The best of Scotland’s cycling product development businesses will be showcasing their innovative new products this week as part of the world’s biggest bike show in Germany.
Thousands of bike lovers and industry professionals are set to descend on Friedrichshafen in Germany from 30 August to 2 September, as the EUROBIKE show and conference rolls into town.
A Scottish delegation – led, supported and funded by Scottish Development International and Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland – will be present and hoping to impress more than 42,000 trade visitors and 1350 exhibitors with their unique cycling products.
Four companies will be exhibiting at the show: ShredXS – a dedicated designer of mountain bike clothing for children from the Black Isle; Edinburgh-based road cycling frame manufacturer Neil Pryde Bikes; ByCyclogical, showcasing their innovative new Gripster product; and digital trail and adventure website and app, GEO-Adventure.
Around 14 companies from Scotland, who are currently at various stages of developing a cycling-related product, will also attend the show on a ‘learning journey’ as they look to receive validation on their idea alongside gaining valuable competitor analysis.
Cycling – and in specific mountain biking – helps generate around £257 million annually for the Scottish economy and continues to be one of the country’s fast-growing sports. Research indicates that with strategic investment the annual income to rise to £408m by 2025.
All four companies exhibiting are linked with the Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland – an entrepreneurial initiative led by Edinburgh Napier University and Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland, with project partner Scottish Enterprise. It is funded by the University and Scottish Funding Council.
From its base in Glentress, the centre provides market research and product development support, along with testing and product launches to Scottish businesses looking to capitalise on the growing interest in the sport. It aims to bring Scottish biking products and services to an international audience.
Danny Cowe, business development executive for the Mountain Bike Centre of Scotland, said: “EUROBIKE is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase some of the most exciting and innovative start-ups that we are currently working with and we’re looking forward to playing our part in representing Scotland at what is sure to be a fantastic event.
“For the first year, we’ll be part of a ‘Scottish village’ at the event as we look to reinforce the country as a go-to destination for all things biking. Scotland is a hotbed for cycling start-ups at the moment and is packed with innovative products and ideas that are really beginning to make an impact in the sport. Having a presence at EUROBIKE is great way of ensuring that we continue to support the biking community within the country.”
Graeme White, International Sector Head for Tourism at Scottish Development International, said: “Scotland is building a strong international presence in the growing mountain bike industry thanks to our ideal terrain and conditions, along with our fantastic scenery and supportive tourism infrastructure. It’s great to see so many new entrepreneurs tapping into this, and EUROBIKE is the perfect venue for these companies to tap into new opportunities and markets within the sector.”
Featuring international exhibitors giving an insight into the coming season’s bike trends, EUROBIKE brings together industry figures and specialist traders to put the latest bikes, accessories and advances in technology through their paces.
It runs from 30 August to 2 September. For more information, visit www.eurobike-show.com
A Building Research Establishment research scientist who progressed through the organisation to become group chief executive yesterday (Wednesday 28 June) received an honorary degree from Edinburgh Napier University.
The award comes as it emerged that Dr Peter Bonfield has also been appointed to a Government fire safety advisory panel set up to implement lessons from the Grenfell Tower blaze.
Dr Bonfield is passionate about the role science and engineering play in finding solutions to the challenges facing the built environment, with sustainability his main focus.
Originally a materials scientist with a PhD in wind energy and the design of turbine blades, he has helped build university centres of excellence which have raised more than £60m in research funding and created a strong BRE research base.
In May 2012 Dr Bonfield received the prestigious Peter Stone Award from the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to building engineering and the built environment.
A passionate cyclist and former national champion, he was also awarded an OBE for services to research and innovation in the construction industry in 2012.
Today he joined hundreds of Edinburgh Napier students at a ceremony in the Usher Hall to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering.
Dr Bonfield said: “I am so pleased and honoured to receive this award from a university that I have long admired for its pioneering, ambitious and impactful research and teaching that is so distinctive.
“It is a great pleasure to have this new association.”
The other Edinburgh Napier University honorary degree recipients at this week’s graduation celebrations are:
• Professor Julie Fitzpatrick, Scientific Director of the Moredun Research Institute, receives an Honorary Doctorate of Science on Thursday June 29.
• Josh Littlejohn, social entrepreneur and co-founder of Social Bite, receives an Honorary Doctorate of Enterprise on Friday June 30
Professor Andrea Nolan, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “It is wonderful to see people who have made such a significant impact in the worlds of business, science and industry joining our celebrations.
“Their drive, talent and enthusiasm will inspire our students as they set out to make their own mark on the world.”
Rising sales stars from across Europe went head to head in Edinburgh at a prestigious international competition.
Students from across the Continent, and a team from Kansas State University in the USA, came to Scotland to take part in the Salesforce European Sales Competition at Edinburgh Napier University.
More than 50 students from 20 universities in 11 different countries entered the event at the Craiglockhart campus, where they were assessed on their presentation, negotiation and interpersonal skills.
The host university, Aberdeen, Abertay and Dundee flew the flag for Scotland at the contest – part of the movement to take sales away from the spiv stereotype and put it at the heart of the higher education curriculum.
