Ambitions LIVE 2025 – Leadership and Commercial Conversations
02 Oct 2025, 09:00 - 17:00
Social Investment Scotland’s flagship programme, Ambitions, is going LIVE again this year, and this time we head to Glasgow. Funded in partnership with Postcode Innovation Trust, this major event will be hosted in central Glasgow on Thursday, 2 October 2025 at The Social Hub, engaging social enterprises in conversations about leadership, sustainability and commercialisation. There will also be matchmaking opportunities with key buyers and purchasers. If you are a social enterprise with the drive to grow your trading capacity and sustainability to support the communities you operate in, then please read on…
Ambitions LIVE 2025 – Thursday, 2 October – 9.00 am to 5.00 pm – The Social Hub, Glasgow
Buckle up for a day of opportunity, networking and learning for you, your team, and your business. We want to support you to thrive and sustain your love of providing impact in your community.
We will focus on your commerciality through operational and strategic leadership, planning and forecasting, enabling you to develop and refine your best possible offer to compete in a busy marketplace, while maintaining customer loyalty and attracting new business opportunities.
We will provide practical tools and tips empowering you to deliver new or different opportunities and new routes to market, by giving consideration to the true cost of business development. We will help you drive your business and procurement forward to increase your sales!
Keynote Speaker: Ynzo van Zanten
Joining us to kick off the day is Ynzo van Zanten. He's an author, entrepreneur and former ‘Chief Evangelist’ and 'Head of People & Culture' at the Dutch impact company Tony’s Chocolonely. In the past, his entrepreneurial ambitions drove him to set up Innocent Drinks in the Benelux. Ynzo also taught ‘Sustainable Leadership & Entrepreneurship’ at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, and was a guest lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and TU Delft. In his spare time, Ynzo sits on the boards of the ’10.000 Hours’ and ‘Plastic Whale’ foundations.
According to Ynzo: “Future-ready entrepreneurship is not just about purposeful business, but about how to thrive in the post-purpose era, and how to be on top of your game in 21st Century capitalism. No B2B or B2C, but Human to Human; H2H economics. It’s about disruptive marketing and amazing teams. It’s about embracing vulnerability. About radical transparency. And all without using the word KPI’s or HR a single time.”
Commercial Conversations and Procurement:
The private and public sectors hold significant purchasing power, and social enterprises can meet their demand for products, services, and experiences that support their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) objectives. We will have a session on ESG hosted by SIS Associate, Naomi Johnson. Drawing on her expertise, Naomi will guide you on how to effectively present your social value in a way that aligns with a buyer’s priorities—delivering quality and reliability at a competitive price—while ensuring your product stands out by showcasing its clear, measurable impact.
Chloe Cannon will lead a session in collaboration with a top-tier chartered accountancy firm, focusing on strategic approaches to market engagement.
Participants will learn how to conduct effective horizon scanning, identify high-potential contract opportunities, and make informed decisions about where to invest time and resources, and when to walk away.
The session will also cover how to avoid the common pitfalls of pursuing tenders with ‘low win’ probability, and instead, focus on opportunities that align with your strengths and strategic goals.
A key takeaway will be mastering the art of communicating your product, service, or experience in a way that resonates with buyers, securing meaningful meetings and building relationships that lead to successful outcomes.
- Developing your sales strategy and cycle, forecasting and planning.
- How and who do you target as key decision makers?
- Plan it out – what is the true cost of innovation?
- Learn how to write winning tenders and stop wasting time competing for contracts that are not right for you.
Rachael Arnold will take you through developing your storytelling for different audiences – how do you curate and stand out, create interest and ultimately win the contract?
Meet the Buyers:
As a key part of Ambitions LIVE, we are delighted to be joined by a number of key buyers from leading businesses, all eager and ready to work with impactful organisations with great products, services and experiences.
We head into the afternoon with your chance to meet and connect with buyers who have a vested interest in being part of the session and learning more from you. This is a conversation starter and a chance to explore business and collaboration opportunities, including brand alignment.
Last year, we were joined by the Malin Group, Police Scotland and Connect Three.
Watch this space - our buyers for this year will be confirmed shortly.
Agenda:
Registration from 9.00 am
From 9.30 am to 12.30 pm - Rachael, Chloe and Naomi
Welcome and intro to the day.
Sessions including keynote speaker, ESG, storytelling and commerciality
From 12.30 pm - Lunch and Networking
From 1.30 pm to 4.00 pm - Meet the Buyers
From 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm - Networking and Close.
The day will include:
- Hearing from our keynote speaker
- Hearing from experts in purposeful and sustainable leadership, financial planning, procurement, storytelling and product development
- Meeting buyers from a range of businesses
- The opportunity to network with a room full of peers from across Scotland
Your hosts for the day will be:
SIS Associate, Rachael Arnold
Rachael is a seasoned leader in the creative industries and social enterprise sector with over twenty years of experience. She is the CEO of the Creative Entrepreneurs Club - a member-driven community designed to help creative people grow sustainable businesses in an authentic and empathic way.
Rachael was previously Chair of the Board for Youth Theatre Arts Scotland. She is experienced in supporting impact-led businesses and creative enterprises to flourish and grow.
Rachael's LinkedIn profile can be found here.
SIS Associate, Chloe Cannon
Chloe is a qualified solicitor who has worked with both SMEs and FTSE-listed companies in commercial and strategy leadership roles across the engineering, energy and defence sectors. She has supported leadership teams with development and execution of corporate and commercial strategy. She has worked all over the world supporting multi-million-pound tenders, commercial contract negotiations and procurement activities. She has also been involved in multiple special corporate projects, including Mergers & Acquisitions, partnerships and real estate developments.
Chloe is passionate about using her corporate and commercial skills to support impact-driven organisations to successfully develop their strategies to deliver maximum impact.
Chloe's LinkedIn profile can be found here.
SIS Associate, Naomi Johnson
Naomi is passionate about social enterprise and effective leadership, having worked with start-ups and those looking to grow. Throughout her career, Naomi has herself worked at various levels within social enterprises, including as CEO, Board member and Chair. Naomi often supports our Funding Socials events and has led previous programmes for SIS, including its investment readiness, circular economy and more recently, its nature finance workstreams.
Naomi's LinkedIn profile is here.
For your Diary
Date: Thursday, 2 October 2025
Time: 9.00 am to 5.00 pm
Place: The Social Hub, 15 Candleriggs Square, Glasgow G1 1TQ