Over a decade after completing his own Saltire Scholars internship in the USA, Jamie Gardiner returned to the programme from a different perspective, this time, as Group Operations Director at Hamilton Ross Group and host employer.
In Summer 2025, Jamie hosted a Saltire Scholar Intern to tackle a data and reporting challenge that had become a constraint on senior decision-making. Over the course of the internship, the business moved from manual retrospective reporting to real-time, management-ready insight, enabling faster decisions and releasing senior leadership capacity.
Hamilton Ross Group is a family-run business with over 90 years of experience in the sales, servicing, parts and hire of new and second-hand machinery and equipment. The organisation works with leading brands across agriculture, ground care, construction, garden power, forestry & arb, and animal health.
Operating from six strategically located depots across the Central Belt of Scotland - including Bishopton, Tarbolton, Campbeltown, Perth, Lanark and Cupar - the business supports customers across a wide geographic footprint.
With operations spanning multiple sites and teams, access to timely, accurate management information plays a critical role in enabling effective decision-making, operational efficiency, and long-term growth.
As the business grew, so did the volume and complexity of its data. While Hamilton Ross Group had access to valuable operational and financial information, reporting remained largely retrospective and manually managed.
Key insights were typically reviewed monthly, creating a bottleneck at senior level and limiting the organisation’s ability to respond quickly and proactively. Developing a more accessible, real-time reporting capability was a clear priority - but internal capacity was stretched.
To move the project forward without diverting focus from day-to-day operations, Group Operations Director Jamie Gardiner explored an alternative approach, engaging Entrepreneurial Scotland's Saltire Scholars Programme to bring in a student intern with the specialist skills needed to tackle the challenge.
For Jamie Gardiner, Group Operations Director, hosting a Saltire Scholar was both a strategic and personal decision.
Having completed his own Saltire Scholars internship in Boston in 2014, Jamie had first-hand experience of the programme’s assessment process and the calibre of candidates it produces. From a commercial perspective, the appeal was clear: access to pre-vetted, high-quality talent without the time burden of a traditional recruitment process.
Jamie explains:
“From a purely commercial aspect, hosting a Saltire Scholar was a no-brainer. You get access to some of the best talent within Scottish universities that’s already been thoroughly vetted. From a time and return-on-investment perspective, it made total sense.”
In 2025, Hamilton Ross Group hosted University of Strathclyde Student, Daayum, as a Data Analyst for 10 weeks over the summer.
The project focused on transforming existing legacy data and reports into a modern, user-friendly Power BI dashboard environment. The goal was to give senior and middle management access to real-time insights, reducing reliance on manual reporting and enabling faster, more informed decision-making.
Jamie and Daayum worked closely throughout the internship to ensure outputs were practical, scalable, and embedded within the business.
Over the course of the internship, Daayum delivered a new reporting foundation that fundamentally changed how the organisation accessed and used data.
Key outcomes included:
Jamie notes:
“We’ve gone from reviewing key metrics once a month to having live data available hourly if we want it. That ability to act in real time is going to have a huge commercial benefit going forward.”
The impact extended well beyond the technical delivery.
From an efficiency perspective, senior managers now spend significantly less time sourcing and interpreting data, freeing them to focus on decision-making rather than data gathering. For Jamie personally, the internship removed a major capacity constraint.
“Data and analytics are something I’m really passionate about, but it had become a bottleneck. Having Daayum on board allowed me to focus on strategy and people management, knowing that this critical piece of work was being delivered properly.”
The reporting framework established during the internship now provides a foundation that will support the business for years to come.
For Jamie, hosting a Saltire Scholar was also about investing in future talent.
“If I see a Saltire Scholars internship on a CV, it immediately makes that candidate stand out. I know the assessment process is thorough, and I know the calibre of people coming through the programme.”
The internship reinforced the value of early engagement with emerging talent and demonstrated how structured, project-based placements can deliver immediate business value while building a longer-term pipeline.
Hamilton Ross Group are set to host another Saltire Scholar Intern in 2026.
Looking back on the experience, Jamie describes hosting a Saltire Scholar as both commercially valuable and personally rewarding.
I knew we’d get someone capable of delivering a project of real significance, but I didn’t anticipate how much I’d enjoy it. That energy, enthusiasm, and fresh perspective is incredibly motivating - not just for me, but for the wider business.
For Hamilton Ross Group, the internship accelerated a critical data transformation project, released senior leadership capacity, and embedded new reporting capability that will support decision-making for years to come. For Jamie, it also represented a full-circle moment - from Saltire Scholar to senior leader, and now host - reinforcing the long-term value of investing in early-career talent as both a commercial and leadership decision.
Host companies partner with us because we have a robust selection process that identifies individuals who are consistently cited as the top talent within Scottish universities. Discover the benefits of hosting a Saltire Scholars..
The Saltire Scholars Programme is Entrepreneurial Scotland's flagship programme designed to find, grow and connect students with the ambition and potential of becoming future leaders for Scotland.