Marie’s innovative approach to transformational land development, investment in entrepreneurial businesses and her career experiences in finance and property are the foundations for her strategic insight and creativity and the importance of selfbelief, commitment and perseverance in facing up to adversity and bureaucracy.

The challenges and frustrations of transforming derelict regional town-centre land into a thriving entrepreneurial hub shape the story she wants to share. Her masterplan for the 28-acre site challenged local, regional and national governments with its imaginative and far-reaching ambitions. It took sixteen years to establish an award-winning enterprise centre and pave the way for over two hundred sustainable homes, space for modern, light industry and urban green space for community leisure that will create £200million of GDP and support 1500 jobs.

Market-deficit for regional investment, where the cost of providing modern premises and amenities is more than can be realised from commercial income, demands proactive, accelerated Government decision-making and funding along with the imagination and confidence of business in assessing risk. The HALO Enterprise and Innovation Centre (HEIC) is leading the UK in sustainable workspace planning and management and is a dynamic base for supporting and inspiring tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.

Marie will now devote her time and energy to franchising the HALO#Rockme initiative, for which she holds Intellectual Property and Trademark rights, in the UK and in North America. She plans to build on an international network of influencers and decision-makers, particularly in the USA.

Marie’s mantra, ‘Creating a New Tomorrow’s World for our Children’s Children built on sustainability and digital transformation – underpins her work at a strategic level, providing advice and guidance through engaging directly with business and Government leaders nationally and internationally. As an inspirational public speaker, she aims to build public platforms through live audience engagement, television and social media platforms to share her front-edge learning about community regeneration and the importance of effective, mutually rewarding business and government partnerships.

She is exploring the potential for documentary programmes and planning a book which will be frank, informative, stimulating and hard-hitting about her life in business, about regeneration, market failure, economic reform and how she leads from the heart and love of music. She will explore the pitfalls of political engagement in commercial investment from her experiences dealing with national, regional and local governments and the frustrations of bureaucracy for entrepreneurs.

By passing on the baton, Marie wants to give other like-minded Scottish entrepreneurs and businesses the opportunity to make their mark as she did to optimise the potential of the masterplan and planning permissions for the site. This will enable her career change and free time to help others wishing to learn from the challenges and experiences she has faced as a woman in business life.

Having delivered Scotland’s most sustainable property, Marie’s legacy will be the life-changing opportunities the HEIC is creating for hundreds of young people in an ultra-modern building which has given new heart and new confidence to the town of Kilmarnock. She intends that the site should pass to a third party with a shared ethos and ambition to fulfil its community potential. From any net returns, Marie will establish a Community Fund that invests in Young People. This will assist in funding community driven initiatives and funds to young entrepreneurs which in turn will leave a lasting legacy.