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Scottish Enterprise manages risk through a risk management framework set out in the Risk Management Policy, which is endorsed by the Audit and Risk Committee on behalf of the Scottish Enterprise Board. The Policy recognises that risk is inherent in the business of Scottish Enterprise and sets out the process by which risk is identified, assessed, reviewed and escalated appropriately across the organisation.
The Board sets Scottish Enterprise's risk appetite across ten different categories of risk. These risk categories aim to reflect the principal sources of risk facing our organisation. Our risk appetite was last reviewed in early 2024, with a further update currently underway.
Risks are managed across directorate, mission, team and programme/project levels, with each business area responsible for regularly identifying, assessing, monitoring and escalating risks within their risk registers.
Risks that have potentially significant impact at an organisation wide level are recorded on the Corporate Risk Register which is owned by the Executive Leadership Team. The items on the Corporate Risk Register are a combination of the strategic risks identified by senior leadership and any risks of corporate significance that have been escalated from within the organisation.
Scottish Enterprise's Audit and Risk Committee regularly reviews the full Corporate Risk Register on behalf of the Board. During 2025-26 a ‘risk dashboard’ was presented to each Board meeting, highlighting the most significant risks and illustrating movements and trends through heat maps.
The principal risks recorded on the Corporate Risk Register throughout the 2025-26 reporting period were:
Financial sustainability – rising fixed costs and budgets that are not keeping pace with inflation, together with growing complexity in budget frameworks, are putting pressure on our financial sustainability. This will necessitate a more rigorous and sustained approach to prioritisation in order to align resources with the areas of greatest strategic and economic impact, and necessitates seeking new forms of funding;
Geopolitical environment - geopolitical tensions with associated shifts in foreign and economic policy which are disrupting global, UK and Scottish economies. This volatility and disruption means we may not be able to respond effectively to current and future economic challenges and opportunities;