East Lothian’s first Business Month has been hailed a great success after providing opportunities to learn and connect for around 200 local business and service representatives.
I was very pleased to meet our many partner organisations at Drop-In and Connect and to further strengthen the relationships that we have with the business community.
A month-long focus on local businesses grew from the annual East Lothian Business Week. A full calendar of events ran throughout October delivered by East Lothian Council’s Economic Development team and external partners. This included:
- How to network
- Generative Engine Optimisation workshop for digital content
- Women in Business: Spark and Scale, held jointly with Midlothian Council
- Scottish Childminding Association drop-in session
- Visit East Lothian: Travel Trade workshop
- Social Media, Film and Photography for Tourism Businesses
- Drop-in and Connect
Spotlight on start-ups
During the month the local authority also used its Invest East Lothian digital channels to spotlight five different business start-ups going from strength-to-strength with support from Business Gateway East Lothian. A Drop-in and Connect event completed the period and featured 25 services and organisations exhibiting at The Marine, North Berwick.
East Lothian Council Chief Executive Laurence Rockey said: “Delivering events that enable us to showcase not only the range of services available to businesses via Invest East Lothian but through our strategic partners too has become a regular fixture in our calendar.
“I was very pleased to meet our many partner organisations at Drop-In and Connect and to further strengthen the relationships that we have with the business community through our Economic Development team. The event was the culmination of a month of events covering a whole range of topics relevant to our business base. There was a great atmosphere in the room with lots of engagement and connections made.”
Easy to engage
One local business owner who attended the event commented: “It was really valuable helping me to join the dots about different organisations; what they do, and how they connect with each other. Having all these representatives in one place was a rare opportunity to ask questions, access information and contribute feedback on their proposals. It quickly provided me with knowledge that I can follow up on that could have taken me months. All representatives were very welcoming and made it easy to engage in conversation. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of meeting so many people and having meaningful conversations. Well done to all involved!”
'Excited about business month returning in 2026'
Damien Stubbs founder of Being Well Cold, Scotland’s first cold plunge brand, commented: “Business Month has given our start-up real momentum. Connecting with so many teams and other businesses across the month was invaluable and the support from the Economic Development team has been beyond our expectations. Their guidance has directly strengthened the early progress we are making with Being Well Cold and the networking alone is reason enough to be excited about business month returning in 2026.”
Positive feedback
East Lothian Council’s Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment, Economic Development and Tourism, Councillor John McMillan, said: “Our Economic Development Team and partners did a fantastic job of delivering a whole month of very useful and varied events. That so many businesses took part and gave such positive feedback shows how useful everyone found East Lothian Business Month. Roll on next year!”
Visit https://investeastlothian.com for information on forthcoming events and the range of support available to East Lothian businesses.