The chief entrepreneurial advisor to the Scottish Government has quit the role, citing the “draining” effects of right-wing attacks.

Mark Logan was a high-profile recruit by Kate Forbes, now Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, in 2020, when she hired the former Skyscanner executive to review Scotland’s technology ecosystem.

Mr Logan, who helped build Edinburgh-based Skyscanner into one of Scotland's first tech “unicorns”, authored the Scottish Technology System Review and has since remained with the Scottish Government, working on entrepreneurial policy.

However, he has come under scrutiny for the level of remuneration he receives for the role. Reports suggest Mr Logan was initially appointed on a salary of £192,000 to work eight days per month for two years, before his contract extended by First Minister John Swinney when he succeeded Humza Yousaf earlier this year.

The Scottish Government revealed following a freedom of information request earlier this month that Mr Logan was paid a total of £263,863.44 for his work between July 2022 and July 2024, leading some to question the value of his work. 

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Mr Logan, who held his first "significant" start-up role with Atlantech in the 1990s, rising to become vice-president of engineering before his $180m acquisition by Cisco in 2000, announced his decision to stand down via a post on LinkedIn. He expressed satisfaction with the advances made while in post with the Scottish Government and his gratitude to Ms Forbes and Mr Swinney for their support. But he declared that he has become "increasingly a target for some in the right-wing of Scottish politics and their supporting publications".

In the post, Mr Logan also states his continued belief in "Scotland's ability to be a world-class start-up nation". And emphasised that there are no "musical differences" behind his decision to quit as he reflected on progress made by projects such as the TechScaler start-up incubation and learning network, the Ecosystem Fund, an the Pathways initiative to improve the gender balance in entrepreneurship. He also singled out the Pathways Fund, the Entrepreneurial Campus initiative, computing science in schools improvements, including the formation of Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science, and the Deeptech Supercluster initiative.

Mr Logan said: "We’ve made progress in these and other areas despite operating in a challenging financial environment. People outside Scotland are increasingly noticing this progress, and our start-ups will benefit from their interest. It's down to all of our combined efforts, and I've enjoyed being part of that.

“But I’ve decided that four and a half years is long enough for me in this role, and that it is time for a change. And although I am not in a political role, I am increasingly becoming a target for some in the right-wing of Scottish politics and their supporting publications, which, just as intended, has become draining.

“So I’m stepping down from my role as chief entrepreneurial advisor. There are no "musical differences" or tensions with stakeholders behind that decision.

"I also believe that it is better to stop doing something while you are still enjoying it, and when it still hurts to leave it behind, as that way you take with you only good memories.

“So that is what I am going to do. I'm grateful to both First Minister John Swinney and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes for their support and help throughout my appointment period, and for their understanding concerning my decision now.”

Ms Forbes said: “I would like to put on record my sincere thanks to Mark Logan for the exceptional impact he has made as Scotland’s chief entrepreneur and I am sorry that he has made the decision to step down from the role.

“Over the last four years, Mark has made a truly exceptional contribution to the work of the Scottish Government, applying his world class industry experience to shape economic policy and help build one of the most ambitious and imaginative entrepreneurial policy agendas in Europe. He has also been instrumental in creating a more entrepreneurial mindsight within Government, most recently supporting innovation in the NHS.

“The end-to-end support we are building for Scotland’s entrepreneurs and start-up businesses continues to attract praise and emulation from some of the most successful start-up economies in the world. The Scottish Government remains committed to its delivery and I am sure that Mark will continue to play a leading role and champion the work taking place to build and develop the start-up scene.

“The role of chief entrepreneur was created to embed the best and brightest industry minds into the development of economic policy. That approach has been successful and ministers will now take time to consider how it can be optimised in future.”

Mr Logan had been the chief operating officer of Edinburgh-based Skyscanner, the hugely successful flight comparison site which was sold to Chinese firm Ctrip in a £1.4 billion deal in November 2016.