The second Business in the Parliament event took place on 8 and 9 September 2005 in the new Scottish Parliament building. The theme of this event was business growth, and delegates were presented in advance of the conference with a paper on the emerging themes from the Scottish Parliament's Enterprise and Culture Committee's inquiry into business growth, in order to stimulate discussion and contribute to the inquiry. Over 250 delegates, including more than 50 MSPs, debated ways to grow Scotland's economy. The Chamber sessions were webcast and can be viewed courtesy of the Scottish Parliament on Holyrood.tv. The transcript of the Chamber sessions is also available, courtesy of the Scottish Parliament.
The Evening Reception included an entertaining conversation about their business careers and aspirations with Adam Crozier (Chief Executive, Royal Mail) and Willie Haughey (Chief Executive, City Refrigeration Holdings UK), hosted by Alf Young (Policy Editor, The Herald).
The full day Conference opened with a speech by the First Minister, followed by four business leaders (Janette Anderson, Nosheena Mobarik, Ian Graham, Chris Gorman) and discussion groups on the six themes emerging from the Enterprise and Culture Committee's inquiry into business growth. In the afternoon, a Plenary session gave delegates feedback on the discussion groups and an opportunity to engage in an open debate with MSPs and to put questions to Ministers and others. The final speaker was Kevin Sneader (Director of McKinsey and Company) on 'Scotland's International Image' (see his slides here).