THE new head of the Scottish section of the Institute of Directors has called for a halt to the ''unrelenting torrent of abuse'' that has been directed at Scottish Enterprise, the economic development agency currently looking for a new chief executive.

David Watt, who has taken over as the Scottish director of the IoD from Tom Sunter, has acknowledged that not all of his organisation's members would agree with his stance. However, in an interview with Spur, the online magazine of Technology Ventures Scotland, he defended the performance of Robert Crawford, the outgoing chief executive of Scottish Enterprise.

''I think he is an exceptional person and one of the top business thinkers in Scotland,'' Watt said. ''It will be a sad loss when he goes.''

Crawford announced his resignation from Scottish Enterprise in June of this year, citing the toll of constant media criticism on his family as one of the main reasons for his decision to quit the country's highest-paid public servant job. He is staying on until the search for his replacement is completed.

Watt said that although some mistakes had undoubtedly been made at the ''grass roots'' level of Scottish Enterprise, it was still important to support the agency's objectives as a whole. He also called for the continuation of work started by Crawford, who will be one of the principal speakers at the IoD Scottish conference at the end of this month.

''Criticism is not enough,'' Watt said. ''You have to make alternative suggestions, and so far not many people have come up with them.''

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