Scotland's Economy

Scottish Business Buzz (06.07.16)

Screen Shot 2016-06-30 at 10.35.21Brexit could trigger financial bonanza for Glasgow and Edinburgh if Scotland stays in the EU.

Leading lawyer Philip Rodney, a chairman of Scottish legal firm Burness Paull, has said that Scotland would be a strong place for financial services if its become the only nation in the UK to retain access to the EU single market post-Brexit.

If Scotland managed to retain its access to the single market Philip Rodney believes this could trigger a ‘renaissance’ for Edinburgh and Glasgow as key European centres for finance.

Full story in The Herald


Screen Shot 2016-07-05 at 13.31.10The UK’s largest community-owned urban solar farm starts generating power in Edinburgh 

The Oaklands school in Edinburgh is the second building in the city to get solar panels as part of the UK’s largest community owned urban solar farm, and is the first to be producing continuous power to the grid.

The scheme, which was launched last autumn, successfully raised nearly £1.5 million from members of the public to put panels up on up to 25 buildings owned by the local council – with future profits pledged to community projects across the capital.

Solar co-op chair Richard Dixon said: “The project is wholly owned by the public and will help Edinburgh generate significant quantities of green energy. We hope this scheme gives encouragement to others to take on similar ambitious initiatives.”

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Screen Shot 2016-07-05 at 13.37.19Concerns from Scottish tech scene on leaving the EU

Scottish start-ups surveyed by Informatics Ventures, the organisation which supports Scottish technology companies, found four out of five respondents thought that leaving the EU would be bad for business.

The survey found that access to investment, selling products and services to Europe and the ability to attract and retain staff were among the biggest concerns held by the Scottish tech sector.

John Peebles, chief executive of fast-growing software firm Administrate, has said that membership of the EU had benefited his business through freedom of movement throughout the trading bloc and access to grants.

More from survey findings


Screen Shot 2016-07-05 at 13.43.06Offshore wind projects in Scotland and England at risk from Brexit 

The UK’s offshore wind industry has already taken a blow by Westminster subsidy changes and is now facing further uncertainty on its future after the Brexit outcome.

Portugal’s Energias de Portugal-EDP said it could delay its Moray Firth offshore wind energy project in Scotland, while German engineering giant Siemens said it was reconsidering plans for an expansion of its planned manufacturing plant in the port of Hull in north east England.

It is unclear what kind of access the UK will have to European markets once negotiations on an exit have been completed, a concern for companies building turbines for export.

Britain is the world’s biggest offshore wind market, expected to be worth 20 billion pounds from 2010-2020, according to RenewableUK.

More on this story from Scottish Energy News


Screen Shot 2016-07-05 at 13.47.54Ex-Nasdaq traders in bid to launch new Scottish stock exchange by 2017

More than 40 years after the country’s last trading floor closed, plans have been unveiled to launch a new independent stock exchange in Scotland.

Scotex will be based in Edinburgh, the UK’s second largest centre for financial services and the fourth largest in Europe, but trading will be done via an electronic exchange.

A statement on the Scotex website said the move had been spurred by recent political developments and by predictions that Scotland will become independent from the rest of the UK by 2019.

Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen also boasted their own stock exchanges at one time, but like the rest of the UK’s trading floors, all were merged to create the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The Scotex website states:

“Scotex is a new and innovative stock exchange that will offer capital markets access for the next generation of scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs of Scotland.

“It is crucial for Scotland that its wealth creators – now and in the future – have a visible equity capital market that is able to provide them with access to the capital they need to grow their companies.”

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About the author

Rhona Middler

Rhona was Business for Scotland's Engagement Executive and Events Manager.

1 Comment

  • It’s fine enough I’m an SNP member however I’m wanting independence , however , don’t want to adopt the euro currencyjust look at Greece the papers are printing a very bad image of Scotland being independent and adopting the European currency!it’s a jooooke man I’m definetly not a fan of the euro it should be an independent bank of Scotland

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