Risking It All: Mark Innes on Building Tartan Timber and Growing Tartan Talks Across Scotland 🪵🤝

In this episode of Risking It All, we speak with Mark Innes, founder of both Tartan Timber Co, a fast-growing independent timber and building supplies business based in East Lothian, and Tartan Talks, the networking and support community he's built for business owners across Glasgow and Edinburgh.Mark's story starts with Tartan Timber: built on competitive pricing, genuine customer service and strong relationships with the local trade community, it's grown into one of the standout independents in its patch. But the conversation goes further than one business. Mark also opens up about why he started Tartan Talks, turning his own experience of building strong business relationships into a community where business owners across Scotland can connect, support each other and actually do business together, not just swap business cards. What started as a trades-focused gathering has since evolved to welcome all kinds of businesses.We dig into how Tartan Talks has grown from a local East Lothian gathering into regular events in both Glasgow and Edinburgh now spanning a wide mix of industries, what it takes to build a community that keeps people coming back, and why Mark believes strong relationships (whether with trade customers or fellow business owners) are the real engine behind sustainable growth.In this episode, you will also hear:⁠ ⁠🌲 How Mark turned an idea into a growing timber business⁠ ⁠🤝 Why he built Tartan Talks and grew it into a Glasgow and Edinburgh networking community for businesses of all kinds⁠ ⁠💡 How strong relationships, in trade and in business, create long-term success⁠ ⁠📈 The realities of scaling two businesses at once⁠ ⁠🚀 The mindset required to keep growing while staying true to your valuesWhether you're building a business, working in the trades, or looking to grow your own network and brand people genuinely trust, this episode is packed with practical insights on entrepreneurship, community-building and sustainable growth.👉 Tune in for an honest conversation about resilience, customer-first thinking and truly risking it all.🖥️ This episode is sponsored by Jolly Media Marketing.🎥 A specialist, video-first advertising partner to local businesses all across the U.K.🎯 If you need a reliable marketing partner who can help you generate more enquiries every day, check them out at:www.jollymediamarketing.com