The charity founded by Scotland’s most famous son, Sean Connery, will set up a New York base for Scots and those ‘who love Scotland’. It was announced in a press conference on the 18th March 2004 that Scotland House will be the name of the centre developed by Friends of Scotland, and will be based inside a converted Manhattan townhouse.
Friends of Scotland executive director, Geoffrey Scott Carroll, said that the site will be the gathering place for businessmen, artists, designers, and all those interested in doing business in Scotland can meet to have receptions, work and form networks.
‘There are two types of Scots in America: ancestral Scots and contemporary Scots, the former interested in the traditional idea of Scotland and the latter in the modern Scotland. At the moment, there is nowhere to bring these two groups together. You need both; and you also need the friends of Scotland; those who love the country. There is a large reservoir of goodwill and money in the US for Scotland yet to be tapped and this is a first step.’
Scotland House will be operational by the end of the year, and will be run by a board taken from the cream of the Scottish and American business and entertainment worlds.
