Trade Board (ministerial)

Overview

This group was active between April 2022 and April 2024.

The Ministerial Trade Board was established from the trade and investment strategy to support the strategy in boosting the number of exporters.

Since the publication of A Trading Nation: a plan for growing Scotland’s Exports, the Ministerial Trade Board has focussed on supporting the actions in the plan.

From June 2022, the membership and remit of the board has been updated to reflect the key priority sectors within A Trading Nation, namely life sciences, energy, tech, food and drink and engineering. This will help ensure we are supporting vital segments of the Scottish economy to tackle the challenges and embrace the opportunities these changes will present. 

In February 2026, the Business and Employment Minister convened an interim meeting of the Trade Board, bringing together key stakeholders with a strong interest in Scotland's export performance. The session provided an opportunity to discuss current export position and trends, share insights, and outline priorities for supporting businesses to grow their international trade.

Remit

The board will:

• provide advice, ideas and insight to support the International Trade and Investment Directorate and partners on the continued delivery of projects and actions in 'A Trading Nation: a plan for growing Scotland’s exports, in partnership with Scottish Development International
• advise and provide insights on the trading situation with key Scottish sectors and their capacity to mobilise to increase their exports and provide a challenge function on the economic, commercial and operational environment Scotland’s businesses are exporting in and how these issues impact on ambitions to grow Scotland’s exports at a time when a range of factors have driven a reduction in export sales. This may also include advising on progress on Scotland’s Vision for Trade
• promote and participate in the 'One Scotland' collaborative approach to working across the public, private and academic sectors and use this collaboration to propose new ideas to help increase Scotland’s international profile and boost export performance
• champion the benefits of exporting to businesses through members’ own and wider business networks, at home and abroad, including through peer-to-peer mentoring

Members

• Richard Lochhead, Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade
• Eric Balish, ABC Bank
• David Currie, Proserv
• Russell Dalgleish, Scottish Business Network
• Gillian Docherty, University of Strathclyde
• Simon Forrest, Nova Innovation
• Richard Knox, Verlume
• Sarah Lynagh, Fios Genomic
• Marcus Pickering, Summerhall Distillery Ltd.
• Paul Sheerin, Scottish Engineering
• Gary White, IQVIA
• James Varga, DirectID
• Iain Baxter, Scotland Food and Drink

Publications