After two intense days of pitching to and negotiating with seasoned business professionals, Daisy Fagel from Euridis Business School in France emerged as the winner of the main Sales Role Play competition. Lanessa Aurand of Kansas State came second and Matthew Saunders of the University of Portsmouth was third.
There were five joint winners of the Sales SpeedSell competition which acted as a curtain raiser to the event, held last Wednesday and Thursday; Sarai Lambert (Euridis), Molly Young (Kansas State), Jacqueline Clawson (Kansas State) and the host university’s Giulia Hetzenauer and Tobia La Marca.
Edinburgh Napier’s Dr Tony Douglas, Director of the Competition, the fourth European Sales Competition to be held, said: “ESC 2017 gave students the chance to demonstrate their presentation, active listening, questioning, negotiating and closing skills.
“It is very likely that students will receive job offers from one of the many sponsors in attendance, and it was also a great opportunity to showcase our Craiglockhart campus, which was an ideal venue for such a large competition.”
He added: “The prestigious event will be followed next year with a UK Sales Competition now that more and more UK-based Universities are starting to take sales seriously as part of their Business School curriculum.”
The first of the European Sales Competitions – which put students’ skills under the microscope by role playing the pressures of real-life business situations – was organised in Brussels in June 2015 with the aim of addressing a lack of structured sales training and exposing participants to cross-cultural differences.
Last week’s competition in Edinburgh was sponsored by cloud computing company Salesforce.
Oracle, Gartner, Hudson, Eastern Western Motor Group, Textron and the Association of Professional Sales also supported the event, which aims to make sales an attractive career choice, and competing students came from as far afield as Spain, Finland, Holland, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Austria and the USA.
Wednesday’s SpeedSell event saw students pitching against the clock to professional sales people and getting instant feedback on their performance.
The main competition the following day involved competitors selling to buyers provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland, with the five afternoon finalists having their performance relayed by video link to an audience in the Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre. The winners were announced at a Gala Dinner on Thursday night.
Edinburgh Napier, home to Scotland’s first university sales division, offers two PG degree programmes with a sales element, and an advisory group drawn from industry helps develop the teaching agenda.
An international field of rising sales stars will converge on Edinburgh for the fourth European Sales Competition.
Students from across the Continent, and a contingent from the USA, will demonstrate their selling skills in buyer-seller business meetings as the prestigious contest comes to Britain for the first time.
Edinburgh Napier University will host more than 50 students from 20 universities in 10 different countries who are taking part in the event – part of the movement to take sales away from the spiv stereotype and put it at the heart of the higher education curriculum.
The first of the competitions – which put students’ skills under the microscope by role playing the pressures of real-life business situations – was organised in Brussels in June 2015 with the aim of addressing a lack of structured sales training and exposing participants to cross-cultural differences.
Supporters wanted to pave the way for a standardised approach to sales education across Europe and foster the creation of a pan-European Sales University Alliance.
Sponsored by cloud computing company Salesforce, the competition at Edinburgh Napier’s Craiglockhart Campus opens on May 31 with a Speed Selling Event which will see students pitching against the clock to professional sales people and getting instant feedback on their performance.
The main competition the following day involves competitors selling to buyers provided by the Royal Bank of Scotland while bracing themselves for possible interruptions and surprises. Those judged to have performed best in semi-finals held in five separate rooms will progress to an afternoon final, which will be broadcast live online and to an audience in the Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre.
The winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner that evening, which will also give the visitors, from as far afield as Spain, Finland and Kansas state, the chance to try their hand at ceilidh dancing.
Dr Tony Douglas, Edinburgh Napier’s Associate Professor of Strategy & Sales and Director of the European Sales Competition, said: “I first witnessed sales competition events in the USA some six years ago, and I was so excited by the concept of bringing together industry and students in the Business School environment that I added this event to my list of ‘must dos’.
“Sales by its nature can be very competitive and the European Sales Competition ticks all the right boxes by connecting the right students with the right businesses, who are looking for more efficient ways of recruiting.”
With talented sales people at the heart of most successful companies, leading business organisations have been happy to lend their support to a competition which spotlights up and coming stars.
Salesforce, Oracle, Gartner, Hudson, Eastern Western Motor Group, Textron and the Association of Professional Sales all back the event, which aims to make sales an attractive career choice.
Edinburgh Napier, home to Scotland’s first university sales division and Scotland’s representatives at the event, offers two PG degree programmes with a sales element, and an advisory group drawn from industry helps develop the teaching agenda.
The Business School last month launched its Centre for Sales and Business Development, which will become a hub for the professionalisation of sales through research and commercial activity.
The university now also offers advanced entry to its BA Sales Management course for people with relevant work experience, and has joined forces with universities in Finland, Austria and Germany to research the coaching of sales professionals.
Dr Douglas said: “With the introduction of sales programmes at Edinburgh Napier, we are now able to help students to not just learn about sales but to practise important selling skills such as questioning, listening, presentation and negotiation, using role play as part of our assessments.”
