When he did his presentation at the end of the course, ‘I was actually just back from Sweden and Denmark, so my presentation was live, as it were. It was after lunch and the judging panel was a mix of bank and university people and sponsors and they were very receptive to having a G&T post- lunch, which I saw as part of the presentation. All in all, a great experience and I’m still in touch with other alumni from the programme.’ His focus for the next few years is on building up personal relationships with distributors, hotels, restaurants, resorts, retailers and bars, and keeping on top of business trends, which encompasses global political trends – ‘I studied politics as part of international relations for my primary degree in Dundee; it’s something I’m interested in anyway and it’s vital to know what’s going on in the territories you’re hoping to expand into’. Arbikie will continue focusing on sustainability, looking for ever more ways to be climate-positive and protect the environment for the next generation. There are over ten Stirling ‘nephews and nieces in the pipeline’ – ‘the oldest are in their early 20s. We want them to go away and learn off other businesses – make their mistakes, like we did, at someone else’s expense! Then I’d love if some of them came back and joined the family business.’
Download PDF file