Gathered round the rectangular table in Dundee’s Malmaison Hotel were 24 leading employers in the city.
Facing them were two politicians with massive influence over Scotland’s economy, with a shared determination to continue to drag Dundee’s job growth in the right direction.
Organised and hosted by The Courier, the summit fittingly took place in a venue that sprung out of the regeneration project currently transforming the city and its waterfront in particular.
Flanked by Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Scottish Under Secretary of State Andrew Dunlop,
Courier editor Richard Neville outlined the fact that, while Dundee is clearly on the up, serious issues still remain.
And those in attendance agreed, with a number of attendees highlighting the difficulties selling the city to those who have never been as a major drawback when it comes to attracting investors or high-level employees.
The need for a living wage, as well as how businesses could be supported to pay staff more, and improved transport connectivity were also discussed.
Meanwhile, investigating the possibility of decommissioning jobs and working towards a city deal were identified as two of the highest priority aims to take forward.
Perthshire North MSP Mr Swinney said: “I think we’ve got to see this as a point in a journey and definitely not the start of a journey.
“The city of Dundee has been on a journey to develop its prospects and opportunities for many years and I think what this does is give fuel to that agenda.
“It has got to be focused on improving opportunities for every individual within the city.
“I think the most important thing is to have a unified and clear agenda which everyone believes in.
“Of course, that’s been here in the city for many years around the waterfront development which has had cross-party support and the realisation the benefits would not be short term but would build long-term foundations.
“Essentially, that’s the model the city has pioneered and it has given a really good example to other parts of the country.”
Property developer Bruce Linton said the summit had been extremely worthwhile with an airing of a range of opinions about the city’s economy.
“There is an awful lot of traditional industry which has, unfortunately, gone and there is an awful lot do,” he added.
“But today was about identifying a direction of travel and about how we utilise the best of what we have got in Dundee.
“The education and university sector is great, but it has to work in partnership with industry and policymakers to identify a way forward to prosperity.
“It is not an easy fix but we can achieve if we have all the parts working together.”
Grant Ritchie, the principal of Dundee and Angus College, said: “What we got there was a real good, deep analysis of where we are all the positives and all the negatives and people beginning to talk about how we can come together and address the long-term need the city has got.”
David Smith, managing partner of accountants Henderson Loggie, said the summit represented a “peg in the ground” for the local economy and said he was excited to hear during the session about plans to further increase business start-up rates in the city.
Craig Nicol, joint managing partner of Thorntons solicitors, said: “It was very worthwhile and hopefully just the start of a series of these sessions so wecan take the discussions forward and produce results from it.”