Saltire Alumni Open Their Doors to 2021 Scholar Interns

Now in its 15^th year of delivering world-class internships, the Programme is enabling 130+ students to work with a range of leading organisations around the globe in-person and virtually with companies located in the USA, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Switzerland, Scotland and England.

Gathering online recently for the virtual Leadership Day which marked the official launch of the 2021 Saltire Scholar Programme, Scholars had the opportunity to hear from ESF Patron and world-breaking endurance athlete, Mark Beaumont and covered topics including personal leadership and communication with guest speakers from the Saltire Alumni community.

Speaking on the launch of the Programme, Saltire Scholar Programme Manager, Kelly Glass said:

“A recurring theme throughout Leadership Day was the power of networks and the impact you can have when you give back.

This is very apparent when we look at the range of our host company partners this year, a large proportion of which were motivated to host Scholars because they had participated in our Catalyst, eVolve or Scholar Progammes and are passionate about creating the same life-changing experience for others.

We are extremely grateful for the network of supporters we have, from Global Scots and SDI, to our Board members and Trustees, the CAN DO collective and wider entrepreneurial community who are all committed towards creating quality opportunities for young people to gain experience that is becoming ever more crucial in the post-pandemic world.”

Of the 52 host companies who represent a range of industries from banking and government affairs, to creative industries, engineering, manufacturing, technology, recruitment and life sciences, over 50% are first time hosts including Aquascot, one of Scotland’s largest employee-owned businesses and sole distributor of responsibly sourced trout and salmon to Waitrose. Andy Wilson, Head of Commercial at Aquascot, said:

“We have worked with Entrepreneurial Scotland for many years and have had great learnings and success from the courses they’ve offered which many of our team have attended.

As a member of Scotland Food & Drink we are passionate about bringing the best people into the industry and the Saltire Scholar Internship Programme is a great way to offer some of the best students in Scotland a positive experience of the workplace.

We feel fortunate to be in a position to offer two young people these internships; it’s a great opportunity to enhance the Aquascot name within the University structure and help us attract the best talent.”

There are also returning host companies who have supported the internship programme for many years including: Ampersand Capital Partners, Indie Semiconductor, Alexander Dennis Ltd, Barclays and GlaxoSmithKline, all of which have employed Scholars beyond the internship programme.

2010 Saltire Scholar Alumnus, Eilidh Dillon, now Director of Operational Excellence at GSK in Belgium said:

“The Saltire Scholar Internship Programme fundamentally changed my life. I believe every Saltire Scholar has a responsibility to give back because we’ve been given such an incredible experience. I want to be able to give that opportunity back to as many others as I can”.

Following their internships, Saltire Scholars will become part of Entrepreneurial Scotland’s exclusive Saltire Alumni community that is made up of 1,500+ individuals located across the world who have participated in Saltire leadership programmes.

Alistair Bacchetti 2021 Saltire Scholar, Edwards Lifesciences, said:

“A key thing I took away from Leadership Day was the power of connecting with others and supporting each other. A lot of the Scholars are already expressing how grateful they are for the Programme this year; it was a brilliant opportunity to meet likeminded people from a range of backgrounds who are about to embark on a similar experience as me!"