A telecoms entrepreneur has been appointed as the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) new chair for Scotland.
Martin Little will lead a new group charged with fostering more local grassroots campaigning across the country.
The voluntary position is one of a number of new roles created as part of a drive to make it easier for more FSB members to get involved in the issues that matter to them.
The FSB also want to build on the organisation’s reputation a voice of small business.
Janet Torley and Hans Waltl front the small business charge in the East of Scotland as the volunteer area leaders.
Martin Little said: “I want to ensure that the voice of small businesses across Scotland is heard at every level where decisions are taken.
“Our leadership group in Scotland is made up of business leaders from across the country, giving us the ability to co-ordinate FSB’s grassroots activity from Dornoch to Dumfries, Lanarkshire to Leith, and everywhere in between.”
Janet added: “I am looking forward to campaigning on even more of the issues which really matter to small businesses in Edinburgh. I’m also looking forward to making it as easy as possible for our members to get involved and have their say.
Mike Cherry, FSB UK National Chairman, said: “Volunteers are crucial to FSB’s success as it is only by drawing on the experience of our members who run their own small businesses that FSB is able to be such a strong campaigning voice – locally and nationally.
“FSB was founded to enable grassroots activists to fight for change. As we look back over the last year, we can celebrate a number of significant wins for our members.
“We saw the scrapping of planned NICs increases for the self-employed. In Scotland, 104,000 small businesses saved a total of £226m in the last year through the landmark Small Business Bonus scheme. This was all sparked by our members being vocal at the local level.
“Looking forward, we need to increase our focus on effectively mobilising FSB’s grassroots activists.”
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