SCOTLAND saw a 51 per cent surge in inward investment projects last year to a fresh high of 119 – signalling that continued debate over Scotland’s constitutional future is not deterring foreign companies.

However, publishing its latest Scottish Attractiveness Survey, accountancy firm Ernst & Young indicated that investment this year may be hit by next month’s EU referendum. The survey found that 79 per cent of investors cited access to the European Single Market (ESM) as a key feature of the UK’s attractiveness.

Mark Harvey, EY senior partner, Scotland said: “Unquestionably it’s possible the EU referendum is weighing on investors’ minds in terms of future projects. Our research has demonstrated that any deterioration in the terms in which UK businesses can access the European single market could be a concern for investors.”

When asked about how either a significant or substantial decline in the terms of access to the ESM would impact the UK’s attractiveness more than 50 per cent of investors in both cases said it would have a negative effect whereas only seven per cent viewed it positively.

The rate of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) growth in Scotland in 2015 was more than double that of the overall UK growth of 20 per cent, according to the survey, which Mr Harvey said showed confidence in Scotland’s transport, infrastructure, and workforce.

For the second time in three years new investments outstripped expansion.

Scotland also saw its share of all UK FDI’s increase to 11 per cent, overtaking the south east of England as the leading region behind London.

“Scotland had a truly spectacular year for FDI in 2015,” said Mr Harvey. “Importantly, the majority of FDI projects for Scotland in 2015 were new, signalling a positive future for the country.”

Among the major FDIs in Scotland was US bank JP Morgan’s £500m expansion in Glasgow, and Norwegian fishing firm Marine Harvest’s £260m expansion in Fife. The largest new deal was French software company Webhelp Groupe’s £400m call centre in Argyll & Bute.

A total of 5,385 jobs were secured in Scotland in 2015 through FDIs, up by 52 per cent on the previous year.

The most significant movement by type of activity was a strong rise in projects with a sales and marketing function, which roughly doubled in number.

Software was the top performing sector with its 19 projects. Business services, utility supply, food and scientific research also saw sharp increases.

“If you look at economies around the world where you’ve got clusters then there are high profile businesses that spawn investment into other companies to boost an entire sector, so in Scotland, Skyscanner and Fanduel are helping attract sector investment,” said Mr Harvey.

Edinburgh (41 projects), Glasgow (22) and Aberdeen (nine) are in the top ten UK cities for inward investment, with Edinburgh in third spot and Glasgow sixth. With a net loss of just three projects in spite of the oil and gas downturn, Aberdeen was joint tenth.

The US continues to be Scotland’s primary investor, but neither China or India feature in the top ten countries even though both are in the UK top five.