Enterprise & SME development
Business support programmes, coaching systems and service-provider development that help entrepreneurs strengthen management, resilience and growth.
INSIGHT / PARTNERSHIP / IMPACT
Practical thinking.
Lasting progress.
Independent expertise to strengthen businesses, build capable institutions and connect economic opportunity across borders.
Douglas AitkenheadDirector · Intelligent Management Approaches
A CONNECTED PERSPECTIVE
Europe.
Middle East.
Beyond.
LOCAL UNDERSTANDING. INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE.20+years in team leadership
and project management
and project management
Policy → practiceFrom strategy and institutional design
to implementation and delivery
to implementation and delivery
Europe & the Middle EastExperience spanning the UK,
GCC and wider region
GCC and wider region
EXPERTISE
Bringing clarity to
complex challenges.
Connecting policy, institutions and enterprise with the practical support needed to move forward.
↗
Trade, investment & diversification
Export development, investment promotion and international partnerships informed by experience across the GCC, Europe and neighbouring markets.
Institutions & business environments
Organisational strategy, staff development, public-private dialogue and simpler services for the businesses that rely on them.
Programme leadership & delivery
Leadership of national and international expert teams, stakeholder coordination, work planning and results-focused monitoring.
SELECTED EXPERIENCE
Experience across borders.
Grounded in delivery.
A selection of assignments from Douglas’s career in economic development and institutional reform.
Showing 6 assignments.
GCC MEMBER STATES2018–2024
TEAM LEADER · GFA GROUP
EU–GCC Dialogue on Economic Diversification
Bringing European and Gulf stakeholders together around trade, investment and economic diversification.
KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ2026–
TEAM LEADER · ICON INSTITUT
Enterprise support & employment prospects
SME Loop training, business-service provider development and coaching support for inclusive economic participation.
JORDAN2015–2018
TEAM LEADER · BDO
Jordan’s SME Growth Programme
An EIB-funded programme combining institutional capacity, business coaching and support for high-growth enterprises.
PALESTINE2013–2015
TEAM LEADER · EURECNA
Building institutional capacity
Strengthening the Ministry of National Economy through organisational development, training and service improvement.
SYRIA2009–2011
TEAM LEADER · EURECNA
Business Environment Simplification Programme (BESP)
EU-funded reform of business regulations, licensing and government services to support private sector investment and trade.
OMAN1996–2004
SPECIAL ADVISOR · MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
Investment promotion & export development
Helping establish OCIPED and develop the strategies, people and international networks behind its services.
Selected career assignments undertaken through the organisations named above.
THE APPROACH
Understand the context.
Build the partnership.
Make it work.
Start with the real challenge.
Listen to businesses and institutions, assess the evidence and identify where practical change is possible.
Connect the people who can act.
Bring public and private stakeholders together around clear priorities, responsibilities and shared objectives.
Translate strategy into delivery.
Build capability, support implementation and use monitoring to keep the work focused on results.
ABOUT DOUGLAS
Douglas
AitkenheadMBA · MPhil · MA (Hons)
Director
Intelligent Management Approaches
A career connecting
Europe and the Middle East.
International experience.
A practical perspective.
Douglas Aitkenhead is an economic development and institutional capacity specialist with more than 20 years of experience in team leadership and project management.
His career spans enterprise development, export promotion, foreign direct investment, public-private engagement and organisational reform. He has led multidisciplinary teams and worked with government ministries, development agencies and business-support institutions across the Middle East and beyond.
Earlier roles with Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Development Agency provide a foundation in economic development, transport, logistics and urban regeneration. His qualifications from the University of Glasgow include an MBA, an MPhil in Urban and Regional Planning, and an MA (Hons) in Politics and Sociology.
Connect with Douglas on LinkedIn ↗LET’S TALK
What could we
move forward together?
For consultancy assignments, programme leadership and potential partnerships, contact Douglas directly.
daitkenhead@gmail.com ↗+44 7711 984564www.intelligentmanagementapproaches.com LinkedIn ↗
Europe / Middle East / Beyond