Is Argyll Shooting itself in the foot?

Many may complain how difficult it is to make a living in Argyll, but when we award business to firms and individuals outside Argyll aren’t we contributing to that unsustainability?

With experience in two sectors, the creative and the voluntary, I see this happen again and again. Local suppliers being discounted in favour of external ones. Why does this happen? And is there anyone purposefully going out into Argyll and ensuring that there is no one who can deliver the service locally before turning to Glasgow, Edinburgh or London?

The second question is easiest to answer: there is, and they are  called the council. In the two sectors I mention I know of individuals and companies who can be based in Argyll only because the council employ them, which to my mind is ridiculous state of affairs.

Why is the council so intent on finding local firms to supply their needs? Because it is sustainable. They get back in tax some of what they spend, and they ensure that the folks who live in this wide and varied county, get some of their hard earned council tax back as income. A virtuous circle then? Possibly: as long as the supplier can supply and is value for money.

There’s the nub: value and reputation. Because the council cannot be seen to work on value judgements alone, it is open to employing those locally who tender in the correct fashion and provide value for money.  Actually this is true of all the major agencies and government departments.  For other private  organisations and individuals though, the story seems to be less clear.

Let’s take up a cudgel we’ve used before: theatre. There was, a couple of years ago, a very well respected arts events outfit who in partnership with a theatre company with national recognition, put on a heavily-trailed extravaganza. Both these organisations came from the urban centres of Scotland, and both drew down a great deal of funding to put this event on, which lasted over several days. To put it mildly the reviews were mixed. What appalled ForArgyll was that this event used skills and techniques which could be found in abundance on the doorstep of the event, in the locality, ie in Argyll.

This debacle has no doubt ensured nothing of the like will be entered into in the near to medium future by the organisation that put the thing on. A great pity because implemented properly, it could have been fantastic and a real crowd-pleaser.

So what happened? The vision was right. The skillsets imported were right. But the attitude was wrong. This was not about providing a service to the community in such a way as to augment and sustain the community. The suppliers were there for the funding, the filthy lucre — in short to make a living. With the best will in the world, the location did not matter to them.

Lambast me for using an anonymised event, but in my opinion it offers a real sense of what goes wrong when suppliers are shipped in. Why can’t we use local firms with the same expertise? Perhaps it is because we don’t value them enough? Or perhaps it is because they don’t charge enough? Or even, more probably, they charge too much?

Certainly there are times when you need the specialist expertise of the urban areas. There’s no doubt if you have a specialist community need with regard to setting up Development Trusts or running one, there’s a particular firm of Solicitors in Glasgow who are the only people to go to. But for everything else, there are solicitors on our doorstep. And this is the case for all of the professionals in Argyll. The question then is: why don’t we use them?

Take for instance the example of a tourism-based business with an international clientele who work predominantly in Argyll. Who do they use for their marketing strategies? their PR? Certainly no-one in Argyll. Is it because these people don’t exist? Is it because they are not competent? No. Just that ‘obviously’ some firm from Edinburgh is better (more expensive). There’s been one PR firm that’s folded in Argyll in the last 12 months, because no-one was using them. Had they been used two or three jobs would have been continued and a locus of economic activity would have been kept within Argyll.

Or perhaps, when you do use an exterior consultant, when it comes to ancillary services, where do you go? Do you use the consultant’s contacts? Or do you source your own within Argyll? Do you find professionals based in this county?  Surely your spend should in part stay in Argyll. Surely?

Otherwise, well, we would be shooting ourselves in the foot,  undermining a sustainable economy for Argyll.

Charles Dixon-Spain