Grant Fraser of Digitonic By Ian McConnell Ayrshire entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter has declared the need for scale-up businesses has “never been greater” as the economy emerges from the coronavirus crisis. Sir Tom hammered home the importance of such enterprises to economic growth as he invited entrepreneurs aiming to scale up their business to apply for an 18-month programme created by The Hunter Foundation, which he founded, and Entrepreneurial Scotland. The Scale Up Scotland programme, which is free to successful applicants and has supported 36 businesses already, is recruiting its third cohort, of up to 20 businesses. It supports businesses with “the potential and desire to grow sales beyond £20 million to £30m”.