The Transform Business Festival returned to Dundee today, bringing together entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders from across Tayside for a day dedicated to inspiration, practical support and forging connections.

Now in its fourth year, the popular festival came full circle by returning to Dundee Science Centre, the venue that hosted the event’s original launch, uniting the region’s business community once again in the heart of the city.

Delivered by Business Gateway Tayside and entrepreneurial support organisation Elevator, Transform Business Festival has become a key date in the local business calendar, offering a mix of talks, practical workshops, expert clinics and informal networking designed to help businesses start, scale and succeed.

This year’s speaker line-up featured respected voices from across the business and enterprise landscape, including CEO and founder of Join Talent, Katrina Hutchinson-O’Neill, and digital & future-of-work expert Dave Coplin, former Chief Envisioning Officer at Microsoft UK, with Hugh Lightbody, former Chief Officer of Business Gateway as compere.

Hutchison-O’Neill spoke passionately about her career so far, which has earned her accolades such as Business Woman of the Year (2024 Enterprise Vision Awards) and a spot on the Sunday Times LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leader list of 2022. Key themes in her talk included the power of pushing perfectionism aside to make progress, with an assurance to a captured audience that: “You don’t need the perfect big plan. Over-planning is usually procrastination dressed as perfectionism.”

Katrina is also Founder of Summer’s End Angus, a brand-new three-day music festival launching in Brechin in August 2026. The festival, which has a daily capacity of 12,000, will play host to music stars such as Bonnie Tyler, UB40, Cammy Barnes, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and Susan Boyle, with DJ sets from the likes of Judge Jules and Gok Wan.

Keynote speaker Dave Coplin has over 30 years of experience providing strategic advice and guidance on the impact of technology on a modern society. His speech explored The Rise of Humans: Learning to Thrive in a World of Intelligent Machines. He expressed the importance of utilising AI to support and improve human efficiency rather than replace it, before leading an engaging audience Q&A.

Throughout the sold-out day, attendees took part in interactive sessions and workshops covering digital advice, investment readiness, marketing, AI, tax and more, alongside one-to-one advice clinics with local advisers and dedicated networking opportunities aimed at building stronger connections across the Tayside business ecosystem.

Rachel Ross, CEO of Elevator, said: “The Transform Business Festival is all about giving businesses the tools, confidence and connections they need to fulfil their ultimate potential. Bringing the event back to Dundee, where it all began, feels particularly special. The energy in the room today shows just how much appetite there is across Tayside for collaboration, innovation and growth.”

The Transform Business Festival continues to grow year-on-year, reinforcing its reputation as a go-to event for ambitious start-ups, SMEs and business leaders from across Scotland.