Claire Partridge is a High Growth Companies Account Manager for Scottish Enterprise, working across Scotland, supporting early stage, high growth businesses raising investment and scaling up. Claire leads the Scottish Enterprise relationship, providing growth advice, grant support and guidance on innovation, product, service and market development to companies in her portfolio.  Claire’s role involves building strategic relationships within boards and management teams of SMEs, as well as working with stakeholders and partners to grow the Scottish Economy.

As part of her role, Claire champions for social change and is particularly passionate about supporting young entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurs and supporting women back into the workplace, after having a family. As a working parent to a young child, Claire founded Scottish Enterprise’s working parents support group with a fellow parent colleague and is an EDI Champion within the organisation, encouraging client companies to think differently around building diversity within their teams.

Claire understands first hand some of the challenges faced by small businesses in Scotland, having set up her own artificial silk floristry business from her custom-built back garden studio during lockdown. The business has continued to grow and thrive, now focused on bespoke wedding work for couples across the UK and abroad, who choose Scotland to get married.

Claire is a qualified Chartered Marketer with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and advocates for democratising entrepreneurship – believing everyone with the ability should have the chance to start a business.