WeDO Inspiration Insights with Leading Business Journalists

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  • WeDO Inspiration 15th December
     15 December 2020
     12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

OPEN EVENT – MEMBERS & NON-MEMBERS WELCOME

2020 will surely go down in history as one of the most challenging years most of us will have experienced in our lifetimes – both in business and in many cases, personally too.  We’ve all faced unparalleled times with challenges galore and as the year comes to a close, we are delighted to be welcoming two of Scotland’s leading journalists who will be discussing their resume of 2020 (focused more on the positives!) and sharing their views on how 2021 will look.

The event will be interactive and there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and join in the conversation with our esteemed panel.  We hope to be adding one more panel member shortly and this page will be updated accordingly.  We can’t think of a better topic to close our series of 2020 events.  In light of our ongoing support of the wider SME business community, we will be delighted for non-members of WeDO to join us at this event.

MEET THE PANEL

KEN SYMON

Editor of insider.co.uk 

Ken is Editor of insider.co.uk, a post he has held since March 2016.

Ken led the expansion of Insider with recruitment of new journalists for a new standalone daily business website, insider.co.uk, which launched in March 2017. It is the go-to website for live Scottish business news.

He is a passionate supporter of Scottish entrepreneurship and is working with business bodies and academics to develop an economic dashboard that will better measure the output of Scotland’s economy. 

Prior to joining Insider Ken ran his own business Symon Media which provided content for a range of business publications and websites. He previously worked in newspapers including being Deputy Editor of The Sunday Times Scotland where he ran the Scottish news operation and co-led a major expansion of the newspaper’s coverage. He Was Business Editor of the Sunday Herald where he was shortlisted in the Finance Writer of the Year Awards in the Business Writer category. 

Previously, he was Business Editor of The Scotsman where he expanded the business coverage. Ken won the UK Local Government Journalist of the Year Award for an investigation he did into the Poll Tax for the Evening Tines in Glasgow when he was business and industry correspondent there. 

Ken regularly hosts Insider Business Breakfasts and other events. 

In his spare time Ken teaches the Chinese martial art Tai Chi Chuan and is a lifelong supporter of Motherwell Football Club. 

GILLIAN CRAWFORD (BOWDITCH)

Columnist & Commentator at The Sunday Times, Co-Founder of Lilyblanche & Tartan Twist, Founder/Director of the Institute of ECommerce, Chair of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs (Scotland), Ambassador for Women’s Enterprise Scotland.

After completing an MA Hons in archaeology at Edinburgh University, Gillian studied journalism at City University in London, before moving to Fleet Street and writing for The Times.

At The Times, she pioneered a new kind of interview with FTSE100 chairmen and chief executives before being promoted to deputy editor of The Times Diary and then acting editor, attending the editor’s daily conference.

Marriage and a move to Scotland followed. Gillian was appointed Scottish correspondent of The Times, before becoming deputy editor at the Sunday Times Scotland. She turned the ailing Ecosse supplement into an multi award-winning section which helped drive circulation at the newspaper.

After having her third child, she returned to writing and apart from a short interlude at the Scotsman, she has written features and a weekly column for The Sunday Times. Interview subjects have included: David Cameron, The Dalai Lama, Richard Branson, Dame Muriel Spark, Robert Carlyle, Sir Terance Conran, Alex Salmond, Lulu, Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith. She has been named Feature Writer of the Year twice, Columnist of the Year and Team of the Year in the RBS Scottish Press Awards.

An entrepreneur in her own right, Gillian co-founded the demi-fine jewellery brand Lily Blanche and the Scottish gift brand Tartan Twist before taking full control of their parent company Wow (Scotland) Ltd in 2016. The brands are thriving and two highly successful ecommerce websites have been built. Their bestselling product is the six photo Memory Keeper Locket

In 2018, Gillian joined a small group of Scottish ecommerce experts to create a new Institute of Ecommerce for Scotland. The first course for ecommerce managers goes live in January 2020, funded by Scottish Enterprise and hosted by Strathclyde University Business School. 

There may be another panelist joining this event and if this is the case, details will be added.

You can add this event to your calendar and will receive the Zoom link details in your registration confirmation email.

If you’re interested in finding out more about WeDO, click HERE.

To apply for membership, click HERE.