A leading figure in Scotland’s business and technology sectors will help drive innovation in the performing arts in a new role at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Mark Logan OBE, one of Scotland’s most influential business leaders, has been appointed as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), where he will play a key role in unlocking the economic potential of Glasgow’s creative industries.

Logan – former Chief Entrepreneurial Advisor to the Scottish Government and former Chief Operating Officer of Skyscanner – will take up the role in May at Scotland’s national conservatoire, which in March retained its number six position as one of the world’s top performing arts schools in the QS World University Rankings.

Logan recently highlighted the untapped potential of Scotland’s creative sector, where Glasgow is home to a “hidden yet world-class creative and performance supercluster,” anchored by institutions like the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and The Glasgow School of Art.

In his two-year RCS tenure, Logan will develop thinking and action around the performing arts supercluster, seeking to unlock, reframe and sharpen the argument around Glasgow as a creative powerhouse.

Logan has almost 30 years of senior and executive leadership experience in the internet technology industry. His current focus is on nurturing the start-up community in Scotland and the UK as an investor, non-executive director and advisor.

Mark Logan said: “Scotland’s creative industries hold immense economic potential, but their impact is often overlooked because they’re not seen as traditional business clusters like technology or finance.

“Recognising and supporting this creative and performance supercluster could bring significant value for Glasgow and Scotland, ensuring students and graduates have the resources they need to innovate.

“It’s an honour to work with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, an institution that not only produces exceptional performing and production artists and creative practitioners but also cultivates highly entrepreneurial graduates, many of whom establish their own businesses.”

Recent analysis of RCS graduate destinations from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Graduate Outcomes survey (2019-2022) shows that between 50-60% of graduates who answered the survey reported being self-employed or starting up companies. The UK average is around 5%. RCS graduates are approximately ten times more likely to be self-employed than other graduates.

Professor Jeffrey Sharkey, Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, said: “There is a thriving ecosystem of arts education, production and cultural enterprise within the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Mark Logan’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurial growth aligns with our mission to support and empower emerging talent in the creative industries.

“Mark’s expertise will be invaluable, ensuring that students and graduates have the knowledge, networks and opportunities to build sustainable careers. Glasgow’s creative and performance supercluster is a powerful economic and cultural force, and we’re looking forward to working with Mark to explore its potential.”

Logan will join RCS’s first Entrepreneur in Residence, Rachael Arnold, who is the lead adviser in the institution’s Creative Enterprise Development Office (CEDO), which launched in 2024 to support creative business development and artistic innovation for students, staff and alumni.

CEDO offers one-to-one clinics, workshops and funding to help with company, career and project development and to bring ideas to life. It nurtures the varied paths taken by creative practitioners, providing them with invaluable industry-specific knowledge and guidance.