Celebrating smaller businesses

© Stewart Attwood Photography 2026.

Name a business. Any business. What was it? Was it a global tech giant, the likes of which we have all come to use on a daily basis? Or was it your favourite clothes manufacturer, breakfast cereal or game? Or did your local craft shop/hairdresser/artisan food producer pop into your head?

Whilst big brands often dominate advertising channels, and therefore our thinking, Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) play a vital part in our economy and lives, which is why we support the United Nation’s designated day showcasing MSMEs on 27th June.

They offer direct employment, generate business for supply chains, boost the economy in rural and urban areas, fill gaps in sectors, and bring much-needed services and products closer to our homes. They also provide environmental solutions, offer vital support to societal needs and often have equality and diversity at their heart. Tenacity and passion are words which unite MSME founders.

As of March 2025, there were an estimated 384,280 private sector businesses operating in Scotland. The majority of these businesses (98.3%) were small (49 employees or under). A further 3,930 businesses (1.0%) were medium-sized (50 to 249 employees) and 2,425 businesses (0.6%) were large (250 or more employees). In all, MSMEs provided an estimated 1.2 million jobs.

Most likely we all know people who have set up their own MSME and have heard about the juggling act they do as marketers, managers, products testers, and distributers, so resource for researching and innovating is squeezed, if it happens at all.

From the team of one to manager of 40, having the right support at the right time to help solve a challenge or access knowledge and skills you don’t have in-house can often mean the difference between being able to take a first step or not.

Interface has helped over 2,000 MSMEs from start-up to scale-up by supporting their research and innovation activity through making connections into Scotland’s world-class academic communities across universities, colleges and research institutes. This year we will reach a major milestone of 4,000 business-academic collaborations initiated since 2005 –  of which 92% of first-time collaborations would not have happened at all, or would have taken longer without Interface support. Finding an academic partner and knowing what facilities and expertise Scotland’s academic institutions offer are cited as barriers for many entrepreneurs. Our well-established process makes it easier to capture a brief of the challenge, send it to academics, share responses with the business and support the collaboration with our networks, funding knowledge and connections.

We don’t do this alone – we have built strategic partnerships across Scotland’s innovation ecosystem including innovation centres, Scottish Government, enterprise agencies, funders, Converge, and many others, to support MSMEs as they navigate innovation routes, unlock academic expertise and access funding.

We are often asked about funding. Innovation Vouchers, delivered in partnership with the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Enterprise, aim to de-risk collaborative projects and are accessible for Scottish MSMEs, sole traders, social enterprises and third sector organisations. More information can be found here.

For businesses, the benefits of collaborating include creating and developing new products, creating and retaining jobs, increasing export potential and boosting the economy.

For academics, the opportunity to translate research into practical application has a number of benefits – including getting research into the world, and enhanced teaching opportunities. The chance to work on something “real” through projects or placements is often a highly valued part of the student experience.

MSMEs are often described as the lifeblood of communities but are not always well-known names more widely. In celebration of MSMEs, here are a few of the companies we have supported which are having positive impacts on health, the environment and society:

Airglove Medical Ltd; The Glen Mhor Hotel; The Prebiotic Company; The Bettii Pod Ltd; Prozymi Biolabs Ltd; Sentinel; BubbleFlo; Get Set Yeti; Evolve Hydrogen Ltd; Danu Robotics; The Scottish Crannog Centre; Kionnali Living Systems; Ecomar Propulsion; and Matugga Distillers Ltd. Not always the biggest names, but many have big ambitions, and all are doing things differently, disrupting the status quo, and ultimately, making the world a better place, one product, process or service at a time.

If you want to join them, get in touch with us at info@interface-online.org.uk

Laura Goodfellow, Director, Interface