As we reach the concluding week of our Pilot of Grey Matters we reflect today on the accomplishments of one our participants to date. Grey Matters is a collaboration with Scottish Enterprise dedicated to supporting Senior Oil and Gas executives to create innovative new businesses, following their redundancy.
Tina McGregor's Grey Matters Journey So Far...
Tina McGregor started her career in finance and education before moving into the oil and gas sector, working for operators and contractors across the globe.
For her, the Grey Matters initiative has come at exactly the right time, both personally and for the wider industry, and she describes her experience as “incredible”.
“I believe Grey Matters is incredibly progressive, given the current oil and gas climate, as it’s injecting some positivity back into the industry in Aberdeen. It offers a realistic and effective opportunity for individuals to embark on what could be a sustainable and scalable start up,” said Tina, who is originally from Denmark but has lived in the North-east of Scotland for more than 30 years.
She applied for Grey Matters after reading about it on LinkedIn, and hoped it would provide a positive platform for networking, sharing and learning from others.
“I also hoped it would assist in developing business ideas and concepts and so far, it has proved to be the case.
“It is an excellent programme which has exceeded my expectations in many ways. It has been a catalyst for my personal creativity and has fostered new and innovative thought processes. This has made me consider entrepreneurship in a much more structured and deliberate way.”
Tina previously worked offshore and was a Group Learning and Development Manager before setting up her own limited company, TCM Total Solutions Ltd, and working as an independent oil and gas leadership development consultant for a major operator in Nigeria and Bangkok.
However, the opportunity to join Grey Matters has taken her career in a completely new direction.
“This has been a very timely new direction at this juncture in my career as it has given me the opportunity to further develop my business concepts in collaborative manner,” Tina explained. “I have met some very energising individuals whom I am sure I will continue to stay in touch with post programme.
“I have really appreciated the right and varied mix of high calibre speakers from both business and academia, as well as working with, sharing and learning from my peers and having the opportunity to explore my business idea and to further develop it with positive and likeminded people.
“It would not have been possible without the patience and support of David and Karen, who run the programme, and their ability to create an open and honest environment where we can all work towards fulfilling our full potential as budding entrepreneurs.”
At the end of the 12-week programme, Tina hopes to have a clearly defined business proposition which she can then develop further.