Arts & Business Scotland (A&B Scotland) is celebrating 25 years of successful partnerships sparked between commerce and culture, and at this important milestone the Arts & Business UK Board has agreed to devolve the Scottish operation and set up A&B Scotland as an independent Scottish charity from 1 November 2011.
Jane Ryder, until last month Chief Executive of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, will Chair the new Board. Other Board members are Lucy Bird, Chief Executive of Marketing Edinburgh Ltd and previously Director of Marketing and Development at The Sage Gateshead; Rhona Brankin, former MSP and Scottish Government Culture Minister; Barry O’Dwyer, Deputy Chief Executive, Prudential UK and Europe; Simon Sharkey, Associate Director, National Theatre of Scotland, and Douglas Smith, Scottish Chairman of CB Richard Ellis.
Since the Scottish office of Arts & Business UK was established in 1986, it has engaged with more than 1,300 businesses and directly invested more than £7 million into the Scottish arts sector through Government supported sponsorship incentive schemes. It has also placed over 400 business volunteers onto arts boards and to work as skills advisers with arts managers.
Through becoming independent A&B Scotland will be able to develop even stronger strategic relationships with key partners including businesses, the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland. A&B Scotland will continue to advocate the power of the arts to business and to broker creative business and arts relationships that bring demonstrable benefits to both.
I welcome the UK Board’s decision to devolve the successful Scottish operation recognising the successful record of A&B Scotland over the last 25 years. The new Board look forward to working with the staff to ensure that A&B Scotland is as successful over the next 25 years as it has been over the last, in encouraging unique and rewarding partnerships between the culture and commerce.
It is testimony to its excellent track record that Arts & Business Scotland is today in a position to announce its independence. We look forward to continued strategic collaboration to enable new models of philanthropy, enhanced business investment, and best practice in governance.
