The Association of Scottish Businesswomen (ASB) turns 30 this year, and it's marking the milestone properly. The 30th Anniversary Celebration and Awards takes place on Friday, 13 November, at the Virgin Hotel Edinburgh, with accountants and business advisors CT confirmed as headline sponsor for the evening.
Thirty years is a serious run for any trade body, let alone one that has spent the bulk of that time making the case for women in Scottish business at a time when the infrastructure for that argument was thin. The ASB has spent three decades running events, building networks, and putting names to faces in boardrooms and founder communities across Scotland. That kind of sustained presence matters in a business culture that can still be stubbornly relationship-driven.
CT's involvement as headline sponsor signals something worth noting. Accountancy firms don't attach their name to events without reading the room first, and CT's decision to back this particular night reflects where serious professional services firms are putting their weight in the Scottish SME community. According to the Scottish Government's economic data, women-led businesses remain underrepresented in high-growth sectors, but the pipeline is growing, and events like this are part of what sustains it.
The ASB itself sits within a wider Scottish ecosystem that includes Business Gateway, Scottish Enterprise, and the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde, all of which have identified women's enterprise as a core growth opportunity for the Scottish economy. Research from the Rose Review, commissioned by HM Treasury, estimated that closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship could add £250 billion to the UK economy. Scotland's own ambitions, articulated through the Scottish Government's National Strategy for Economic Transformation, explicitly name inclusive entrepreneurship as a lever for growth.
For Edinburgh SME owners, the practical value here is straightforward: this is one of the best rooms in Scottish business to be in on 13 November. Whether you're looking to be recognised, to celebrate someone in your team or network, or simply to be in a space where serious Scottish founders and operators gather, the ASB's 30th is worth putting in the calendar now.