workforce they will need.

Themes Across Both Discussions

• Collaboration and shared responsibility with stronger connections between businesses, the Council, education, skills providers and economic partners.
• Better coordination - join up existing activity rather than defaulting to creating new programmes or structures.
• Simplicity - make support, programmes, public-sector processes and opportunities easier to navigate.
• Connectivity - physical transport, digital and energy infrastructure, but also connections between people, organisations and opportunities.
• Opportunity and ambition - a positive belief in Perth and Kinross's potential, alongside a desire for greater confidence and a stronger collective voice.
• Prioritisation and capacity - focus on a manageable number of actions and be prepared to stop or deprioritise activity that does not contribute sufficiently to agreed outcomes.
• Advocacy - distinguish between issues that can be changed locally and those where the strongest response is evidence-led collective influence on Scottish or UK Government and national agencies.

Collaboration Continues

We will provide a further update in October as part of our monthly bulletin on the initial actions and next steps arising from the Summit, including opportunities for businesses and partners to continue to be involved.

To remain in engaged, sign up to the Invest in Perth Business Bulletin where we will share updates as they unfold.