Last week saw the celebration of the Capital’s business success at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce’s 5^th annual Business Awards. In a room bursting with the city and Scotland’s best business talent, everyone was asked to consider: “what is your future?”.

This is a question companies of all ages and sizes, and individuals of varying levels of experience, should consider. On a night that congratulated a new ‘Young Businessperson of the Year’ and acknowledged the Lifetime Achievement of one of Edinburgh’s most respected business leaders, it is clear the future holds different types of opportunities for everyone. Nevertheless, it is something that the Chamber calls for businesses and individuals to consider an on-going priority.

Investing in the future, whether it’s growing or diversifying your business, or supporting the next generation by participating in the likes of the new Developing Young Workforce initiative, is key to achieving long term success for Edinburgh’s business offering.

Sharing expertise and creating equal access to quality training, jobs and apprenticeships for school leavers is how we future proof Edinburgh’s business sector by developing a quality, fit for purpose workforce that meets the market’s changing needs. Edinburgh’s talent pool is already world class

Our talented workforce is one of the reasons why we should have pride in Edinburgh’s business community. Welcome evidence that the city’s education sector is contributing to the continued development of a fit for purpose talent base in the city was the winning award for ‘Innovation in Business’.

This past year has seen a massive growth (or at least raised awareness) of the social enterprise sector, a sign that the city remains one that is humble yet ambitious and at the heart of businesses is their engagement for the wider community.  It’s encouraging that social enterprises and charities are supported, successful and celebrated in the business community, and worthy winners at the Chamber’s business awards. We hope to see more of this engagement between the private and third sector in the future, encouraging more shared learnings and opportunities.

The diverse range of businesses entering the awards this year demonstrated exactly how opportunistic Edinburgh can be and reminded us just how varied the types of industries operating in the city are – both the cause and effect of a successful Edinburgh. To secure the Capital’s reputation as a powerhouse of the Scottish economy and hub for global businesses across a number of industries we need to ask ourselves “what is our future” and how can we achieve it.