SCOTLAND should be proud of its history of entrepreneurship – the world we live in is built to a great extent on Scottish invention and creativity. We should also be proud that the entrepreneurial spirit is still thriving in modern Scotland, with the rate at which new businesses are established often outstripping the rest of the UK. There are problems ahead – notably Brexit – but the nation that helped invent the modern world is still a hub of creativity and entrepreneurship.

Marking and celebrating that entrepreneurship is one of the reasons The Herald is today launching a new series of articles, which will highlight many of the country’s current and future entrepreneurial talents – talents such as Ghazala Ahmed, who started up her own beautician business despite having never having worked for herself before.

One of the questions at the heart of The Herald Entrepreneur series will be how to encourage more potential entrepreneurs to do what Ms Ahmed has done. Over the next year, we will be reporting on those who have taken the first steps to setting up their own business and will pass on the lessons they have learned. We will also be tapping into the experiences of some of the biggest names in business as well as the expertise of our partners for the series: Glasgow Clyde College’s international and business development department, the law firm Wright Johnston and Mackenzie, and John McGlynn of Storage Vault Work Space.

The aim is that, over the next 12 months, the advice and guidance will build into a database that will inspire and encourage new businesses, but The Herald Entrepreneur will also tackle some of the obstacles that exist, and explore where more investment and support is needed.

Scotland is an attractive and encouraging place to do business and entrepreneurs are, and will continue to be, right at the heart of the country’s economic growth, with the potential to create more jobs, greater prosperity and a better way of life. The aim of The Herald new series is to help realise that potential.